109. Elizabeth Young RSM - 9 April 2023

Australian Women Preach

Easter Sunday - Matt. 28: 1-10

Elizabeth was brought up on a farm in the south of South Australia. Her father was a lay preacher in the Uniting Church, and their ministers were both men and women. However, she attended St Mary MacKillop’s very first school in Penola, and was received into the Catholic Church along with family members. Elizabeth valued the sacramental worldview that she encountered and was inspired by all the religious leaders in her community. From a young age, she felt called to a vocation in religious and liturgical leadership, to share the Good News of Jesus Christ. However, her life took a turn through a few years of questioning her faith and completing a degree in Circus Arts. From there she discerned God’s call to become a Sister of Mercy, professing her first vows in Adelaide in 2010. She has since studied a Bachelor of Theology, Graduate Diploma of Teaching and Learning, and Master of Theology (Coursework). Her ministries have been with youth, immigration detention centres, prisons, parish, school and ecumenical/interfaith relations. She is a Parish Life Coordinator in the remote town of Wilcannia, NSW, where she is instituted as a Catechist to lead the community in the absence of a priest in liturgy including baptisms and funerals. Elizabeth finds life in exploring the scriptures and the Church’s liturgical/sacramental tradition together with those in marginal situations.