Good Samaritan Oblate Sally FitzGerald has contributed to a new book in which Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholic women have shared sacred personal stories about their lived experience of hope.
By Debra Vermeer
Inspired by the recent Jubilee Year and published to coincide with the 40th anniversary of Pope John Paul II’s landmark Alice Springs address to Australia’s First Nations peoples, Hope: Unfinished Business invites readers into powerful stories of the grit and resilience of trailblazing women, and their ability to live, love and fight for faith-filled hope amidst turmoil and challenge.
Sponsored by Australian Catholic University’s Office of the Pro Vice-Chancellor (Indigenous) in partnership with Catholic Mission and formation.org.au, the book is a collection of raw reflections on hope in the face of darkness, uncertainty, survival and intergenerational trauma.
Hope: Unfinished Business. Image: St Pauls Publications.
With a foreword by Father Frank Brennan SJ, the book also features the authentic experiences of the late Gumbaynggirr woman Aunty Hilda Louise Campbell; education researcher Antoinette Cole; Executive Officer of Aboriginal Catholic Ministry in Sydney Dr Lisa Buxton; Kimberley Catholic Erica Bernard; mother of three Karen Andriske; Northern Territory educator Cynthia Page; Melukerdee and Palawa woman Alarna Page; and Gumbaynggirr woman Aunty Doreen Flanders.
Sally, who is a Muruwari woman and whose homelands stretch from Cunnamulla in Queensland to Brewarrina in north-west New South Wales, now lives in Canberra. Her contribution to the book is entitled ‘Being pilgrims of HOPE: Choosing and deciding daily’.
It follows an overarching theme of interconnected roads, journeys and landscape, sharing her thoughts on the importance of finding hope in the everyday.
“I spend a lot of time behind the wheel, driving between meetings, visiting our farm in Moree, dropping in to see friends in the Community, and to fulfil the many commitments that I thought might diminish when I retired,” Sally wrote.
“On the road, as the countryside shifts and changes, so too does my focus and attention. No radio, no podcasts, no telephone calls, just the quiet presence of light, shape and sound. The hum of the tyres becomes a kind of prayer, and the journey itself a space for reflection.
“It’s during these long hours, surrounded by bitumen and sky, that I find myself reflecting deeply. And, more often than not, my thoughts drift towards hope.
“My understanding of hope is living memory, grounded in my experience and sustained by my culture and my faith. In the rhythm of the road, I’ve come to see that hope is not just a feeling. It’s something I do. Something I carry. And in many ways, it is what carries me.”
Book signing in Sydney. Photo credit: Australian Catholic University.
Sally, who spoke on a panel at the launch of the book in Sydney in May this year, also wrote about the importance of the landscape and, in particular, one tree she has come to know on her car journeys.
“I believe that the tree symbolises hope and resilience,” she wrote. “Although it seems it is by itself in the middle of a field, it isn’t really. Its roots dive deep into the ground, drawing its life force from a deep interconnected network of ecosystems and supports. It reaches towards the heavens and provides a home to animals, birds, and insects. It reminds me that even one person, one act, or one Community can make a difference.”
Sally said that her mind often moves to the tree under which her Mother was born in 1927 and spent the first two years of her life living with her family under a tarpaulin.
“Just two years shy of 100 years since my Mother was born beneath that tree, I now find myself filled with a deep and abiding hope at the arrival of my first granddaughter. She enters a world where, not long ago, the majority of Australians voted against enshrining a Voice to Parliament in the Constitution, an outcome that was disappointing for many of us. And yet, I remain hopeful. Because within that same vote, we witnessed over six million Australians say Yes! Six million people who chose to stand with us. Who believed in something better. That, too, is part of the story – and it gives me hope for the world my granddaughter will grow up in.”
Sally said that for her, hope is embodied in the small moments which shape our life.
“Hope is nurtured by our daily decisions – the choices we make every moment. We must be grounded in hope at all times. St Benedict told his followers 1500 years ago to ‘place your hope in God alone’ (Rule of St Benedict 4). This should be our recipe for life!”
Author and Good Samaritan Oblate Sally FitzGerald. Photo credit: Catholic Voice.
Sally, who is a member of the NSW South Coast Good Samaritan Oblate Group, told The Good Oil that the book was published against the background of ongoing struggles by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to be accepted by the broader Catholic Church in Australia.
“Hope is closely tied to resilience,” she said. “And you have to be resilient today in the Catholic Church because Aboriginals in the Catholic Church are not wanted, we’re not accepted for who we are. We experience racism and bigotry all the time, but we still stand up, and we stand there. And that’s hope.
“There is hope in the Catholic Church. There’s hope in the world, but we have to find it. We have to live in hope. Without hope, there’s no life.”
Sally said that her Catholic faith and life as a Good Samaritan Oblate has confirmed her long-held view that hope is also fundamental in serving one’s neighbour.
“If you’ve got the gift of hope, you’re full of joy and peace, and it makes you be kinder to the next person,” she said.
She said that while the book held stories of struggle and pain, it also offered an opportunity to strengthen connections between people.
“It’s not a novel. You can’t just sit down with a cup of tea and think you’re going to flip through it,” she said.
“Just remember, it’s a sacred moment, because you’re meeting somebody in their vulnerability. Don’t read it with your head, read it with your heart, and then when you’re reading it, don’t rush it through. Just ponder it, because reading everyone’s sacred stories helps us to meet people where they are at.
“We’re all created by God, we’re all equal and we’ve all got stories about who we are, so I hope people take the time to really hear those stories and honour them.”
Hope: Unfinished Business is published by St Pauls Publications. To order your copy, click here.
