An Australia Day Reflection, Laity of the Chevalier Family

The image, the text excerpt and Archbishop Mark Coleridge’s prayer come from the NATSICC Guide.

Australia Day invites us to look beyond familiar arguments and to imagine, through the eyes of faith, the kind of nation we hope to become — one where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples are honoured as the First Peoples of this land, and where every Australian can feel genuinely at home.

The deeper question is not only what we remember, but who we are becoming together. Imagining a shared future asks us to picture relationships that are just, respectful, and life-giving, and to allow Christ’s call to love our neighbour to shape the way we see one another.

Australia Day Prayer

(Archbishop Mark Coleridge - 2024)

God of all Peoples, Lord of the journey

who always walk with us,

in this land you have blessed us

with the first inhabitants of the land

who have loved it through the ages:

for them we give you thanks.

You have blessed us in the settlers

who made this land their home,

and forged a Nation with their toil:

for them we give you thanks.

You have blessed us in the many peoples

of different languages and cultures

who have found a new home here:

for them we give you thanks.

We ask that you make a home among us,

so that justice and truth may flourish here

and all Australians may walk together

into the future you are preparing:

for that we give you thanks.

Through Christ our Lord Amen

The NATSICC Australia Day / January 26 Reflection and Discernment Guide.