Sr Mary Cresp Sister of St Joseph Speaks About Australian Identity

Posted by Jo Murphy Nov 2, 2009

Sr Mary Cresp says ...Congratulations on a wonderful portrayal of contributors to the welfare of our country, Julian Tenison Woods, Catherine Gaffney and Mary MacKillop. I love what you have done. I hope it gets lots of positive feedback. You won’t know the half of it – people’s conversations will float in the breeze but touch hearts on the way.

Unfortunately I will have left Brisbane by November 10th and I won’t be returning until December 1^st. I would love to have been at the exhibition. I wish you all the best for it.

• What would make me a more productive Australian? With regard to spreading harmony, I’d like to find time and opportunity to pick up on a project I was part of 1999 – 2006, the setting up of women’s interfaith groups where we came together to show our world that people of different faiths can live joyfully as friends by sharing their spirituality and having deep respect for each other. We had nine different religions represented in the group, including aboriginal. Although the group has expanded and is still operating since I left the locality, I’m not in a position to introduce it in the State to which I’ve moved – but I have a dream of doing so when present commitments grow less.
• What do I mean when I hear the words Be More? Defining “the More” as “the Other”, or the potential for union with the Divine that, as a human being, I know I have, the phrase “Be More” invites me to live into that potential. Many dimensions of life remind me of this invitation – e.g. Songs like Secret Garden’s “You Raise Me Up”, interactions with nature and the inspiration of great people I meet in daily life. My religious faith presents it to me in dramatic form, such as when I respond “Yes, I am” (or “Amen”) to the proclamation that we are the Body of Christ when receiving the Eucharist.
• What is my greatest hope for Australia?” I would hope that Australia could draw on its central icon, the Heart (Uluru), and on the mythology that I think Aboriginal peoples and ANZAC hold outs to us – that “being the dream” means having such faith in nature and each other that, even in apparent failure, we can give of ourselves for the common good. Christianity calls that the “Paschal Mystery” – that death gives way to new life, and that nothing is finally lost. The violence and fear of racism, greed and other social ills would give way to heart-qualities such as compassion, respect and hospitality with the cultivation of such values.