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Australia Day Message from the Vicar General

Tuesday 21 January 2020

Letter from the Vicar General – 2020 Australia Day Message

Dear brothers and friends,

As Bishop Anthony is currently on leave, it is my privilege to write to you again – now on the approach of the Australia Day weekend. I thank you for taking to heart my recent letter about how we might best frame our response as a Diocese to the national bushfire crisis, for the way in which our parish communities have prayed for the relief we now experience, and for the manner our neighbourhoods have prepared to contribute financially to the Vinnies Bushfire Appeal being conducted in all our parishes this coming weekend.

This weekend we mark a number of important occasions. We commit by action to respond to those who have been so deeply affected by the crisis that has marked our nation over the last number of months; we commemorate Australia Day and the momentous turn the land in which we live took with the beginnings of European settlement in the late 18th century, mindful of the impact this had for our First Peoples. Throughout our Church, we also celebrate Word of God Sunday recently initiated by Pope Francis to make us more mindful of the power of God’s Word, especially as it is proclaimed to us through our rich tradition of Scripture which speaks with ever new and fresh possibility to us.

The Word of God comes to us in the texts of Scripture in a unique and unrepeatable way. Above all, God speaks to us in Jesus, the one Word ever uttered by the Father as the 16th century St John of the Cross taught. However, God speaks to us, through Christ, in other diverse ways. At his funeral, just prior to Christmas, my father asked a saying to be placed in the front cover of the Mass booklet, “Lord, I’ve read your Gospel not in the Bible alone.” I do not know where he discovered it, but it conveys how God is always speaking to us: in the depths of our hearts and consciences; through our relationships; and through the events of our experience. In our discipleship, Mary the Mother of the Word teaches us to live in expectation and openness of this voice of God – to receive this Word with both humility and possibility, and to nurture it with both attention and care.

The circumstances of this summer have been a word to us in Australia we cannot ignore. It is a word that calls for our response. We cannot go further into the new year without attending to the difficult questions about the changes to our climate and their impact on our landscape, wildlife, communities and livelihood. Hearing this word, we cannot avoid the responsibility that belongs to each of us to live and to act in a different way for the sake of our environment. Though we have been blessed these days with some relief from the intensity of the crisis, we must face now its long-term impact. The lives of people and communities have been irrevocably changed. The environmental, emotional and economic implications are simply enormous and will endure well into the future. This, too, must be a word to us that not only stirs our compassion, but which also galvanizes social and political action to effect real change.

Over these months we have witnessed extraordinary service and courage. Our firefighters and all those who have been involved on the frontline of this national crisis deserve our utmost esteem and gratitude. They have taught us best what being Australian means. They, too, are a word to us just as are the many stories of community support that the tragedy has narrated. We can express our gratitude most by learning from them. We best honour our memory of their selflessness by working together to bring about something different for our country so that the future might present with hope rather than anxiety.  May this be the commitment of our celebration of Australia Day this year. May our commemoration be one of special reflection, of particular invitation, and bear the opportunity for a new way of living in this land so ancient and for which we have stewardship in concert with our Aboriginal brothers and sisters from whom we must always learn and journey forward together.

Yours sincerely in Christ,

Very Rev Dr David Ranson
Vicar General

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