When Margie Schubert encountered the Good Samaritan Oblate Group in Melbourne she was struck by the Benedictine values of deep listening and hospitality she found there, and recently, after some years of companionship and preparation, she too became an Oblate.
By Debra Vermeer
Margie, who hails from Melbourne, now lives in Katherine in the Northern Territory where she works as a community psychologist after previously working at the Aboriginal Health Service.
She said that being part of the Melbourne Oblate community, even from a distance, via Zoom, provides her with connection, support and spiritual sustenance while living in a remote community.
“It’s very helpful for my work here. The readings and little books I’ve been given through the Oblate group are very calming to read if I wake up in the middle of the night thinking about things here in the community,” she said.
Margie first came into contact with the Sisters of the Good Samaritan when she was working in housing information and referral in Melbourne.
“Housing is not that great in Australia,” she said. “It can be really hard to find people housing, especially when they need it most.
“But one of the places that we were able to refer women and children who had experienced domestic violence was the Good Samaritan Inn where they could go for a few nights until we could find something else for them.
“I noticed that those few nights with the Inn were really transformative for the women. They would often arrive quite traumatised but would come back from the Inn in a state where they could start thinking about what they might do next.
“It was amazing. So that really made an impression on me.”
The Rite of Oblation – Congregational Leader Sister Catherine MCahill SGS (right) questions Margie Schubert. Photo: Sister Marie O’Shea SGS.
Some years after her encounter with this ministry of the Sisters, Margie started to search online for a spirituality connection and came across the Good Samaritan Oblate Group in Melbourne.
After making contact, Margie met with Good Samaritan Sister Colleen Leonard for an introductory cup of coffee, during which Colleen invited Margie along to the Oblate group to ‘Come and See’.
Margie said that from the first meeting she went to, she felt comfortable and enjoyed the companionship, the spiritual reading and the Good Samaritan-Benedictine values.
“I was particularly attracted to the deep listening and hospitality,” she said.
“I kept doing the ‘Come and See’ for some years without necessarily thinking to take it further and become an Oblate.”
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, members of the group maintained their monthly meetings via Zoom, which turned into a godsend for Margie when she moved to the Northern Territory.
She has continued to join the meetings via Zoom ever since. “It works well for me. It’s something to hold on to, which gives me a bit of structure and connection,” she said.
“All of this is helpful for me, especially living where I do now. I like my own company and it’s easy for me to turn inward, but this group gives me community, connection and growth, and I really value that.”
From left: Marie Mohr, Oblate Coordinator; Suzanna Kingsland, Oblate Companion; Margie Schubert, Oblate; and Sister Catherine McCahill SGS. Photo: Sister Marie O’Shea SGS.
Margie said she continued in the ‘Come and See’ program until her Oblate companion, Suzanna Kingsland, asked her directly if she wanted to take the step to becoming an Oblate.
“She’s been a great companion for me. She asked me flat out. She said, ‘Do you want to do the Oblate thing?’ And I was like, ‘Yes, I do’.
“But this is something I’ve observed in the Aboriginal culture; that you don’t put yourself forward. You wait until you’re asked. I’ve sort of done that. I wondered how it would work with me up here in Katherine, but it has.
“So, receiving that invitation and becoming an Oblate has been quite encouraging for me. It was very affirming.”
Margie said she enjoyed the Candidature phase for becoming an Oblate, during which she worked through the various online modules with Suzanna.
As part of her Oblate preparation, Margie was asked to write a spiritual biography, which she said illuminated for her where God had moved in her life over the years.
“It was a really personal rendition of things, and it showed me what is important to me around spirituality,” she said.
Margie made her Oblation on 16 November last year in the Chapel of Santa Maria College in Northcote, Melbourne.
From left: Sister Catherine McCahill SGS and the Victorian Oblate Group – Monica Svab, Ann Quinlan, Marie Mohr, Margie Schubert, Suzanna Kingsland, Sister Colleen Leonard SGS, Sister Lal Smith SGS, Eileen Stevens, Margaret-Anne Pritchard and Sister Helen Mills SGS. Photo: Sister Marie O’Shea SGS.
The ceremony was attended by family, friends and other Oblates as well as members of the Good Samaritan Oblate Leadership Team and Sisters, including Congregational Leader Sister Catherine McCahill.
Speaking at the ceremony, Catherine said that the Rule of Benedict and the Parable of the Good Samaritan called people to take action and pursue peace.
“Benedict is clear that if we say Yes, then we need to live according to God’s ways as given to the people of Israel in the Psalm that he quotes: … keep your tongue from evil and do good; seek after peace and pursue it.
“This invitation is not a call to some idle, casual spirituality. Action is required. Most of us have enough experience to know that keeping our tongues from evil requires effort and attentiveness. ‘Doing good’ is not for the faint-hearted. Christianity is not a matter of faith statements, or piety or even just praying. No, we are called to action. Like the Samaritan in the Gospel, we need to act when we see a need, we need to go beyond mere courtesy.
“Furthermore, Benedict tells us that we need to ‘seek peace and pursuit it’. We need to chase after it.
“We know this requires courage, tenacity and forgiveness daily in all aspects of our lives: at home, in our places of ministry, in the marketplace, in our churches, wherever else we encounter ourselves and the rest of humanity.”
Margie said she was “happy but overwhelmed” to be finally making her Oblate promises.
“I was very emotional,” she said. “Ceremonies like that can be very emotional, I think. But it was beautiful.”
If you would like to know more about Good Samaritan Oblates or find out more about connecting, click here.
Oblates sing ‘Light a Fire on the Earth’ at Margie Schubert’s Oblation. Photo: Sister Marie O’Shea SGS.
This article was published in the February 2026 edition of The Good Oil.
