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Through the years the Sisters of Saint Joseph have continued the work of Mary MacKillop. Another group that follow in Mary's footsteps are the girls who attend Mary Mackillop Collage. Both these groups continue the mission of Mary by educating children and giving to those in need.
First of all the Sisters of saint Joseph display a priestly role since Mary MacKillop’s time they have worked among the Maori people of New Zealand, while in Australia, a number are involved with the Aboriginal people. Some fight for justice for all especially refugees and trafficked women. To this day the sisters still provide help to outback Australian schools. They give up their time and money to give to those in need.
They also display a prophetic role by continuing Mary MacKillops dream of educating children and giving to those in need. Today, some Sisters are ministering in Peru and Brazil in South America while others are at work among the people of East Timor. At times, individual Sisters have ministered briefly in third world countries. Josephites are still involved in Aged Care in South Australia, Victoria and New Zealand.  Over time, some Sisters with nursing skills cared for sick and dying Sisters in convent infirmaries and in later years, nursed mothers and babies at St Margaret’s Hospital.
Overall the Sisters are constantly displaying a Kingly role by preaching to the outer community and helping in various countries around the world. The way that the Sisters are always expanding and spreading their belief in God to others and how they donate to the poor and in need in Australia help continue the values and beliefs of Mary MacKillop.

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Mary MacKilop demonstrated a Priestly role by giving up many things for the benefit of others around her. One of the sacrifices she made was looking after her family and eventually spending lots of time away from them. Mary was the eldest of her siblings so subsequently she spent a lot of time helping raising them when she was younger. As she got older and established her own school for the dis advantaged children she had to spend months without communicating with her family dedicating her time to the needs of others.
Mary MacKillop displayed a Prophetic role by speaking out against the injustice of children and women not getting an adequate education because of their financial situation. She gave these people a place to learn and grow even though the rest of society looked down upon it. She taught people to never see a need without doing something about it and created a Sisterhood to follow in her footsteps.
She displayed a Kingly role by creating the Sisters of Saint Joseph. This widened her community to teach to. It was the Sisters who helped her promote the kingdom of God and the belief that everyone should have a fair and equal education.

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A letter from Mary MacKillop

https://www.columban.org.au/media-and-publications/articles/mary-mackillop/a-letter-from-mary-1867

This letter was written to keep contact with her family. Mary MacKillop could only send letters home once a month and she enjoyed telling her family all about her life. When reading the letter it is obvious that it was written for her mother but it also details her thorough belief in God and the Sisters. Although this was not supposed to be a letter to the public when it was written it is still a text full of hope and belief in God. It impacts the reader as you get to understand just how much Mary cared for her Sisters and the work that she was doing for under privileged children and women.

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In the gospels of Matthew 14:13-21; Mark 6:30-44; Luke 9;10-17 and John 6;1-15 we here the parable story of the time Jesus fed 5000 people with 5 loafs of bread and two fish. Each writer tells the story a little differently because of the audience they were writing for at the time, however, they all tell the story how Jesus taught his followers about the kingdom of god and how he fed the poor.

World behind the text:

In the time of Jesus Christ people believed that the work of god was present in everyday life good events and bad events included. There was no sense of the scientific principles that we understand today. Therefore miracles were an indication of gods power and actions.

World of the text:

In the gospel of mark the crowd of people is said to be like a sheep without  Shepard, it is said that Jesus has compassion upon them and so begins teaching them. This technique of comparing Jesus to a Shepard and the crowd to his flock indicates that while this miracle was taking place the purpose was to ultimately learn about the power and compassion of god which was demonstrated through Jesus.

World in front of the text:

Like many of Jesus' healing miracles stories the feeding of the 5000 was intended to demonstrate God's compassion for human beings and the responds to people in need. This gospel suggest that you should always have trust in god and that he will assist you when its needed. I feel this gospel story also is sending a message that you may only have a little but with using what you have well and smart that you can do anything like feed 5000 people with little as 5 loafs of bread and two fish. This gospel is making you think about the problem, action and reaction of the text also along with the internal and external changes,. The external changes I feel are that we was able to feed 5000 people with only 5 loafs of bread and 2 fish and the internal changes would be that Jesus made everyone good and less hungry. The problem of this gospel is that 5000 people show up and Jesus has to mange to feed 50000 of them with only 5 loafs of bread and 2 fish. The action is that Jesus somehow is able to feed all of the people with small meals. The reaction from the people and the disciples is that they are confused because they don’t understand how that low number of food could feed a large crowd and they are glad that everyone will have gotten food. Mary Mackillop and Jesus before him had a vision for a mission. Though she , as those before her, came across multiply barriers to achieve their mission, she continue to on her journey and today we enjoy the legacy that she had left for us. This stories reflects Mary's life as she didn’t have access to many goods, she made do with what she had , made sure she shared as much as see could with others and always continued to believe in god.

