“Fan into a flame the gifts given to you” – 2 Timothy 1:6
Reflections on the 2025 Catholic Religious Australia (CRA) Annual Assembly
Members of the leadership teams of the many religious congregations throughout Australia gathered from 18-20 August at the Novotel Sydney Parramatta hotel for their Annual Conference. As Anne Walker, National Executive Director of Catholic Religious Australia (CRA), expressed in the preface to the program, there was “something deeply human and sacramental” about the gathering.
Her expressed hope was realised both through the challenge and encouragement of the guest speakers, Sr Margaret Schaff OP and Br Philip Pinto CFC. In a range of ways, they affirmed the rich story of religious life, lived through the centuries with hope expressed in a joy and peace that “surpass all understanding” (Philippians 4:7).
Jubilee: Our story, our hope, our joy
Margaret shared a range of insights gained from her breadth of experience, studying, and lecturing across many countries. Many of these provided a deeper understanding of the fragility of our current social fabric. In response to this, she pointed to and engaged us in creative ways we can continue to be pilgrims of hope.
Br Phillip offered an invitation to reflect on the core of the mission of the vowed life – to be contemplatives in action. To live with hope, he claimed, requires a mysticism with open eyes and a quality of forgiveness that radiates from a Jubilee of the Heart.
He reminded us that Jesus did not come to make us good. Rather, he came to make us “whole”. This time of Jubilee is an invitation to imagine sacred mystery in a new way.
Vessels of the Lord
During the Conference Liturgy, celebrated by Bishop Vincent Long OFM Conv, Bishop of Parramatta, in the Sisters of Mercy Chapel, Bishop Vincent emphasised that the gift of Jubilee enables us to reimagine community that is aligned with God’s vision for human flourishing. Our mission is deeply tied to this.
Bishop Vincent offered an image of religious life at present as being reflective of Jeremiah’s visit to the potter’s house. Here it was revealed to Jeremiah that Israel would be recast into the kind of vessel the Lord desired.
We were invited to reflect on this as a metaphor for religious life at present, as we experience diminishment and for some congregations, completion. Embracing this reality in the context of hope allows us to live with the security of insecurity.
All appreciated the work done by members of the CRA secretariat and CRA National Council in preparation for this very successful conference.
Sr Patty Andrew OSU is the Vicar for Consecrated Life in the Diocese of Parramatta.
This celebration aligns with the Diocesan Pastoral Plan priorities of Formation and Community, and with our objective of being a Church that is renewed in spirit and prayer.
