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It is not what you are nor what you have been that God sees with
all merciful eyes,
but what you desire to be.
The Cloud of Unknowing
There
is something wanting in education where a child has not had its share of
leisure, to be rapt in silence and alone…
Janet Stuart rscJ
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Sr Mollie Ahern rscj
What d oes the Lord ask of you but to
act justly, to love tenderly and to walk humbly with your God.
Today, Margot and I will share some insights into the way our dear Mollie lived
these words from Micah: Margot from the rich family memories, and I will share
some of the heart memories of Mollie’s RSCJ family.
Mollie’s life had all the qualities of a steady, constant fire, with many
different manifestations. It was a fire that at times ignited others with
laughter, fun, joy and creativity; at others it simmered down to glowing coals:
her love of literature, her deep appreciation of poetry, and her intelligent
understanding of history.
The
foundations of this fire were her great love for her family, her constant loyal
friendships, her deep love for the Society of the Sacred Heart and its members,
and above all her faith, expressed in a life of prayer, of her humble service
and her fidelity to living the message of the Gospel.
Mollie loved telling the story of
her first request to enter the Society. As I was finishing my Degree,
I wrote to the Vicar of the Australian and New Zealand Province, asking to
enter the Society. I wanted to live my God-given life in a
serious way and with similarly motivated companions.
Alas, memories of my cheekiness
at school led to a negative answer, and I was informed that my vocation was to
marriage. The
following year, the family travelled overseas. However, Mollie could not accept
a “no.” She wrote her plea to one of her RSCJ teachers of yesteryear, whose
Superior read the letter, and from her long experience as Mistress of Novices,
declared that Mollie’s was one of the clearest vocations she’d seen. She then
received a new message informing her that she did have a vocation and we entered
the Society together at Rose Bay in Sydney on February 2, 1957. We were finally
Professed in Rome on July 21, 1965. By the time of Mollie’s final Profession,
she was already
appreciated as an outstanding
teacher, both at Stuartholme and at Rose Bay. The path ahead looked crystal
clear, when she was named the class teacher for English and History for the two
top classes at Rose Bay from August, 1965, and then Mistress of Studies, as well
there, in 1968. She was deeply appreciated by her students, both for her
integrity as a person, and the brilliance of her teaching. As Professor Annie
Bye, one of these students, and now a leading paediatric neurologist at Prince
of Wales Hospital in Sydney told me: Her great integrity as a person and a
teacher so inspired me, that I tried to emulate her clarity of
mind. Part-time study added to Mollie’s educational preparation during the
following years, and she was named Principal in 1970. When Kincoppal and Rose
Bay amalgamated in 1971, Mollie became the Deputy Principal of the Senior Campus
at Kincoppal. She accepted this challenging assignment, but after 2 years, her
energy had so deteriorated that she was sent back to Brisbane to work towards
her M.A. Qual. at Qld University. In actuality, this time became vital for the
redirection of her life. She became politized to the nuances of history, which
caused her to think about
the sharp contrasts in life in different countries. In 1975, Mollie asked to be
allowed to serve overseas where help was needed with education, and she was sent
to the Vice-Province of Uganda/Kenya.
This began the second significant
period of Mollie’s life of service in the Society, and the heart call to bring
greater justice into our world, expanded and grew. Mollie’s introduction to
Africa was to discover that she was unable to teach at Nkozi Teachers’ College
where she had been assigned, because the President of Uganda, Idi Amin, had just
declared the country self-sufficient with regard to teachers of the Humanities,
so the Provincial Council directed her, pro tem, to Karamoja in the north east
of the country. Mollie began teaching in the secondary school of a new
Congregation for men, founded by the Italian Bishop of the Diocese. Mollie then
requested to stay on there and in her own words she wrote: Thus began years
of teaching in the Catholic-founded Primary Teachers’ College which served
students from several Districts, all fresh from Primary Schools themselves. It
was a poor but beautifully-run College, and I found my place teaching English
and Christian Education.
Margot Crowther, who also spent
many years in the Kenya/Uganda Province adds these details:
Mollie fell in love with Karamoja
from the beginning. The landscape resembles Western Queensland, except for the
spectacularly stark, small hills dotted here and there admidst the low scrub and
thorn trees. Moroto where she lived sprawls at the base of beautiful Mt. Moroto
near our house. Here she taught in the Teachers’ Training College, honing her
skills and learning. She trained mostly Karamajong teachers. She loved her
students and spared no effort to keep in touch with them when they took up their
positions in isolated little primitive schools, travelling long distances over
the long, dusty or muddy roads. She made many friends too among the few
Europeans there – mostly Italian Carboni Fathers and Sisters and the English
members of the Church of Uganda.
