The month of November is a time when we especially remember all souls and the community of saints that have gone before us.
When thinking about loved ones and our community of saints, I found myself wondering... Is there a main message that they have left us with? Through researching the lives of the saints and much prayer, I recently had a 'light bulb' moment as I began to see a motif emerge from my contemplative brain cocoon! I began to see that all saints show us by their lives that relationship with God and experiencing true life on earth does not come through specifically what we say. God’s love grows through our ordinary actions. I'm sure we all have fond memories of our loved ones and their simple actions of love. For example; I won't always remember what my Grandfather said, but I will forever remember him especially making me a traditional Maltese dish every Friday night - an action of love that united us.
St Mary MacKillop alludes to the need for us to to act in love when she wrote to Sisters on the 25th March 1873: "I need not tell you to be dutiful and thankful to God for this, and to show by your actions more than by words that you are so." Importantly this quote is part of a powerful letter Mary wrote before she departed for Rome. She was leaving Sisters in the care of Fr Reynolds and others she trusted as she courageously ventured off to try to get Rule approved for the Sisters of Saint Joseph (spoiler alert, she accomplished her mission!). In this letter she calls for unity, respect while she is away, asking for "a true spirit of charity and unity amongst you." She is essentially asking Sisters to act in the ordinary with charity and kindness. She goes on to say "See then how careful you must be. In our unity lies, under God our strength." We know that Mary certainly lived these actions throughout her life.
Ironically many saints have explained this through words - even though their actions speak much much louder:
"Preach the Gospel at all times and only if necessary use words" ~ St Francis of Assisi
"The proof of love is deed." ~ Catherine McAuley
"Actions speak louder than words; let your words teach and your actions speak" ~ St Anthony of Padua
"Love has to be put into action, and that action is service" ~ St Teresa of Calcutta
"Christ has no body now, but yours. No hands, no feet on earth, but yours. Yours are the eyes through which Christ looks compassion into the world. Yours are the feet with which Christ walks to do good. Yours are the hands with which Christ blesses the world." ~ St Teresa of Avila
As I began to think about quotes from our community of saints and the actions of loved ones I felt inspired to create some cartoons around these. About this time our librarian at school also asked me, "can you create bookmarks for us with quotes that we can give our students?" Then low and behold two others also randomly asked for bookmarks. Their requests stayed with me, inspiration struck, and before I knew it I was creating bookmarks. I am in no way a saint but these three bookmarks are just a small ordinary action to remember the actions of those on whose shoulders we stand. These are available to download for free below. I hope this small act of kindness may inspire you to "go and do likewise". May the actions of the saints and souls we love continue to unite us, growing like a mustard seed in our hearts... and in-turn passing onto others...
"Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord,
And let perpetual light shine upon them.
May they rest in peace. Amen."
Much love
~ Jane
- View this month's News Flash: November #6 + Sign up here
- Much gratitude also to those who have helped with the bookmarks especially Roslyn Kennedy (our archivist at North Sydney) and Sr Marie Foale rsj for your help and wisdom in researching and understanding Mary's letters.
- As a side note, You'll see on the time-lapse video (for Mary's bookmark) that I had originally drawn "We must teach more by example than by word" believing it was a quote from Mary after finding it several places online. But, as it turns out, it was adapted over time and not accurate. There is a cheeky quote that seems to fit here; "Thou shalt trust everything you see on the internet ~ Abraham Lincoln"
Note: All works featuring St Mary MacKillop incorporate material owned by the Trustees of the Sisters of Saint Joseph, which are used with permission under licence.
