Mary of Penola

from w
Being outside the fold that talks about icons, 'saints', treasured locks of hair, and deference to men, I am uncomfortable with aspects of the canonization of Mary McKillop. However my best wishes go to our Catholic friends who regard this as a wonderful occasion. To me 'saints' in the Biblical sense refers to the ordinary people, and though it does not mean 'perfect' ordinary people are occasionally shining. Certainly Mary was an outstanding Australian, a battler for the education of poor children and the number of schools established by the Sisters of St Joseph which she established is significant. I admire her gutsiness in standing up against the hierarchy at times which is very Australian and devotion to God is well understood. There are thousands of unnamed marvellous people in our world (in the past and present and I really am drawn to Hildegarde of Bingen who of course wrote marvellous music). To honour one for Australia is of course good news.
It is good to see in the news a story of hope rather than the stories of disaster and crime that fill our newspapers.