Mary MacKillop has been accredited with the necessary requirements to be recognised as a saint by the Roman Catholic church.
She spent what seems to have been a brief, but formative, period of her life in Penola which is fifty kilometers north of Mount Gambier.
It may not be known to folk outside Australia that no other Australian has been recognised with this status. So this is a very big deal for lots of Australians and for those places with which MacKillop had an association.
It has been odd to see the media put their usual level of critical evaluation aside and simply try to squeeze every last page inch and broadcast moment out of the situation.
Those who have had the moral consistency to criticise the whole concept of miracles which are attributed to deceased individuals have generally been treated with the same pointed disdain accorded to those who break wind in an elevator. We know they did it, but we’re just keep going our way regardless.
As a protestant church we do believe in the miraculous. Not the sort of on-demand miracle that needs credit card details to be forwarded to an address on a TV screen. Miracles are just that. If they happen when expected or as a result of a determined process then they really cease to be miracles anyway.
A miracle can’t be demanded. It can be sought, but if one is not forthcoming we have not poorer. If received we are blessed.
Our church has been praying through the year and we have experienced outcomes that go beyond that which was expected.
But we pray to God, as Jesus taught us to. Only he is everywhere, all the time. He hears every word, knows every thought and is aware of every need.
The always thoughtful John Davies, retiring principal of the Sydney Presbyterian Theological College provides a sensible response for Bible believing Christians to the impending sainthood of Mary MacKillop on the PTC blog.
This YouTube contributes some expert opinion on the matter of miracles.
mgpcpastor's blog 