But the pairing of saint and gospel makes sense in the context of Mary’s vocation. Rather than worrying about herself, she cared for others. In this, Mary MacKillop lived the gospel very effectively. First caring for her immediate family, then for wider relations, soon enough Mary was focused on meeting the many needs of the communities in which she and her fellow Sisters of St Joseph lived. Through aid, education, and example Mary offered her contemporaries and us an example of faith through works.

From quietly and unobtrusively teaching in a stable in 1866, to founding a religious order that spread throughout and beyond a continent, Mary’s spiritual journey was truly focused on “God’s saving justice”. Tending to Australia’s Aboriginal peoples, prisoners facing execution, children requiring education, the homeless, the orphaned, the sick, indeed anybody she saw in need, Mary shows us how God seeks to answer the day’s troubles: through us.