Skip to content
The Catholic Leader
  • Home
  • News
    • QLD
    • Australia
    • Regional
    • Education
    • World
    • Vatican
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Life
    • Family
    • Relationships
    • Faith
  • Culture
  • People
  • Subscribe
  • Jobs
  • Contribute
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • QLD
    • Australia
    • Regional
    • Education
    • World
    • Vatican
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Life
    • Family
    • Relationships
    • Faith
  • Culture
  • People
  • Subscribe
  • Jobs
  • Contribute
No Result
View All Result
The Catholic Leader
No Result
View All Result
Home People

Saintly connection inspires Kate’s life

byStaff writers
25 July 2010 - Updated on 16 March 2021
Reading Time: 3 mins read
AA
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

INSTEAD of “pretend play” as a butterfly or even a princess, in her childhood Brisbane’s Kate Cochrane said she “dressed up as Mary MacKillop”.

“I wanted to be Mary MacKillop,” a jovial Kate said at Pray 2010 following a “Praying with Movement” workshop she’d just led.

“But what did you use to dress up with?” I query.

“You get plastic bags – anything – so not to be wearing ‘street clothes’.

“I’ve always been into drama so that was my way of expressing myself.”

It’s that love for and knowledge of Australia’s first saint that has led the 24-year-old to secure one of eight sponsored Brisbane Catholic Education Office (BCEO) positions to attend Blessed Mary MacKillop’s canonisation in Rome on October 17.

“Mary’s life is deeply embedded in me – so much so I wanted to be a nun until I was in Year 10,” Kate, a former student of the Nundah Josephite schools of St Joseph’s (primary) and Corpus Christi College (secondary, now Mary MacKillop College) said.

“I would sit at the prayer table at lunch time.
“I couldn’t read until Year 4 but once I could I read the Bible as my silent reading and my home reading.

“It’s what I chose to do.”

Growing up on Brisbane’s northside and a current member of Chermside West parish, Kate said her mother and grandparents in particular encouraged faith without “forcing it”.

Related Stories

Minority Catholic woman takes pride in Asia’s overlooked saints

Bishops call out racism, gun violence after U.S. shooting

Parishes unite for Logan deanery family festival this Sunday

They supported her through a time when a career in education rather than a religious vocation became apparent.

“I woke up one morning and said, ‘I want to be a teacher’,” Kate said.

Having completed an arts degree Kate then went on to graduate last year as a teacher through the University of Central Queensland in Rockhampton.

So while the habit – or even the plastic bags – are set aside most days of the week for more formal teaching attire, Kate still feels “an unbreakable connection” with Blessed Mary MacKillop.

“Mary was my idol throughout school and I wanted to follow in her footsteps and teach children no matter who they were or where they came from,” she said.

“Her determination and courage has inspired me throughout my life.

“Mary was young and saw a need for an education system for the masses.

“She was ridiculed, excommunicated and shunned – yet she continued her work.

“It was not an easy journey that Mary undertook but she saw it through and it is thanks to her that I received the education I did and it was this story that inspired me to become an educator also.”

In her first year of teaching at Mary Immaculate, Annerley, Kate’s Year 1 class focuses on Blessed Mary MacKillop’s phrase, “Never see a need without doing something about it”.

“I demonstrate that to the kids in practical ways … like picking up rubbish or asking if they saw so-and-so crying.

“Now they quote it back to me saying, ‘Miss, I saw a need and did something about it’.”

Enjoying Pray 2010 (held from July 7-10 in Brisbane) and meeting many other teachers from around Australia, Kate said she was “honoured” to be asked to lead a workshop and even more so to be named as one of the eight heading overseas in October.

“The thought of being able to follow in Mary MacKillop’s footsteps, to see the parts of Italy that she visited all those years ago, sends tingles through my skin.

“I have always been a deeply religious person and believe that an experience like the one being offered is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to gain an even further spiritual bond with Australia’s first saint.”

