On the 11th of October I celebrated my Diamond Jubilee of Religious Profession.  Sixty years since I was first professed as a Sister of the Little Company of Mary.  I can’t believe it; it was so long ago.  So much has happened in that time, so many places where I’ve worked; and it has mostly been very wonderful.  I’ve had my ups and downs.  Who hasn’t?  But God has been so very good to me.  So many blessings over these years. And I was getting on when I entered!  Well, I thought 25 was very old then!  I used to see the Finally Professed Sisters who were having Jubilees and used to think they were so old, and so never thought I’d live to their ripe old age!  I guess everyone seems old when you yourself are young.

My Jubilee day was a beautiful day, weatherwise.  And my Jubilee Thanksgiving Mass was celebrated by Father Hilton Roberts – a very good friend of the LCM.  After all, his sister used to be one of Mary Potter’s daughters but left, probably in the late 60’s.  One of Hilton’s first Masses, when he was ordained was celebrated in the Chapel of our then Mother House in Rome.  He tells us often that he walked into the Chapel “amid a sea of blue veils!”.  Hilton knows so much about our charism and spirit and about our beloved Foundress.  So I was very privileged to have him celebrate the Mass for me.

Sr Kathleen and Sr Helen from the Region Leadership Team came from Sydney, as well as Sisters from Wagga Wagga and Sydney.  Also, my nephew and his wife live just over the border in NSW and it was great to have them there.  All my family live in Queensland so it’s rather a long way to come.

The Mass was followed by morning tea in the Retirement Village Café – the Pear Tree Café.  Everyone was so happy and enjoyed themselves, as I did too.

I thank God for my parents and their faith and for passing it on to me, and I thank God for sending me over to New Zealand, where I met the LCM Sisters, and I thank God for the wonderful spirit of prayer for the sick and dying of the world, passed on to us by our beloved Foundress.  As we alI know, we can pray for the sick and dying any time of the day or night no matter where we are or what we are doing – and no matter how old we are!!

Sr Margaret Webb