St Mary's

Recently I was somewhere, not attached to church, with people who didn’t know who I was, and the topic of St. Mary’s South Brisbane just happened to come up.

The woman who was speaking said that she used to go to St. Mary’s but no longer comes because the church was not spiritual enough. She said “That St. Mary’s was too “political”. It was one of those conversations where you don’t get a chance to dialogue or respond, so as she continued I thought to myself – we must be doing something right!

Sixteen years ago I came to St. Mary’s while I was doing my studies for priesthood at Banyo Seminary. I was attracted to St. Mary’s because it was “Political”. Actually, it was one of the few places where the Liberation Theology I was reading about was being spoken about. This theology ignited a passion for the Gospel like nothing else.

I came to the Seminary with a spirituality nourished and initiated by the Charismatic Renewal. Prior to the Seminary I belonged to a covenant community in Toowoomba, which was located within a Catholic Parish. I had worked a year full-time as a youth and parish worker. I joined the seminary with six other young men from this covenant community. We joined thinking we were going to change the church and the world. We were oblivious to the call of Rerum Novarum, to be people of justice, to see the work for justice as central to who we were as the followers of Christ.

My time in the Seminary gradually changed this.

Encountering women and men who were passionate about justice. Visiting priests from South America and the Phillipines. Concentising us to another world.

Reading Paulo Fiere, Gustavo Guitarize, Leonardo Boff, theologians writing from developing countries speaking of this Liberation theology. Monica Hellwig, a noted Liberation Theologian, summarises this theology beautifully when she writes … “Redemption is not so much about Celestial Accounting but more about Terrestrial Transformation”.

Yes! this is what we are to be about if we are to be relevant and real. The Gospel is all about Liberation, from all forms of oppression.

Since 1983 I have been a part of St. Mary’s. Peter Kennedy was my spiritual director throughout my time in the seminary. Throughout this time I have seen St. Mary’s grow and evolve. I have bee privileged to witness and be a part of its many and diverse phases. But some things have remained constant. One of those primary things has been its commitment to justice. St. Mary’s has shown this commitment by supporting the many and varied people who take part in the life of the community often encouraging people to take a stand for justice wherever they find themselves.

St. Mary’s has provided a spiritual base and place where people’s dreams and aspirations for a different world and church have been articulated, and at times lived out. The present evolution, to embrace the justice arm of St. Mary’s, is a significant attempt to once again embody what is so often talked about and ritualised at St. Mary’s. I believe we are being offered a wonderful opportunity to become part of something very exciting and unique. Once again it is a chance to be something more of the public church. A church not defined by boundaries, dogmas, creeds, who’s in, who’s out, a church where all and especially the poor and marginalised feel at home. We still have a long way to go, but each step is a time to celebrate.

Throughout the Wednesdays of Lent various people will be sharing something of their journey of faith and we will be asked to tap into our own journey in the sharing with in the small groups that follows.
…A time to reflect…to remember where we have come… and to share something of where we would like to be.

Lent offers us a time to reflect on our relationship with one another and with God, to see how we can improve and nourish these relationships even more.
…To become ever more relevant and ever more political with a spirituality anchored in the Gospel, which challenges us beyond the comfortable and secure.