The Promise and the Blessing by Katharine Massam

Congratulations to Professor Katharine Massam on the recent launch of The Promise and the Blessing, applauded as a key contribution story to the vibrant international conversation on women in vowed communities.

On Saturday 21 March, Presentation Sisters Victoria launched their history, The Promise and the Blessing – Presentation Sisters in Victoria since Vatican II, written by Katharine Massam, professor of history and Chair of the Academic Board at the University of Divinity. Family, friends, colleagues and staff of Presentation ministries – some 140 guests – joined the Sisters and the author in celebrating the account of these rich, varied and often challenging 60 years.

The Promise and the Blessing contributes to the vibrant conversation on the significance of the history of women religious for understanding the wider Church and the surrounding context. It builds on Katharine’s previous work in Australian Catholic history, particularly in women’s spirituality and the experience of the Jocist approach to theological reflection that was so characteristic of Melbourne in the post-war decades. With a close focus on the language of Presentation conversations it shows how, in the six decades since the Council, Presentation Sisters have negotiated change in their way of life, their understanding of who God is, and how God calls them to be.

Early readers have commended the book highly. “What a treasure this book is going to be,” Sandra Schneiders IHM writes, “for the future history of the life-form, not only ‘down-under’ but worldwide”. Deirdre Raftery, biographer of the Presentation founder Nano Nagle, affirms “a major contribution to the study of the impact of the Second Vatican Council on women religious, and on their ministries and their lives.”

While stereotypes of nuns are strong and the default is to images of women with quaint headgear and all-encompassing dresses, this account takes readers into the enduring theological reality of vowed religious life as a commitment lived collectively and individually down the ages. The “monastic archetype” has usually been the choice of only a minority but nevertheless, as Schneiders has argued, it is present in every human context.  The particular expression of that archetype in Presentation communities in Victoria provides what Francis Sullivan dubs “a cracker of a yarn” and “a timely reminder that a Catholic imagination can negotiate postmodernism with agility and flair”. Patty Fawkner sgs finds a story of “visionary realists”. She names the account as “a Paschal Mystery story of living, dying and legacy-making – all in the service of God’s mission of ‘fullness of life for all’. Those who would question women’s leadership in the Church, please take note – and have no fear.”

Memorable characters to emerge in the story include Presentation Sisters Mary Eymard Temby, Shirley Macdonald, and Ann Halpin but even more than any individual, the narrative shows the community’s leadership in education, in parish and community outreach and the foundational significance of the community’s shared theological reflection.

Speaking on behalf of the Presentation Sisters Victoria at the launch, Helen Carboon also welcomed the focus on the spirit of the congregation:

“This history, beautifully written and thoroughly researched by Katharine Massam, has had a long period of gestation – with even Covid thrown in to interrupt the process! But it’s been worth the wait!”

Katharine’s thoughtful and considered reflection make The Promise and the Blessing much more than a history book. It is a teasing out of the meaning and depth of our Presentation calling and commitment – through this book you meet “us” rather than only learn of all that we have done – though there’s plenty of ‘doing’ in there too.

The launch was a memorable occasion, enjoyed by all. To use the words of Josephine Hoare pbvm, from whose poem Te Deum the book takes its name:

Taste the energetic hours, relish the sweetness
of completion; replete with wonder, make thanksgiving; the
promise and the blessing.

The Promise and the Blessing is available for purchase from Garrett Publishing.