Sunday 26 January 2025
Third Sunday in Ordinary Time | Australia Day
Nehemiah 8:2-6, 8-10. Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life – Psalm 18(19):8-10, 15. 1 Corinthians 12:12-30. Luke 1:1-4, 4:14-21.
Truth and hope
Luke’s Gospel opens with the author’s intent to give a truthful account. It is followed by Jesus reading from Isaiah’s scroll, giving prophetic weight to the truth of his purpose: to bring good news and to free the oppressed and enslaved.
Today is a painful date for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Australia Day recalls the First Fleet arrival from which terra nullius was declared to justify occupation, forcing First Peoples from their land.
In the context of this day, Luke’s Gospel can prompt us to pay attention to the ‘orderly accounts’ which tell of the lived experience of First Nations peoples. We might wonder how Jesus’ message of liberation includes Indigenous kids in juvenile detention, Indigenous families scarred by intergenerational trauma, and those who asked for a Voice in the decisions being made about their own lives. This is what I reflect on today: the truth of history and of Jesus’ message and hope for all who are oppressed, especially Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
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