Amin was overthrown in 1979, and
Mollie, with the other RSCJ sisters, experienced the wild flight of his soldiers
from their local barracks, and the
arrival of the Tanzanian
soldiers. Famine conditions followed, as well as foreign Aid Agencies of
varying quality. Mollie acknowledged, but made little of the chaos, disruption
and fear experienced by our Communities during those years. In 1982, Mollie’s
service in Africa took on a new direction when she was named “Education
Secretary” for the Diocese and a member of the Diocesan Social Services and
Development Committees. She loved these absorbing responsibilities, which
called on her creativity, her resilience and her wisdom in discernment. This
stretched her mind and heart and gave an excellent preparation when she was
called to be a delegate to the Society’s General Chapter.
Mollie came home for a long leave
in 1986, and spent some months at Braybrook, then the Province’s Noviceship.
Her contribution in the Community was major, with her valuable input on recent
Society history, the ’82 Chapter, Scripture and Prayer. It was above all, the
example of her own life and her dedication to Justice that called forth
ever-greater generosity in others. Soon after her return to Uganda/Kenya,
Mollie was asked to be Provincial. Margot Crowther has another special comment
on this time: As Provincial at a crisis time in the Province, Mollie showed
her sensitive warm-heartedness to any member of the Province who was suffering.
In particular, her compassion reached out to our Ugandan Sisters, as many of
their family members fell victim to AID’s. Her understanding and practical
assistance has been lovingly remembered by the Sisters. Another serious
preoccupation of Mollie’s, with her Provincial Council, was the tertiary
education of the young sisters. Except for Makerere University in Kampala and
Nairobi University, both inadequately staffed, financed and subject to prolonged
closures, there was no other means of obtaining professional training of a high
standard. Mollie made the courageous decision to send several of the young
African Sisters overseas. She realised that the development of Uganda/Kenya
would depend on the sound education of its youth. The Provinces of
Ireland/Scotland, the United States, England and Australia/New Zealamd were
particularly generous in funding and supporting this project. The decision
imposed extra work on those left at home, and caused criticism, but it has
proved inspirational for the ongoing life of the Province.
When Mollie completed her service
as Provincial in 1994, she had home leave, and then returned to Uganda/ Kenya.
She was asked to be Chancellor to the newly appointed Bishop in Karamoja, a role
she carried out for the next three years, with loyalty, humility, diligence and
suffering. This is a difficult role for a woman in Australia/ New Zealand, but
one that was entirely unknown in the Church of Africa. The large number of
priests, sisters and friends visiting our Ugandan and Kenyan Sisters to express
their sympathy since hearing of Mollie’s death last Friday, tells its own story.
As with the young Sister teaching at Stuartholme, Rose Bay, Kincoppal and Sacre
Coeur in the 60’s, the Mollie of the 90’s was valued for the quality of her
relationships, the excellence of her work and her reverent respect for all
others.
When she returned to our Province
in late 1999, Mollie was sent to the Duchesne College Community. She described
her life there as doing the things that retired people do
·
the completion of
the torturous, but very valuable history of the Uganda/Kenya Province, a work of
great love, now published.
·
involvement with
the Society of St Vincent de Paul, giving assistance to the Inala Support
Centre, and appreciating the relationships with others involved.
·
home-tutoring in
English to Refugees, after completing the TESOL Course.
·
leading a prayer
group, to reflect on Scripture and deeply valuing exploring with them the riches
of contemporary spirituality.
·
supporting and
loving her family and friends through joys and sorrows.
·
leading the
Province’s Committee for Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation until last
year, but still remaining a member of the Committee. She bought to us the wisdom
and clarity of her 25 years in Uganda/Kenya, gently but strongly calling us
beyond any temptation to compromise, guiding us to ever deeper Gospel insights.
I could further extend this list,
but the Congregation gathered here speaks for itself.
Dear Mollie, our Sister,
Your RSCJ Sisters in Australia,
New Zealand, Uganda, Kenya and indeed, around the world, loved you deeply. Your
close, sorrowing friends who also span the world: Paulina, June, Judith, Helen,
Ursula, Marnie and Betty, to name a few, have generously shared their memories
as have many RSCJ of this Province.
·
We knew you as a
woman of tremendous heart, who discerned courageously, a pacifier, and a
catalyst for change;
·
We valued your
indomitable spirit, which worked passionately to educate to reduce the gap
between political leaders and those most deprived;
·
We loved you in
your ability to listen with reverence; to laugh with abandon; to confuse with
complexity and to light up our journey to God.
·
You have inspired
us by your whole-hearted response to the urgent love of the Heart of our God by
loving tenderly, acting justly and walking humbly throughout His earth. I
conclude with this small extract from D.H. Lawrence’s Shadows:
And if tonight my soul may find her peace
in sleep, and sink in good oblivion
and in the morning wake like a new-opened flower
then I have been dipped again in God and NEW CREATED
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