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Sister Mary Monica Gazzard
Born to life: 29th September, 1918
Born to eternal life: 8th March, 2010
Reflections on the Life and Death of Sister Mary Monica
by Sister Maureen Andrews, mfic, Congregational Leader.
 This is a sad day for us as we farewell another of Missionary Franciscan Sister. As I reflected on Monica’s life the image that came to me was that of a book entitled Snow Falling on Cedars. And that was exactly what the cover showed gentle snow falling on tall trees and covering the ground. The last line of the book says – “No one ever knows the secret of the human heart”. Those words are so true and even truer when I think of Monica who lived until she was 91 ½. Many of the sisters who lived with her have already moved on to the joy of God’s eternal presence and I found myself asking who is going to tell her story.
The words gentle and adventurous came to mind when I thought of Monica. I don’t want to think of them as a polarisation but rather as a gap – the gap in our knowledge. The Gap we need to close.
To assist me to close the gap I spent time speaking to some of the sisters. To my amazement Rose said very confidently and strongly, “Both Lucy and I owe our vocations to Monica”. She then recounted the story of how as a young professed sister Monica accompanied Sister Mary Agnella to Newcastle on the campaign trail searching for vocations. It happened that Rose and Lucy were friends of Monica’s cousin, Joyce, and it was this connection which helped recruit some wonderful young women from the Newcastle area. I felt I had planted large cedar in the gap between quiet and adventurous and the gap was gradually closing. There was a bridge across the gap.
 We know that Monica was a person of faith and perhaps more contemplative in her approach because of her quiet personality. She enjoyed painting, gardening and craft. As a young woman I remember being excited when I saw in one of the downstairs rooms a collection of odds and ends for a variety of crafts. It was like an Aladdin’s Cave to me. but surely she must have continually seen possibilities of what she could create.
A number of the sisters told me that Monica was known as a good teacher who really enjoyed the children she taught and her classroom reflected her artistic and creative skills. There are a number of people in the Kedron area who would remember her garden and pot plants around the building we affectionately called the Dolls’ House. She made good friends among the parents. Sister Mary Camillus tells me that Monica taught one of her sisters and that she was very friendly with her parents.
This quote from the 19th Century Russian novelist Dostoyevsky speaks to me of the gentle side of Monica.
Love all God’s creation, the whole world and every grain of sand in it. Love every leaf, every ray of God’s light. Love the animals, love the plants, love everything. If you love everything, you will perceive the divine mystery in things. Once you perceive it, you will begin to comprehend it better every day. And you will come at last to love the whole world with an all-embracing love.
This was what Monica set out to do – to Love with an all-embracing love
 Then there is the other side of Monica – the sense of adventure. She demonstrated this when as a very young woman she boarded the ship in Sydney to sail for Rome to enter the novitiate there! As l looked through her photos I saw that she had used the train to travel to some of the rural and remote areas of the state, for example to Duchess and Gympie. All this by herself!! She also spent time attending Seniors Citizens activities. My guess is that she went on plenty of bus trips with them. Again she was by herself and perhaps there was a sense of freedom to be….whatever she wanted to be.
In her younger days I am told that she enjoyed sharing stories – funny ones – with the sisters and a number of them remember her as a wonderful mimic. The stories would be a great way of bridging the gap between gentle and adventurous. It is now up to each of you gathered here today to mind the gap and start closing it by sharing stories of Monica when we return from the Nudgee Cemetery. Telling the story will help to bridge the gap and blend the gentle and adventurous woman into the picture of the wholesome person God called her to be.
 Over the past few days I have reflected on Monica’s life I asked myself what gift she gave to me during the time I knew her. I believe it was an encouragement to bridge the gaps in my own personality and become the person God calls me to be.
Since 2003 Monica was a resident of Penola Nursing Home. Seven years is a long time and one wonders what the secrets of her heart were during that time. She may have felt the comfort of all the sisters, relatives and friends who went before her. I would like to pay tribute to the sisters who faithfully visited and brought gifts, flowers, cards, kind words and prayer. Thank you sisters –you spiritual seekers who continue to inspire me.
Finally I would like to close the gap I had by sharing what must have been an important reflection for Monica. On a much fingered slip of paper it was found in her address book.
Jesus, take me as I am –
I can come no other way.
Take me deeper into you,
Make my flesh life melt away.
Make me like a precious stone
Crystal clear and finely honed,
Light of Jesus shining through
Giving glory back to you.
Monica's oil painting of Our Lady
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