The others chosen from Brisbane to attend the canonisation include principal of Our Lady of Fatima School, Acacia Ridge, Martyn Savage; teacher at Clairvaux MacKillop College, Upper Mt Gravatt, Gary Conwell; teacher at St Paul’s School, Woodridge, Ann Cullen; teacher at Our Lady of the Rosary School, Kenmore, Antonella Muscat; teacher at Assisi Catholic College, Upper Coomera, Laurel Ball; acting assistant principal for religious education at All Saints’ School, Albany Creek, Simon Mahaffy; and BCEO area supervisor Michael Kearney.

BCE executive director David Hutton said that, with “an overwhelming response” of more than 100 applicants to the offer of sponsored places, the choice was “extremely difficult”.

Applicants answered questions such as, “How would this experience assist your personal spiritual journey?” and  “How would you see this experience informing and growing your vocation as a Christian educator?”

Asked what she’ll be thinking about at the canonisation Kate was her jovial self.

“I probably won’t believe it’s real,” she said.

“We’ve been hearing for years that they’ve been trying to have (Blessed) Mary canonised.

“But for it to be happening and for me to actually be there is just insane.

“I hope I don’t run out of battery (on the camera).”

 

ShareTweet
Previous Post

Darwin’s personal struggles retold

Next Post

Parties’ shame

Staff writers

Related Posts

Minority Catholic woman takes pride in Asia’s overlooked saints

Minority Catholic woman takes pride in Asia’s overlooked saints

18 May 2022
Bishops call out racism, gun violence after U.S. shooting
World

Bishops call out racism, gun violence after U.S. shooting

17 May 2022
Parishes unite for Logan deanery family festival this Sunday
QLD

Parishes unite for Logan deanery family festival this Sunday

17 May 2022
Next Post

Parties' shame

Walking to spread the Word

Terrace marks historic school milestone

Popular News

  • Here are the stories of 10 new saints being canonised this Sunday

    Here are the stories of 10 new saints being canonised this Sunday

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Angel’s Kitchen serves hot meals to the hungry in Southport

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI turned 95 on a ‘very happy’ day

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Parishes unite for Logan deanery family festival this Sunday

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Lives of the saints – St Kateri Tekakwitha, the Lily of the Mohawks

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
Search our job finder
No Result
View All Result

Latest News

Minority Catholic woman takes pride in Asia’s overlooked saints

Minority Catholic woman takes pride in Asia’s overlooked saints

by CNS
18 May 2022
0

IN the United States, Asians are a distinct minority. Those who are Catholic make them a minority...

Bishops call out racism, gun violence after U.S. shooting

Bishops call out racism, gun violence after U.S. shooting

17 May 2022
Parishes unite for Logan deanery family festival this Sunday

Parishes unite for Logan deanery family festival this Sunday

17 May 2022
Lives of the saints – St Kateri Tekakwitha, the Lily of the Mohawks

Lives of the saints – St Kateri Tekakwitha, the Lily of the Mohawks

17 May 2022
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI turned 95 on a ‘very happy’ day

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI turned 95 on a ‘very happy’ day

17 May 2022

Never miss a story. Sign up to the Weekly Round-Up
eNewsletter now to receive headlines directly in your email.

Sign up to eNews
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Jobs
  • Subscribe

The Catholic Leader is an Australian award-winning Catholic newspaper that has been published by the Archdiocese of Brisbane since 1929. Our journalism seeks to provide a full, accurate and balanced Catholic perspective of local, national and international news while upholding the dignity of the human person.

Copyright © All Rights Reserved The Catholic Leader
Accessibility Information | Privacy Policy | Archdiocese of Brisbane

The Catholic Leader acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the First Peoples of this country and especially acknowledge the traditional owners on whose lands we live and work throughout the Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • QLD
    • Australia
    • Regional
    • Education
    • World
    • Vatican
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Life
    • Family
    • Relationships
    • Faith
  • Culture
  • People
  • Subscribe
  • Jobs
  • Contribute

Copyright © All Rights Reserved The Catholic Leader

0
    0
    Your Cart
    Your cart is emptyChoose another Subscription
    Continue Shopping