Story By: Fr Nathan Webb

It was no episode of “The Flying Nun”, but the visit was flying nonetheless. Four members of the Sisters of Life stopped briefly in Toowoomba following an evangelisation mission through New South Wales and Tasmania.

The sisters set their sights on Toowoomba to visit the hometown and family of Sr Rose Patrick. However, once news of their visit spread, every second of their time in the sunshine state was filled.

Arriving Monday night, the sisters joined the St Patrick’s Cathedral young adult group, Veritas, as their featured presenters for the month. Mass, prayer, input, and an opportunity for Q&A filled the evening. The sisters witnessed to living from our deepest identity in Christ, founded in our own goodness and relying on Jesus in our weaknesses.

Tuesday morning began with a visit from two of the sisters to the Toowoomba Catholic Schools Office formation and development day for APREs and school religious leaders. There they witnessed to their charism and spoke to the challenge of recognising and receiving people with delight in their own goodness and dignity.

Mass, prayer, and fellowship then followed at Sacred Heart Parish Toowoomba, the home parish of Sr Rose and her family. They spoke to their work and mission before leading prayer with reflections and song.

The sisters then spent the evening getting to know the home life and family of Sr Rose. In typical Webb fashion, this included exploring the gardens and pets of the estate and joining in a mini-concert. This was all topped off with a hearty home-cooked meal.

Wednesday morning saw the sisters back at the Cathedral for Mass before bidding farewell to the land down under with their sights set toward the Americas. They have returned to their various communities scattered across the east coast of the USA in the hope of visiting Australia again soon.

The Sisters of Life are a community of religious sisters with a charism to protect and enhance the dignity of human life. Founded by John Cardinal O’Connor, the late Archbishop of New York, in the 1990s, the sisters work with society’s most vulnerable. They seek out and receive those cast out or put down by the narratives and situations of their lives. www.sistersoflife.org