Archived News Item
Sydney Aboriginal elder guest of Mercy associates
March 1, 2007
Sydney Aboriginal elder, Mrs Ali Goulding, was a guest of the Wilcannia-Forbes Mercy Associates group at their February meeting in Caringbah (Sydney). This group of associates, who call themselves the “Circle of Mercy Associates of Caringbah”, gathers regularly for a shared meal and conversation to stimulate their own outreach in compassion and mercy.
Mrs Ali Goulding, an Aboriginal elder from
Now numbering over forty, the group gathers each alternate month for a shared meal and conversation to stimulate their own outreach in compassion and mercy.
Over the past eight years, various Mercy sisters have been among the guests who have shared a particular focus of Mercy. At the February gathering, Sister
Ali has been a guest of a number of Mercy groups. A Biripi woman from the
In her adult life, Ali married and settled in Redfern, raising her family on the Block. She spoke of her search to find a place for her spirit, where her Aboriginal culture and the religion she heard presented in many different churches might connect.
Something of this “˜meeting of spirits’ happened for her when she had the chance to attend the Aboriginal theology centre, Nungalinya, in Darwin. Amongst Aboriginal people and staff, she found respect and understanding, and harmony with the Christian message.
Since receiving her certificate from the college, she is continuing her faith journey to carry forward this message. She uses her gifts as an artist to share the message.
Photo: Ali (pictured left) at the launch of the Message Stick, La Perouse, May 2006.
From: Sister Nance Cale RSM (Local Communications Facilitator, Wilcannia-Forbes)
Email: ncale@mercy.org.au