At the heart of Catholic colleges conducted under the stewardship of Mary Aikenhead Ministries lies a renewed animation of the spirit of Venerable Mary Aikenhead and the tradition of the Sisters of Charity of Australia.
Our inheritance is the gift of the charism and ministry of Venerable Mary Aikenhead passed to us by the Sisters of Charity of Australia for faithful stewardship under Mary Aikenhead Ministries.
As an education ministry we are obliged to read the Gospels in light of the signs of the times through discerning where we are being called to ministry, particularly through a preferential option for the poor and vulnerable; a considered and effective response to the needs of others and our world; and a demonstrated commitment to our Catholic faith by enlivening the Gospel values of justice, hope, compassion and love.
At our heart is a reflection of the deep and profound dedication of Venerable Mary Aikenhead to her Catholic faith and her prophetic response to the Gospel, which found expression in her life and ministries. Gifted to her from the Spirit, her charism inspires us today to continue her education ministry in imaginative and courageous ways. We are charged with evolving a new charism for our times, drawn from and faithful to this original spiritual gift – we are called to be a new people for our times, living and acting anew.
Our ministry in education, drawn from this founding charism, has been interpreted and realised across time in the lives and lived example of the Sisters of Charity of Australia. In partnership with the numerous laywomen and men, who have travelled with them, the Sisters have undertaken their work in the Church bringing to life the mission of Jesus through their ministries. Today this charism finds expression through the life and ministry of the Sisters themselves and the mission, vision and values of Mary Aikenhead Ministries.
We are called to be faithful to the expression of the charism of Venerable Mary Aikenhead and to work with this gift of the Spirit to nurture and sustain our distinctive ministry in education. In doing so we honour its spirit and advance its understanding, renewed expression and application in new and different contexts. In doing so we also ensure fidelity to our origins and tradition while creating anew for our world our particular spirituality, taken forward through continued partnership and collaboration.
The power of the charism, heritage and tradition that we have been given calls us to continue to be at the edge, to think and act in ways that renew and transform, and to explore constantly what it means to live in the spirit of service of Venerable Mary Aikenhead in our times and for all times. We return to these sources always as a means of building understanding of what our spirituality should be and what it is calling us to do and be. We draw from it the wisdom to imagine and realise where we can and should be for our times.
As a result we remain constantly aware that at the basis of all that we do and all that we are is an unwavering commitment to our Catholic faith, which provides for us the foundational identity of our ministry in education, given unique expression through the charism and ministry of Venerable Mary Aikenhead and the tradition of the Sisters of Charity of Australia.
We are challenged then to ensure that we respond in effective and visible ways to the foundational story of our Catholic faith and the particular narrative that we have been gifted through Venerable Mary Aikenhead’s prophetic response to the Gospel.
Our Congregation’s spirit and our inheritance is the gospel privilege of serving others, especially the poor. Our story is one of innovation, courage and conviction. It is our hope that this will continue. We are confident that through Mary Aikenhead Ministries the spirit of service will flourish in new and progressive ways, always alive to the spirit of the times.
Sr Elizabeth Dodds rsc, Congregational Leader at the time of MAM’s establishment