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Some of the messages in the Rerum Novarum relate closely to the message Mary MacKillop tried to advocate during her lifetime. One of the quotes that may have inspired Mary MacKillop to work to provide schools for poor children in Australia is; 'But St Thomas Aquinas says, "Man should not consider his material possessions as his own, but as common to all, to share them without hesitation when others are in need." '
Also the statement 'But the laws and judgments of men must yield place to the laws and judgments of Christ the true God, who in many ways urges on His followers the practice of alms-giving - It is more blessed to give than to receive.'
These passages from the Rerum Novarum urge Christians to help others in need and to do what is good by giving to others. Mary MacKillop also urged others to give to the poor and help those in need. Because of how closely related these passages are to the work Mary MacKillop achieved in her life time we can assume that they influenced her life work greatly. Mary was driven by her desire to show God’s love to others especially those who were most in need.
The Rerum Novarum was very influential at the time it was written and even today for many Christians around the world are influenced by this encyclical.

Mary yearned to ensure that poor children and women were offered the opportunity to gain an education and thus the ability to create a better life.
She worked tirelessly to make a difference, to uphold the dignity of the most marginalised, dejected and deprived. This encyclical may have had an important role in helping inform Mary just how important her work was and that she was truly living in the footsteps of Jesus and God.

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The clarity of Mary MacKillop’s vision impels us to identify and walk with those who are today’s poor; those who are isolated, deprived, marginalised and rejected. Those abused and lacking opportunity and choice. From the 25th General Chapter of the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart, 2007.

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Provident God, with grateful hearts we remember the power for goodness that Mary MacKillop is in our world.
On this her feast day may we be touched anew with her spirit of prophetic charity and generous participation in mission. We ask this in the name of Christ, the Sacred Heart, and of the Spirit of Mission. Amen.

https://www.sosj.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/000406_fabb.pdf

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Ever generous God,
You inspired Saint Mary MacKillop
To live her life faithful to the Gospel of Jesus Christ
and constant in bringing hope and encouragement
to those who were disheartened, lonely or needy.
With confidence in your generous providence
and through the intercession of Saint Mary MacKillop
We ask that you grant our request……………….
We ask that our faith and hope be fired afresh by the Holy Spirit so that we too, like Mary MacKillop, may live with courage, trust and openness.
Ever generous God hear our prayer.
We ask this through Jesus Christ. Amen.
https://www.sosj.org.au/our-foundress-mary-mackillop/mary-mackillop-prayer/

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Post 1

Mary Helen MacKillop (1842-1909), known in life as Mother Mary of the Cross, was born on 15 January 1842 in Fitzroy, Melbourne, the eldest of eight children of Alexander McKillop and his wife Flora, née McDonald. Her parents had migrated from the Lochaber area in Inverness-shire and married soon after they reached Melbourne. From a young age Mary was expected to earn a living and bring a portion of income into the family home, by working as a governess, as a clerk . Her family were taught by Mary's dad. Although he wasn't a teacher he had studied priesthood, therefore it had a strong influence on many of her beliefs growing up. In 1863 Mary had the opportunity to become a teacher at Portland catholic denominational school where she believed that she was walking in Jesus' footsteps and could make a difference in children's lives. After teaching and supporting the less fortunate for around three years Mary started her own small school called the Stable School. With the help from Father Julian Edmund, Mary began to fulfill her dream of providing catholic education for children in remote, isolated areas. After a few months the stable that they rented to school the children in was deemed unsuitable for a permanent school, so Father Edmund commissioned the building of a new school-room near the catholic church in Portland street, Penola. After the sisters and children left the rented stable to go to the new schoolhouse the stable was destroyed.  After they moved Mary had to deal with many challenges involving money for the school, supplies in class, water and even the death of her father on the 19th December 1868. Mary Mackillop continued following in the footsteps of Jesus and helping the poor by deciding to open some Orphanages and Providences to care for the homeless and destitute both young and old, and Refuges for ex-prisoners and ex-prostitutes who wished to make a fresh start in life. Mary Mackillop was an inspiration to many people around Australia and lived her life by giving to others. She died in August 8, 1909, North Sydney, New south wales and was canonized October 17, 2010. She became the first and patron saint of Australia and through Mary's dedication to God and Jesus her work reminds us to ‘never see a need without doing something about it’ and to trust in God's love and compassion to care for those in need.