Spoons are for stirring

Yesterday morning I hit the ground running by meeting with Sr Rose Mary at the Las Casas Centre for Justice, Peace, and Care of Creation, housed on the grounds of the Santa Sabina college. The center was named after a Spanish Dominican bishop, Bartolome Las Casas, who migrated to the West Indies in 1502 and befriended and defended many of the indigenous people after seeing how they were massacred and exploited by conquistadores. He committed himself to working to gain full human rights for the Indian people. The JPCC's mission is inspired by his work and Sr Rose Mary works in a variety of social justice programs in and around Sydney.

One of the beautiful main buildings of Santa Sabina College: 

The day's agenda began with a tour around the grounds and the archives of the center by Sr Elizabeth Hellwig, the center's first archivist. She has arranged for all the historical photos, documents and artifacts of the Dominican heritage to be displayed for Santa Sabina students, as well as tourists and members of the city. Not only does she have an eye for decoration and display, but also is an amazing storyteller! I got the entire history of the family tree- and yes, a literal tree! Santa Sabina college is home to the oldest fruit tree in Australia. An orange sapling from an orange tree at Santa Sabina in Rome (where it is believed to have been planted by Saint Dominic himself in the thirteenth century) was brought to the college to symbolize the Dominican heritage stemming from Europe. The oranges themselves are a bitter and little funny looking ("That tends to happen when you get to be that old!" Sr Rose Mary joked), but make for delicious marmalade!
The Dominican sisters in New South Whales are descended from 8 sisters from Kingstown, Ireland who were called to educate the members of the community in Maitland, NSW. These young women, in their late teens and early twenties, spent 3 months traveling at sea, finally arriving in September 1867. Sr Elizabeth told about the daily hardships of the journey- cockroaches, storms and seasickness, and how they bravely pushed through with the inspiring motto: "Up she gets, for up she must!" As the center's archivist, Sr Elizabeth has translated and compiled the ship diaries of these women (I even got to see the originals!) and published them for the public.

Another artifact Sr Elizabeth had on display: a "clapper." Once schools had been established in NSW, the sisters used these noisemakers to get the attention of their students by signaling for quiet. Reminds me a little of the Von Trapp family whistle calls...

Next Sr Elizabeth pulled out of the artifact a wooden spoon. A wooden spoon? Story has it that Saint Dominic, returning from a visit to Spain, brought back a spoon for each of the Dominican sisters of the West Indies. They were intended as personal gifts, rather than a gift for the whole community that the sisters served, giving them a bit of recognition and thanks for their work. The spoon itself represented the fact that Dominicans were supposed to be the "stirrers" working for change, but also manifested this in the simple, ordinary object of a spoon.


This idea of change is a central theme for the JPCC and it is deeply committed to other programs that support social change as well. This week, Australia celebrates NAIDOC week, or National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee week. This is a time dedicated to celebrating the history, culture, and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander peoples. The main theme for the week is "Change: the next step is ours," where members of the Aboriginal community can reflect on where they have come from and where we want to go from here. Sr Rose Mary gave me the incredible opportunity today to meet with the members of the Aboriginal Women Catholic Ministry who run a support center for Aboriginal people where they will feel welcomed and specifically focuses on providing social support for young mothers.

As part of the meeting, I got to participate in a traditional Aboriginal mass celebration, surrounded by Aboriginal artwork and the priest wearing an Aboriginal-inspired stole. It was decorated with crosses made up of concentric circles, which are holy symbols to the Aborigines. Fr Eugene spoke about transitioning from being 'victims' to being 'victors,' though in order to do this, we must rely on both the support from God and those in the community around us. Lunch followed soon after mass, and as I walked into the kitchen, there was Sr Francis stirring a delicious homemade pumpkin soup- with a wooden spoon. Funny how things work like that...

I spent lunch talking with Jenny Ebsworth, one of the Aboriginal women and of the Murawari tribe. She shared her amazing stories of perseverance and her ability to serve others, even while facing hardships. The Aboriginal population still faces many challenges posed by the government, yet Jenny has been involved in the community as a volunteer for the past 6 years. By doing this, she said this makes her feel useful and that she is able to give something back to the community. She is most proud of her family and dedicates significant time and effort in raising her 6-year old granddaughter, Deykota.

The Aboriginal flag: the black represents the Aboriginal people of Australia, red symbolizes the soil, and the yellow center stands for the sun, the "giver of life." 

On the way back, Sr Rose Mary and I compared the difficulties the Aboriginal peoples are facing with the Australian government with how the relationship and communication between American Native Americans and the U.S. government has evolved and how dialogue is a necessary aspect to improving the lives of the Indigenous peoples. This was a continuation of a long discussion yesterday about building relationships and a sense of community with all members of the global community. She and a few others from the JPCC attended a conference in Indonesia last July, which focused on challenging the unjust political, economic, social, cultural and religious structures that deprive people of their human rights and dignity. I especially liked the statement she made that "solidarity must become global." While technology is reaching across the world, recognizing and respecting each and every person must also be an increasing movement too.

...Off to watch the third and final 'State of Origin' rugby league game- an intense rivalry between New South Whales and Queensland. Everyone is rooting for the NSW underdogs...we'll keep our fingers crossed!