Monday 26 January 2026
Australia Day
Isaiah 32:15-18. The Lord speaks of peace to his people – Ps 84(85):9-14. 1 Corinthians 12:4-11/Romans 12:9-13. Matthew 5:1-12/Luke 12:22-32.
The wilderness will be fertile . . . and justice will come to live there
Isaiah could well have been describing the ideal Australia. This would be a place of wild and breathtaking beauty, fertile and abundant in its fruits; a place where people lived in peace and security.
We all have stories and experiences to the contrary, of course, but today is a day to celebrate the positives of living in this land, and especially to celebrate the wondrous diversity of gifts Paul speaks of to the Corinthians. And then, as Paul says, we acknowledge in all of these the ongoing work of the Spirit.
While we do that, we do not lose sight of the ideal expressed in the Beatitudes, towards which we continue to strive, whether as individuals or as a nation. ‘In this wilderness’, we pray with Isaiah, ‘may justice come to live’.
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