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Home > World Youth Day > Article
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Sister has seen how WYD touches, transforms lives
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| 2 March, 2008 |
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| Sr Mary Madeline ... a passion for working with youth, helping them to find answers to life’s deepest questions. |
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Former high school teacher Sr Mary Madeline flew all the way from Nashville, Tennessee with two fellow Dominican nuns to help out WYD08. As assistant to WYD08 co-ordinator Bishop Anthony Fisher, Sr Mary Madeline is now happily learning a lesson or two herself, as JIM HANNA discovered when he spoke to her!
What does your role as assistant to Bishop Anthony Fisher involve?
My hope is to support Bishop Fisher first and foremost by my prayers for him and for all planning and participation in WYD08. Much of my role in the office centres on facilitating communication between Bishop Fisher and the many staff members and other parties who are working together to help make WYD08 a success. Whether I am scheduling
meetings or assisting with correspondence, or whatever a day brings, I strive to reflect the bishop’s pastoral priorities in my work, bringing to it a Christ-centered approach.
I’ve heard that you attended WYD2000 in Rome. Can you tell us about your experience there?
World Youth Day in Rome was amazing! One of my deepest impressions was the beauty of the universal face of the Church. The two million pilgrims that flowed toward St Peter’s in a continuous stream were full of joy and song. I realised that many young people have felt the attractive love of Christ, that the Church is vibrant, and that the radiance of holiness, as seen in the life of Pope John Paul II, never fails to inspire people to seek God in their own lives.
Like so many other pilgrims, my life was changed by WYD 2000. In his homily, Pope John Paul II quoted St Catherine of Siena, who wrote, “If you are what you should be, you will set the world on fire”. WYD 2000 inspired me to strive to live my vocation more deeply, to love and serve God and others more intensely.
You travelled to Sydney with two other Dominican nuns to work on WYD08. How have you enjoyed living and working in Australia?
Sr Mary Rachel, Sr Anna and I love being in Sydney and working for WYD08. Australians are warm and welcoming. We have been truly blessed by the kindness extended to us in the WYD08 office, in our parish of St Joseph’s, and in our neighbourhood of Belmore. Australia is also a remarkably beautiful country. The natural beauty of the mountains and beaches is a springboard for meditation, for thanks to the Creator.
What were you doing before WYD08?
Before WYD08 I was living at our motherhouse in Nashville, Tennessee, and teaching at a wonderful high school for girls, St Cecilia Academy. I had been teaching for 11 years, over which time I was brought into contact with more than 1000 young people.
I have a passion for working with youth, especially older teens. Their search for the answers to life’s deepest questions is both challenging and exciting. Whether I was teaching Theology, English, French, Biology, or any other of the subjects, each day was an adventure. Some of my former students are coming to WYD08 and I can’t wait to see them in Sydney.
Less than six months to go! What are you most looking forward to about WYD08?
I am looking forward to the arrival of so many young people who are seeking Christ in this encounter with Pope Benedict and with their fellow pilgrims, and to the great opportunity to pray and celebrate with them and with the Holy Father. Much of what I hope for won’t be obvious at the event itself, because a change of heart is something that
happens internally and whose effects are only seen over time. For Sydney and for all of Australia, I look forward to a rejuvenation of hope. The love and the truth that we seek are possible to find, and I think that WYD08 is an opportunity to rediscover the God who loves us.
What sort of differences have you noticed in the way that Australians and Americans celebrate their faith?
Many people before I came and since I arrived make the generalisation that Americans are more “religious” than Australians. Perhaps a higher percentage of Americans attend Church services than Australians do, but I have found many believers of deep faith in Australia.
Within the Catholic Church in the United States, in recent years there have been wonderful signs of hope: more people are seeking opportunities for daily Mass, Eucharistic adoration, and Reconciliation; some seminaries are thriving; some religious communities are receiving new vocations; the laity are actively involved in the Church at many levels, including dynamic programs for marriage preparation, youth ministry, and social outreach.
Many people claim that WYD in Denver was a key element in this renewal. In the young Australian Catholics I have met, I have seen real enthusiasm for the future of the Church. They seem very open to “receive the power of the Holy Spirit” [the WYD08 theme] to be Christ’s witnesses to a new generation.
What’s the most exciting part of your role at WYD08?
The most exciting part of my role is realising that however hidden or indirect my work might be, it is genuinely the work of the Holy Spirit and for the good of all God’s people. I have had many opportunities to see that WYD08 is already touching and transforming lives.
Through WYD08 I was able to join part of the Journey of the Cross and Icon. I had a chance to get to know some amazing young people whose encounter with Christ through their experience genuinely opened them to a new understanding of prayer and a new desire to pursue a relationship with Christ.
What will you do after WYD08?
That’s easy – whatever the Holy Spirit has in mind! As a religious Sister, I am sent wherever I am needed in the Church. I didn’t choose Sydney; God chose Sydney for me. Since my community is dedicated to Catholic education, hopefully I’ll be engaging in that apostolate in some capacity. I know this – that wherever I am sent in the future, the people of Sydney will always have a special place in my prayers.
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