FOR all the right reasons there’s little silence when the Hayes sisters get together.
“Maybe when we’re drinking our tea?” second-eldest, Jo, said comically.
She’s perhaps the most vocal of the four.
Jo, a speech pathologist and journalist, who recently completed a stint on a Christian radio station in Brisbane, is now in the newsroom of a more mainstream station.
“I love my job,” the striking brunette said.
And that’s not all she loves.
Jo, 27, and her sisters – Angela (Harris), 31, Veronica, 25, and Rosie, 21 – all have a great love for Christ and the Church.
The four, plus their brothers Paul, 29, and Tim, 16, are living and practising the faith – an exemplary “strike rate”.
That outcome is part of the love story of parents Michael and Pam Hayes who gave their children “a very committed Catholic home”.
“Mum and Dad were quite ‘traditional’ Catholics in many ways,” Jo said.
“(They) also had some involvement with the Catholic Charismatic Renewal movement – so we think we had the ‘best of both worlds’.”
Angela, who’s about to welcome the Hayes’ fifth grandchild in Toowoomba and who studied human resource management, said her parents “have always been so consistent in living true Christianity in their daily lives”.
Younger sister Veronica – “Von” – is quick to add “even through their weaknesses and imperfections, they have shown how to make good, wise and holy choices”.
The Hayes children were told every day of their lives that God and their parents loved them.
They attended a mix of Catholic and state schools, raised in St Carthage’s parish, Gordon Park, on Brisbane’s northside.
“(We) had exposure to lots of different types of kids,” Jo said.
“Mum and Dad encouraged us to mix with other Christian faiths … (and) I think this has kept us all very well balanced.”
Rosie, who completes her nursing degree this year and is working in Brisbane archdiocese’s Vocations Office, spoke glowingly about her parents and the “women of God” they raised.
“Jo is so strong and does what the Lord is telling her – not what the world or people in the world tell her,” Rosie said.
“She always sees the good in others.
“Von is so fun-loving and carefree and everyone loves to be around her.
“She makes life fun for all in her life and doesn’t let people or things get her down.
“Ange is so wise. She is such a great oldest sister of four girls.
“Ange has the best advice to give and always has time for the people around her.”
Jo said their Dad, who taught his children “to always be scrupulously honest in business dealings and in life”, is “passionate” about seeking out and promoting “the true teaching of the Catholic Church”.
The family’s matriarch is “a lovely example of motherhood (and) womanhood”. “Don’t get us wrong, she got cranky when we were naughty,” Jo said.
“(But she) was always there for us … (and) is the most humble person I’ve ever known.”
Each of the four women is committed to mission in the Church, Von saying she was “spiritually fed so much from the Church” throughout her teenage years she “wanted to give (something) back”.
“I volunteered with NET (National Evangelisation Teams) Ministries in Canada to share my own personal conversion and relationship with Jesus to other young people,” Von, who this year graduates in urban development, said.
“I’ve also been involved in the Emmanuel Youth Group leadership team, the Faith on Tap team and the Australian Catholic Students Association.”
At Emmanuel Community’s upcoming Ignite conference Von is a key part of the children’s stream.
Angela also has a history with the peer-to-peer youth outreach of NET – on the national travelling team and through ministry in Uganda - an experience she said was a “blessing”.
Part of a Mothers’ Prayers group in Toowoomba, Angela is involved in the Pro-Life movement and is vice-president of Cherish Life Queensland.
Angela and husband Luke are co-ordinating a workshop on pro-life issues at Ignite.
Rosie served with NET too and is part of Emmanuel Community’s emmanuelworship band.
Of the sisters, that only leaves Jo – who hasn’t served with NET but was part of a similar initiative in Melbourne for a year of full-time youth ministry.
She said it made her realise youth ministry wasn’t her “life’s calling”.
Instead Jo has sought involvement with Emmanuel Community’s women’s ministry, Breathe, “for the past couple of years”.
“This year I (with others) helped launch Imagine: Transform Your World … it’s about spreading the message of Jesus via a ‘Love Revolution’,” Jo said.
“I’ve really experienced in a new way that it is in giving we receive.”
Jo is preparing to present a talk themed, The Mind is the Battlefield at Ignite.
All four women of God agree womanhood these days is challenged in many ways.
“Our own perception of our beauty – internally and externally can be a struggle for women,” Jo said.
“(And) the need to constantly compete (with other women),” Angela added.
“Women often try and find their worth in what they look like, what they do … when all they need to look is in Jesus Christ,” Rosie said.
Von agreed and said women today struggled with “what it is to be truly beautiful”.
“When this search for beauty is looked for in the world, it can be so damaging and can lead to so many physical, mental and emotional struggles,” she said.
“(And) another struggle of our generation is our place in the world.
“(Questions like) ‘What is it to be a woman in today’s society? Is it in the home or the workplace’ and ‘Where is God calling me?'”
In seeking those answers from Jesus Christ, the Hayes sisters continue to face their futures with optimism.
In doing so they suggest reading sacred scripture, spending time with other women of faith and in Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.
Other pieces of collective Hayes wisdom were the value of “reminding each other who we are in Christ … stop looking in the mirror, look at God’s Word and stop comparing your life to others on Facebook”.
“Pray, pray, pray,” Von added.
“It’s the only way to discern what choices and decisions to make for our lives.”
And while they aren’t all together often these days, when they are, the kettle is at the ready as is the conversation.
“When Ange was down from Toowoomba we all met up at Mum and Dad’s house,” Jo said.
“We got sushi, had wine, laughed, watched a movie and just enjoyed being sisters.”
For more information about the September 27-30 Ignite gathering, “Awaken”, go to www.igniteconference.com.au
