Jerusalem, Israel

Estes últimos sete anos o Convento de Notre Dame de Sion, na Via Dolorosa de Jerusalém, tem sido a minha casa. A viver num Bairro Muçulmano na Cidade Velha foi um presente e um desafio. As pessoas deste país têm enriquecido e ampliado meus horizontes e a compreensão do meu ministério. Eu cresci na apreciação do que significa ser diferente. Tenho esperança que um dia cada um possa dizer, como diz a Escritura: “Naquele dia, convidar-vos eis uns aos outros debaixo da vinha e debaixo da figueira”(Zc 3,10).

 

 

Growing up in the great south land in the 50’s, Australia was seen as a land of opportunities. I was blessed to be born into a family who had a great capacity for work and took great pride in the life and development of their off spring. This secure and loving family environment fostered in me my religious vocation. It was here I experienced a sense of outreach and concern for my neighbour with a healthy and well balanced attentiveness to the growth and development for each family member. The desire to join the Congregation of Notre Dame de Sion did not come as a surprise to me. I did not experience a sudden bolt from the heavens calling me to follow. I took my freedom and went my own way until the whisper from this faithful God grew stronger. Before choosing religious life I worked for many years as a cutter and designer in the clothing industry. My future path was to focus on a teaching career. I then moved into parish ministry with a focus on lay leadership. My studies included degrees in Sociology and Theology. Later I served on the Congregational leadership team in Rome. Today my life and ministry in Ecce Homo Convent is alive and well. As Director of the English Biblical Formation Centre I am immersed in a world of relationships with others and the Word. I have received a fresh challenge. The insights gained in this ministry, continue to strengthen and give energy to my vocation as a Sister of Notre dame de Sion. To learn from the peoples of this land; to give greater attention to the re-reading of the scriptures; to live in the heart of Jerusalem have each been a gift. I am challenged daily to be a woman of peace; to seek deeper joy, and to make greater efforts to create space for the other to walk and speak with freedom. This is my hope and prayer: …they shall sit everyone under his/her vine and under his/her fig tree and none shall make them afraid; Micah 4:4