National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Sunday
Keep the Fire Burning Strong in Faith is the theme of this year’s NATSI Sunday. We pray today, in the Gospel Acclamation, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor.” (Luke 4: 18).
In today’s video at the end of Mass, Archbishop Mark Coleridge invites every parish in the archdiocese to develop a Parish Reconciliation Plan. He said, “We’re all aware that the need for reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australia is one of the greatest challenges that we face as a nation. In some ways, it’s been a running sore at the heart of the nation. And until the running sore is healed, Australia can never quite be the country that it is meant to be, or that it can be. I have been very committed to the Reconciliation Action Plan as a way of fostering this new engagement, a new imagining and a new acting, to try and heal the wound between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australia and to bring about a genuine reconciliation that goes beyond words. I invite you, whoever you are, or wherever you are as a parish… to undertake some kind of Reconciliation Action Plan…. to commit yourself to a RAP within your own community. So that together, all of us together, can commit in the power of the gospel. This is not about politics or ideology, it’s about the Gospel. So that, in the power of the Gospel, we can walk together the path of a genuine and lasting reconciliation.”
In accord with our Parish Strategic Plan, the Service and Outreach Ministry Team is establishing a Reconciliation Action Group (RAG) to develop a plan in accord with the Archdiocesan Reconciliation Plan 2023 – 2025: Relationships, Respect and Partnerships.
Those wishing to work towards the establishment of a Parish RAP as part of the Parish Reconciliation Action Group are invited to scan the Parish Linktree QR Code or to email Trish Harding [email protected]
Pentecost painting by Magda Lee, Gracie Mosquito and Imelda Gugamen (Balgo Community). The Holy Spirit is located in the center of the painting. It is the Spirit working in all of our communities. The dots represent people all over the world and the people coming together for Church. The different colours represent different people.
