This NAIDOC Week, we acknowledge the lifelong impact of history and the strength of First Nations peoples. As a Church, we are called to listen deeply, walk together in justice and receive the wisdom, courage and faith of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
May we use both our ears and our hearts to learn, to heal and to grow in Christ together. Watch the Mass presided over by Fr Gerry Heffernen.
Homily by Fr Gerry Heffernen
The first reading, proclaiming peace for the nations from the river to the ends of the earth, sea to sea, we ask God’s blessing in our own lives, in peace in our own country of Australia and for reconciliation. In the gospel, I’ve spent my life thinking about that gospel, I’m a younger brother to an older brother and sister and then a younger sister and my mum was pregnant in a taxi going to an appointment and she would reflect about this years later, she would talk to us about that while she was a passenger in a taxi, another vehicle hit the taxi and my brother when he was born had cerebral palsy and so we knew that that tragedy that had happened and that mum would discuss was lifelong and when I’ve heard in the First Nations communities about the effects of colonisation being lifelong and the trauma that’s involved, I think back to my brother who had to live the rest of his life adapting to his physical condition of cerebral palsy and his very good friend Uncle Willie over there. Lifelong, sometimes we try to sweep under the carpet the tragedies that have happened and the effects that happens on people’s lives.
I’ve had the privilege of accompanying a couple of people in my ministry in their tragedies in what happened to them of sexual abuse in the church and they’ve spoken to me how the effects were lifelong and the very different ways it affected them. So as we come to celebrate National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Sunday, in terms of the gospel today, we recognise just the harshness of reality for many people and Jesus does not say that goes away. If the gospel actually says today, come to me all you who labour and are overburdened and I will give you rest. It’s to Jesus that we reach out to give us the strength and the way forward amongst the tragedies and challenges of life. Back in the 1980s, I was sitting up in a church called Up in Wadair and at the back of the altar in the sanctuary are Aboriginal paintings that tell stories and one of the elders there, Murrumpata Elder, explained to me that there used to be a really grumpy member of the community and he was grumpy 24-7. That’s a bit of a challenge.
Anyone hear that grumpy? Okay, so he was grumpy 24-7 so he sort of stayed outside the main camp of the community and he was grumpy 24-7. They could still be in contact with him but they didn’t have to put up with his negativity and his bitterness and then one day, in the terms of the offering of today’s gospel, Jesus can act through others, someone appeared to him. This was a stranger, not a Murrumputta person.
She valued him for who he was and took away all his grumpiness. So he comes back into the camp and then has to explain, they’re just amazed, what a difference. And he just said, it’s this woman I met, I don’t know who she is.
No idea. Some time later, missionaries arrived in the area and when they spoke about Jesus and Mary and the disciples, he knew that the woman he had met long before those missionaries had come in was Mary. And the person who’s telling me this story became the first of the Murrumputta people to be baptised as a Christian.
And he lived his Murrumputta faith in Jesus and became the very first First Nations Catholic permanent deacon in this country. And he related his vocation back to that old man and what he’d received from this lady who gifted him the grace of God to be happy. I don’t think we get anywhere being grumpy, but we do need to be just and that’s an ongoing challenge. I had been working full time in this archdiocese in the First Nations community for about five years, and then I was sent overseas to study. And we had a justice and spirituality topic every week. And I can remember one week was devoted to racism and I was just so hurting from what I had seen of what First Nations people in this country had experienced in racism and it had badly affected me.
And so, when this module came up, I was fascinated to hear the story, we were from 19 countries, but looking at the question of racism in all countries around the world, and that gave me hope that we could talk about the negativity of what racism does. Could I invite everyone here to go, when you’ve got time, onto the joint parliamentary inquiry into racism as it affects First Nations people and listen to the voices of people from this diocese and what they have shared. It’s a public document naming the reality.
And within that, we also celebrate the goodness of our faith in Christ. We have an inquiry, not inquiry, but investigation into governance in our archdiocese now and that’s good. Could I share with that inquiry into future governance of our archdiocese what a key factor that I believe from Saint John Paul II.
The church herself in Australia will not be fully the church that Jesus wants her to be until you’ve made your contribution to her life and until that contribution has been joyfully received by others. Could I also acknowledge today all the different celebrations of this Sunday around the country. I won’t read them all out now, but remembering at Inala today, Saint Mark’s, last night at Saint Eladia’s and Saint Dymphna’s, at Aspley, at Zillmere, there’s several parishes on the south side, Cherbourg will be next week celebrating this Sunday as the priest does his circuit.
It’s not just in the cathedral that we’re celebrating today, but in many parishes of our archdiocese and in each diocese of Australia, from the Torres Strait through to southern Tasmania. It’s important that we celebrate our faith in Jesus and learn from our sisters and brothers, First Nations people, that we listen to them. Has anyone got two ears here? I’ll go.
Let’s use both ears today to listen and with our eyes to help understand what our First Nations sisters and brothers are sharing with us this day. Okay, could I invite First Nations elders to please stand. Aunty Rosie here gave the official archdiocese an address on the 20th anniversary of Pope Paul VI’s teaching in 1967.
She represented our archdiocese, remember Rose, in 1987. Uncle David’s used to being with Popes in his travels around the world, he could tell you a lot of stories. Aunty Raveena over there and her celebration of over 30 years with Murray Ministry. Aunty Denise could tell so many stories and the other elders that are present.
Could I ask everyone to remain seated and turn toward those elders and raise your hand in blessing on them this day. And loving God, help us to always value the good news of First Nations elders, their wisdom, their courage and their insights. We make our prayer and pray God’s blessing, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Thank you.