MORE than a century after she walked in Brisbane, St Mary of the Cross MacKillop still draws a crowd and the mention of her name still brings a smile.
Charli and Jorja were two of hundreds of schoolchildren who trekked into the city today for the solemnity Mass in St Stephen’s Cathedral.
Charli said she admired the way St Mary MacKillop cared for everyone.
Jorja said she was inspired by how she helped the vulnerable and treated others with dignity.
Ken and Pat MacPherson are a couple who have lived in Brisbane for a year after moving from country New South Wales, where they had been for 42 years.
Mrs MacPherson said one of their sons was struggling through a rough patch in life and turned to St Mary for her intercession.
“Our prayers were answered,” Mrs MacPherson said.
“He’s going really well in his life, we have a lot to be grateful for.”
The couple, who have seven sons and three granddaughters, were impressed by the crowd too.
“It’s just marvellous to see so many people (at a Church event),” Mr MacPherson said.
He said it was particularly good to see so many young people at the Mass.
In his homily, Brisbane Archbishop Mark Coleridge said Australians would respond to religion when it had the kind of human face presented by St Mary of the Cross.
“The face that reveals God with us,” he said.
He said St Mary embraced her humanity, the way Jesus embraced his.
“This in turn helped her to embrace the humanity of others, especially those who had least,” he said.
“In doing this, she showed the human face of religion. The human face of God. Not just to Catholics, but far beyond confessional borders.
“When she was canonised, the Church Universal recognised that in seeing Mary, we were seeing something of God.”
The solemnity of St Mary MacKillop is always one of the largest feasts on the Brisbane calendar.
