“To educate is to help to think well; to feel well — the language of the heart; and to do well — the language of the hands,” Francis continued. “This vision is fully relevant today.”
The pope noted that MacKillop did not, however, have an easy path to fulfilling her mission of sharing the Good News with those in need.
“You see: All the saints have found opposition, even within the Church,” he explained.
MacKillop “had to pay bills, negotiate with local bishops and priests, manage the schools and look after the professional and spiritual formation of her sisters; and, later, she suffered health problems. Yet, through it all, she remained calm, patiently carrying the cross that is an integral part of the mission,” he said.
“Mary,” Pope Francis emphasized, “had great faith in God’s providence: She was always confident that in any situation God provides.”
The pope also underlined the saint’s great care for the poor and marginalized, which pushed her “to go where others would not or could not go.”
“This is very important,” he said. “On the road to holiness, which is the Christian road, the poor and the marginalized are protagonists, and a person cannot move forward in holiness unless he also devotes himself to them in one way or another. They, who need the Lord’s help, carry the presence of the Lord.”
Francis recalled being struck once by a line he read that said: “The protagonist of the story is the beggar: Beggars are those who draw attention to injustice, which is the great poverty in the world.”
He also lamented that money is spent on making weapons instead of on producing food.
“Don’t forget: There is no holiness if, in one way or another, there is no care for the poor, for the needy, for those who are somewhat on the margins of society,” he said.
Hannah Brockhaus is Catholic News Agency's senior Rome correspondent. She grew up in Omaha, Nebraska, and has a degree in English from Truman State University in Missouri.
