IT was standing room only in St Stephen’s Cathedral, Brisbane, on August 8, when the archdiocese celebrated the Solemnity of its patron St Mary of the Cross MacKillop.
As principal celebrant Archbishop Mark Coleridge of Brisbane welcomed the Sisters of St Joseph, school students and others from throughout the archdiocese, he issued a special welcome to students from a Catholic primary school founded by the Josephites in the inner city.
“A special welcome to the students of what was the Holy Rosary School, Windsor, but which has just become ‘St Mary of the Cross School’,” Archbishop Coleridge said.
“And congratulations to the first school in the land to be named ‘St Mary of the Cross School’.”
The MacKillop Brisbane Catholic School Access Fund was also launched at the Mass, and the Offertory collection was allocated to the fund.
The fund aims to ensure fair and equal access for all students to attend Catholic schools.
In an invitation sent to potential donors, Archbishop Coleridge said the new fund “will be used to continue St Mary’s work by giving children of today who are in need, greater access to our Catholic schools.
Archdiocesan Resource Development gifts manager Mark Bennett, in the days before the Mass, said Catholic schools would be able to approach the fund to seek support for students.
Sisters of St Joseph Queensland provincial leader Sr Moya Campbell was among those at the Mass, and she read the First Reading.
In his homily, Archbishop Coleridge said St Mary of the Cross, an unashamed Aussie, was a saint not just for Australia but was a gift to the whole Church and there was something about her that transcended all ages and all cultures.
He said St Mary’s belief in God’s providence was at the heart of her sanctity.
“‘The goodness of God will take care of us all,’ she said, ‘… even in times of hardship’,” Archbishop Coleridge said.
“That sense of God’s providence is at the heart Mary MacKillop’s sanctity.”
Archbishop Coleridge said it was an “unflinching belief that God will provide” that was at the heart of all that St Mary did.
He said it meant that even in times of trial and suffering St Mary of the Cross was in complete conformity to God’s will.
St Mary was an example for all to follow in seeking out the will of God and trusting in God’s care.
