On Campus: Sr Mary Rachel & Sr Mary Madeleine

At an annual Catholic mission week on campus that began today, Sydney University Catholic Chaplaincy's newest staff member and Dominican, Sr Mary Madeleine gave the Opening Address on "Christianity and Women - Freedom or Oppression."

This keynote address included a lesson on what real freedom is, as well as the acknowledgement that real equality of the sexes is inherent within us.

"True Freedom includes: freedom from being controlled by the emotions; freedom for the good, the true, and the beautiful; freedom to align myself with a truth higher than myself—that Truth wherein my happiness lies.  This Truth lies within you. True Freedom is the ability to know the Truth and to choose the Good," Sr Mary Madeleine said.

"All persons, male and female, are equal in dignity and made in the image of God Who is Love.  Equality is not something that is imposed from without; it is something inherent within, something that arises from our creation," she continued.

"This view of our equal dignity frees us from materialist notions of the human person which make equality dependent on external and changing factors, which lead to a slavery of endless competition. While the equal dignity of persons does not depend on externals, it should be reflected in the external structures of society; our equal dignity serves as the basis for a just society (i.e. equal educational opportunities, just wage, etc.)."

 Although Christweek is "nothing new" (it existed before World Youth Day hit Sydney's streets), for Convenor of the Sydney University Catholic Chaplaincy, Robert Haddad, the important thing this year is to "keep the momentum going."

And the tempo certainly is up.

This year all 75 orange 'Christweek' tee-shirts have been taken by staff and students alike participating in the campus missionary work. This shows at least a 50 per cent increase on participation since 2007, which saw less than 50 mission-shirts taken for the apostolate.

"Sr Mary Madeleine spoke on a topic that's always going to be controversial. This year we had 46 students attending the first Friday of Christweek. That's double last first Friday's attendance," Haddad said enthusiastically, commenting on the number of listeners Christweek has drawn this year.

For final year science and commerce student, Krisabel Nimenzo, 23, today was the first time she had come to hear a Christweek talk on campus.

Nimenzo said it was a shame this was her final year, as she had just heard about Christweek after attending World Youth Day earlier in the year.

This year's Christweek them is from John 8: 32 - 'You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free'.

In the context of this, Sr Mary Madeleine said: "The Truth revealed by Christ must be proclaimed to all:  You are equal to every other person in your dignity, and you deserve to be treated with respect. You are good by your nature, and this goodness does not depend on what you do but who you are. You are beautiful in the eyes of your Creator; you are the cherished daughter (or son) of a loving God."

"You are loved by the Church, which promotes true justice and respect for you. You are not an object to be used but the subject of love. For freedom, true freedom, the freedom that flows from knowing the truth and freely embracing all that is good, true, and beautiful, Christ has set you free," she concluded.

CHRISTWEEK PROGAM 

For more info: visit www.usydcc.org