Take Fresh Courage
Updated: Sep 9
Beep…. scan... beep... scan... beep…
While scanning items at the supermarket recently, my butterfly brain gently floated off into an imagination haze (for those of you who know me - please stop laughing out loud now). Seriously though, I found myself wondering - if I could buy absolutely anything, what would I buy? What would the world be like if I could buy courage like I buy a litre of almond milk? And what would you buy?
As we now mark 10 years since the canonisation of Mary MacKillop (17.10.2010), I constantly marvel at her courage. And, I wonder: where did she buy/get her courage?
Today I understand through her letters that courage was a quality she wrote about throughout her time on earth. In a letter she wrote to sisters in 1877 she describes the need for them to “take fresh courage” in times of struggle. She then goes on to explain that we must “lean more on Him (God) and less on ourselves”. It seems to me that her courage was produced from the relationship she had with her “good God” - through my imagination haze I’ve come to realise that God was her supermarket of sorts.
Her regular trips to the ’supermarket of God’ in prayer seemingly transformed her. Returning time and time again for nourishment, she was graced with fresh courage, nourished with truth and goodness. She reminds me that I need to keep returning to God/love like I keep returning to buy fresh produce; Apples only last for so long, and they are always best when consumed fresh. As a wise man once reminded me, “If you are green you will grow, if you are ripe you will rot.”
I have attempted to put her wisdom (“take fresh courage”) into visual form with two pieces. In the cartoon I visualise her moving forward. Even when she encountered bumps in the road, she hung on, trusting in the transforming presence of her good God… perhaps she was on her way to the supermarket? The COURAGE illustration (prayer card & poster) has a focus on her bold trusting heart/eyes, paired with the teal that links to the scarves that Sisters wore at the canonisation 10 years ago. Links to these images and all the resources are also listed below.
Perhaps my beep… scan… beep… the resources and some courageous words below from others may remind us that we are all invited to “take fresh courage". I’ll do my best to remember that produce is best fresh, the nourishment is available 24/7, there is no charge, no mask required and all are welcome...
~ Jane
> Limited edition Courage Prayer Cards & Posters.
“God is closer to us than the air we breathe.” ~ St. Dorothy Day
"To have courage for whatever comes in life, everything lies in that.” ~ St. Teresa of Avila
"The principal act of courage is to endure and withstand dangers doggedly rather than to attack them." ~ St. Thomas Aquinas
"Pray! Pray, but with faith – with living faith! Courage! Onward, ever onward!" ~ St. John Bosco
"Hope has two beautiful daughters: their names are anger and courage. Anger that things are the way they are. Courage to make them the way they ought to be." ~ St. Augustine
"May we never forget the crippled, wind-beaten trees, how they, too, bud, green and bloom. May we, too, take courage to bloom where we are planted.” ~ Br. David Steindl-Rast
“You do not need to know precisely what is happening, or exactly where it is all going. What you need is to recognize the possibilities and challenges offered by the present moment, and to embrace them with courage, faith and hope.” ~ Thomas Merton
“Courage, courage, trust in God who helps you in all things.” ~ St. Mary MacKillop
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.
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