The Harvest is Plentiful, but the labourers are few. Get up! Stand up! Show up!’
Dear Friends,
This week I share with you some resources prepared by the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholic Council as we come together across Australia to acknowledge and celebrate the gifts of Australia’s First Peoples in the Catholic Church.
Across the community, we need to reconnect due to the COVID 19 Pandemic and its impact on the ways in which we needed to interact and stay in contact with one another. For 2022, NATSICC is asking for everyone to come together, but also consider practical ways in which they can support Australia's First Peoples - not just for this special day, but every day.
Among our blessings as a Nation are the gifts of Indigenous spirituality and culture highlighted in the style of Indigenous artwork, evident in ‘Mumeri’, a work created by Dr Lisa Buxton in August 2013 to celebrate the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney’s inaugural Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Mass held at St Mary’s Cathedral. The theme for the Mass ‘Holy Spirit in this Land’ was captured in the artwork through the use of Aboriginal and Catholic symbolism. Australia’s Catholic Bishops and the wider Church support this Sunday and associated celebrations as expressed in the message from Bishop Charles Gauci DD, Bishop of Darwin:
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I am pleased to recommend to parishes and schools the 2022 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Sunday resources that have been compiled by the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholic Council (NATSICC). These resources have helped us to celebrate the gifts of our First Australians in the Church for many years.
The theme of the resources reminds us that we all have a responsibility to care for our community members and those outside our own groups. We must work together for the betterment of all.
For parishes, the liturgical suggestions will assist in creating a rich celebration that embraces the beauty of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture in our Church. The youth activities that NATSICC has created in partnership with Edmund Rice Education Australia encourage students to begin their own journey of exploration into the history of our Great Southern Land and to seek out ways in which they can Get up! Stand up! And Show up! As you come together across Australia on Sunday 3 July – on all homelands – please know that your presence is helping to create the Church that Jesus wants her to be.
Yours sincerely,
Bishop Charles Gauci DD - Chair, Bishops Commission for Relations with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.
In 2019, the Australian Bishops offered this strong advice to the wider Australian Community, a message still valid today:
‘Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples not only have a rightful place in Australian society but they have a uniquely important contribution to make that will enrich our lives, our nation and our Church.’