During our recent JJAMM Week celebrations, we reflected as a community on the importance of our patron saint, St Joseph. There are many ways in which our community is inspired by the story of St Joseph - he was a loving father, a compassionate husband and a faithful servant of God. The gospel of Matthew also tells us that Joseph was a refugee, forced to flee to Egypt in the early days of Jesus' life to keep his young family safe. Inspired by this story and the courage of Joseph and Mary, the MSJ community reflected on the plight of millions of displaced persons across the world today. We particularly considered our human responsibility to welcome and care for those seeking sanctuary from persecution and relief from suffering. This is core to Christian values and the mission of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop and the Sisters of St Joseph.
As a call to action, we invited our MSJ students to sign postcards calling on the newly elected Federal Labour Government to reconsider their policy of offshore processing of asylum seekers arriving by boat. One thousand postcards were signed and delivered to the offices of Hon. Clare O'Neil, Federal Minister for Home Affairs. The letter accompanying and introducing the postcards is printed below. To date, we have not received a response but if we do, we will share it with the MSJ Community.
Andrea Grant - Director of Catholic Identity
