2026 Extraordinary Chapter: “All will be well for time and eternity.”
Readings: Mother Mary Clare’s Letter, lCor 12:3-12; John 20:19-23
Dear Sisters,
It was not long ago that we conducted a closing ceremony for Marymount Chapel. Many of us who were there recall the mixture of emotions: sadness, grief, pain but also gratitude, trust and even hope. In hindsight, the closing ceremony was a kind of cautionary tale for us. It was a reminder to us that we must learn to let go. It’s the essence of the vow of poverty. For us religious, it is not the building, or the property or any other temporal thing that we attach ourselves to, absolutely. It is the security of insecurity that is what we are called to embrace. It is the discipleship of vulnerability, humility and powerlessness that religious are challenged to model for others. Hence, the injunction of our Lord to travel light is the lesson of a lifetime and across the generations.
Well, today, we celebrate this Mass of the Holy Spirit who will lead us to discern the path ahead for our Congregation. It is also with a mixture of emotions that we have come to this point. In fact, the emotions are even more amplified and more conflicted because it is not just a building or a ministry that we have to let go. It is our very existence as a Congregation, with its proud history, tradition, apostolates and generations of dedicated members. In celebrating this extraordinary chapter, we are conscious of what is being asked of us. We are being asked to surrender, to let go and ultimately to trust in the God who companions us in life and in death. Like Abraham taking what was most precious to him, we walk the journey to the unknown with the only knowledge which is expressed in the words of Abraham to his son Isaac: “God will provide”. Yes, God will provide for his people beyond us and in spite of us.
Our Founder, Mother Mary Clare might not have foreseen this day, the day when her sisters will have to decide whether or not their corporate existence has come to a point of completion. A century ago, religious life was robust and there was no shortage of vocations. Such a proposition would have been unthinkable. However, she knew what mattered and what didn’t. Discerning God’s will and keeping God’s glory before all else was her wise counsel to her sisters. She would have known that there was never a time to settle into false securities, including numbers, prestige and visibility. Instead, it is living the creative power of the Spirit through chaos, uncertainty and insecurity is our charismatic strength, yours. This is why she possessed this deep sense of hope: “All will be well for time and eternity.”
In the Gospel, we heard how the risen Jesus appeared to the disciples who were gathered in a state of fear and disarray. Yet, it was into this very moment of utter vulnerability that they were transformed into catalysts for the kingdom. A small and vulnerable group of people were turned into a beacon of light, hope and reconciliation for the world. It’s how we feel and what we await expectantly.
Religious are never about immortality and numbers. As catalysts for the kingdom, we often occupy a precious yet precarious place, a liminal space rather than a centre stage. There on the margins, we explore new frontiers and possibilities. Our job is to inspire and to keep the fire of the Gospel burning for the sake of the Church and of the world. Like Mary at Cana, we accompany people in crisis and we show the way forward by cultivating faith and trust in God who alone transforms the water of our poverty into the new wine of God’s creative power and enduring love.
Dear sisters,
The Japanese have developed an art called Kintsugi, which specialises in repairing and mending broken vessels. This reminds me of the visit of Jeremiah to the potter’s house where he was told that Israel would undergo the process of being recast into the kind of vessel the Lord desired. The exile would act as the furnace and Israel would be refashioned in the same way the Kintsugi artist refashions the damaged ceramic. I wonder if this is the metaphor for religious life as we are heading towards diminishment and completion. I wonder whether you are being asked to go into the furnace, metaphorically speaking, so that you may undergo the process of being disassembled and recast into something else we are yet to comprehend.
The survival of religious institutes is not paramount. In fact, many have come and gone. Religious movements are but finger pointing to the moon. It is the Gospel and the reign of God that you are utterly committed to. Like Israel during the time of the exile, we let ourselves be drawn into the furnace of cleansing, even dying so that God the potter can refashion or repurpose what is left of us into something that he alone knows and destines us to be.
As you enter into this extraordinary chapter, know that nothing that was done in loving, generous and selfless service has been lost. The legacy of generations of Parramatta Mercy sisters lives on and continues to enrich the Church. As we pray for you today we do so with gratitude, we pray that all will be well for you, for time and eternity. For we are sure that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
Bishop Vincent Long OFM Conv