MACKILLOP Magic filled Brisbane’s Roma St Parklands on August 8 as about 1500 staff and students from four Josephite foundational schools celebrated the feast day of Blessed Mary MacKillop.
After months of planning, the MacKillop Magic schools – St Joseph’s School and Corpus Christi College, Nundah; St Pius’ School, Banyo; and Our Lady Help of Christians, Hendra – descended on the parklands and sang and danced their way through searing heat as they unfurled coloured banners laden with the hopes and dreams of each school community in stars dedicated to Mary MacKillop, founder of the Australian Sisters of St Joseph.
Principals and administration staff from Corpus Christi, St Joseph’s and St Pius’, along with Brisbane Catholic Education Centre religious education and curriculum staff and former area supervisor Denis Anthonisz formed the “MacKillop Magic” committee three years ago to enhance enrolments at the schools and to heighten staff and students’ understanding of the MacKillop charism.
Our Lady Help of Christians joined the magic, which is an expression of community co-operation reaching beyond systemic borders, in 2006.
St Pius’ student Geoffrey Fabila had the enthusiastic audience on their feet after he performed a haunting tune on the didgeridoo and students listened to a Dreamtime story from the indigenous people from Stradbroke Island.
All the schools succeeded in spreading the MacKillop charism, living the Gospel the MacKillop way and the motto “Never see a need without doing something about it”, that came through strongly in all of the songs and everything that was said.
