1. “I love the work Mary McKillop did for the education of the poor. She obviously had a soft spot for the battlers, and she had that in common with Jesus. He’s my hero, and I’m happy to count Mary McKillop as one of his great mates.” (You could add a story about Jesus – perhaps one where he blesses the children, or one where he teaches whole crowds of people in the outdoors, like the Beatitudes or one of his parables.)
2. “The main job of the saints is to remind the rest of us what we can do to change the world if you’re in Jesus’ team of helpers – and Mary McKillop does that for sure. I reckon I’d better start praying for a bit more energy to do MY bit!” (You could add something that you or your community does to change the world for Jesus’ sake – your local “reaching out in loving service” activity, for example.)
3. “You’ve got to love Mary McKillop’s absolute passion for spreading the Christian faith. It’s great that the Catholics’ first Aussie saint is someone who was so passionate about God and really knew how to work hard and pray hard for what she believed in.” (You could add something about what you’re praying hard for at the moment, especially your particular evangelism project.)
4. “I ask myself what kept Mary going, despite all the troubles she had, and I reckon it must have been the Holy Spirit. It’s great that even pretty ordinary people who aren’t nuns, and aren’t catholics, can have the same Holy Spirit to keep us going for the work God wants us to do right here. I’m up for it! Bring on the Spirit for all God’s people!” (You could tell a “good news story” about a project that you’ve been involved with in your church community, where you can see how the Holy Spirit has helped things move along.)
And as for us being saints ourselves – more next week.
Dale