ON A MISSION WITH GOD
by madonna botting
I had to get out my daughter’s primary school atlas to get a picture of the country and the distances Sr Carmel Street travels in her ministry of prayer and spiritual direction in north-western Queensland. For ten years this remarkable Josephite sister has been traversing the thousand kilometres from Townsville to Mt Isa and back, giving retreats and spiritual direction, teaching people ways of prayer and supporting and training them to be spiritual companions to one another.
In 1992, Carmel was in Townsville hoping to continue spiritual direction work. Fortuitously, Len Horner, the diocesan secretary, had been consulting with western parishioners who said they wanted spiritual support. So Carmel attended a western regional gathering. Of that weekend Carmel says, ‘I must have given spiritual direction to about eight people! It just blossomed from there. I had no idea how it would work out when I began.’
| Carmel began going round to towns and properties, visiting for a night or two, just ‘being with people, and sharing their lives’. During that time she would give a session of spiritual direction. But many people found the idea a bit daunting, so hand in hand with direction, Carmel gave lots of ‘days of prayer’. Often, out of those, people would ask to talk to her. The men as well as the women would come and talk, tentatively at first, but as time went on becoming more confident. |
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Carmel said people expected her ‘to be here a while and then take off’. But having visited one town in August, she went back again in November, and was told, ‘We knew you were fair dinkum when you came back in the heat!’
The service has expanded each year as Carmel tries to go to a couple more properties. Often the woman on the property will gather women from the surrounding areas for a day of prayer and sharing, and it’s not just Catholic women.
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‘The west is automatically ecumenical or we wouldn’t survive!’ Carmel believes the ministry ‘just goes’ because people asked for it, rather than having the ministry imposed upon them. ‘It’s all about helping people not only develop their relationship with God, but to integrate it into their everyday life, so that their life becomes a richer place for them. Everything we do stems from this.’ |
On a property visit, Carmel and the family talk and share. ‘At night-time we’d have a little prayer time together. We have prayer time for the family and individual time as well. I have prayer time with the children sometimes. It’s beautiful—they are so open. I asked one little girl "Is Jesus a friend?" She said, "Oh no, he’s more than a friend, he’s family".’
After some experience of what Carmel offered, people asked her to ‘show
us how to do what you do’, so she trained them as prayer leaders.
Training consisted of a taste of many varieties of prayer; then people
learning to lead the prayer; then they had to write a program so they
were able to lead more than just a session.
As participant Marion O’Brien says, ‘Carmel is an exceptionally
good teacher, but she expects so much of you as well!’
| Some of Carmel’s early clients were keenly involved in training as prayer leaders, and are now part of a retreat team which began directed retreats in the bigger towns. The parish priest of Mt Isa, Fr Mick Lowcock, has been especially gracious and collaborative, opening the presbytery and all parish facilities to the team, giving an opportunity to people who would otherwise have no chance of a retreat. |
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Carmel emphasises that hers is not a one-person ministry. She shares the work with several other sisters and women who have trained as spiritual directors and prayer leaders.
Mary Stark shares both ministry and home with Carmel. Mary, a widow and grandmother of 13, offers spiritual direction, alongside Carmel, in Townsville for the many people visiting town for meetings, shopping or medical appointments. Mary has been part of the Mt Isa retreat team from the beginning.
As well, Mary takes care of the programming and ‘nuts and bolts’ of the ministry.
‘Meeting people at a deep level who are anxious to know God as an integral part of their lives is so rewarding and humbling,’ says Mary. She feels privileged to see the tremendous growth and transitions she has witnessed in people’s lives.
Marion O’Brien from Hughenden, 45 years on the land, has always been involved with her parish.
'When Carmel suggested spiritual direction, we all took a deep breath!’ explains Marion. ‘But when we experienced it, we could see how good it was. You can see it happening within yourself, and see that it’s something you can do for others,’ She describes her involvement as helping people find ‘a certain freedom within themselves to discover the richness of their own lives’.
Leonie Maxwell, from Nelia, became a Catholic when she married in 1986. She says she is really blessed to be part of the prayer leadership and Contemplative Companioning training. Leonie especially values Christian friendship.
‘It’s something really special to be able to share that important foundation of your life with someone.’
The most exciting development now for Carmel is the Contemplative Companioning programme, which teaches people to be spiritual directors. Assisting her in this training are Sr Juanita Scari RSJ and Sr Marie Williams RSM.
‘Though people don’t like the term "spiritual director", they still want to be companions to each other in the west. We have 17 people including one Aboriginal elder, and a Uniting Church elder, and people from properties and the towns. Their commitment and dedication is remarkable!’ The course is based on training programs used all round Australia, so the training is excellent.
Leonie Maxwell describes her experience of the program.
‘The best gift is to really listen to the other person; to just stop
that voice that wants to say, "Oh yes, that happened to me".
Companioning is not about finding answers for people. They have the answers inside with God. They just sometimes need to verbalise what’s inside to be able to see it properly. For the listener, it’s a tremendous privilege of trust’.
Carmel is now looking towards the next phase of training, which will entail finding people to be companions with trainees, so they can learn the practical skills under supervision. This will be a big challenge because of the distances involved.
As a Jospehite, Carmel feels closely aligned to Mary MacKillop, who went wherever she was needed to people who didn’t have spiritual support. For many, there is no other means of being connected with the church.
Her work means long intense hours and many days on the road, and Carmel is often exhausted, but she says, ‘As I drive home from a trip along those open spaces I am always elated at the wonderful privilege I’ve had of sharing people’s lives.’
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