NAIDOC Week 2024
CATHEDRAL NEWSLETTER - 4 July 2024
Photo of ‘Reconciliation’ by K. Denigan, in Cathedral transept
Friends in Christ, this Sunday marks the beginning of NAIDOC Week. 'NAIDOC' originally stood for 'National Aboriginal and Islander Day of Celebration'. But now the effort to understand and appreciate Indigenous cultures lasts a whole week.
I was pleased to attend the Cathedral School's Gawura NAIDOC assembly in their last week of term. Apart from the dances and the student awards, the Head of Gawura, Mr John Ralph, shared a couple of challenging and encouraging stories.
One simply illustrates the power of education and the connections that can be made through a good school. Jason Yau is the Store Manager at Woolworths Town Hall. He is a SACS graduate (class of 1989?) and when he heard of Gawura he wanted to help. Aunty Cheryl is an Aboriginal worker at Woolies and she introduced us to Jason. Now he supplies Gawura with fruit and veg for 'crunch and sip' time. ['Crunch and sip' is a time in primary schools for students to ‘refuel’ on vegetables, salad and fruit and ‘rehydrate’ with water. Students who are not hungry and are well hydrated perform better in the classroom!]
We can be thankful that an 'Old Andrean' is helping Indigenous education at his old school, and for an Indigenous Elder who made the introduction.
But here's a more sobering story. In 1915, some white parents at Nambucca Heads on the north coast of NSW objected to the attendance of any Aboriginal children at their local school. John Ralph's great grandmother, Mrs Annie Ralph decided to take on the Education Department.
She visited the Sydney office a week before her son, William Ralph, who had enlisted to serve in World War I, was due to go into camp. She asked why her eldest son should go and fight for her country, if the State would not allow her children to be educated in the public schools, and threatened to withdraw her permission.
Her courage and logic was hard to resist, and the Education Department rightly backed down! We admire her courage and the determination of a mother's love. But it was a shame there was such discrimintion in the first place.
Annie's eldest son William did go on to serve in WW1 in Belgium and France. William’s younger brother (John's grandfather) then served in WW2, and took his son, John's father, with him when he turned 18. John's ancestors are just some of the many fine Aboriginal soldiers who have served our nation in times of need.
John says one of his favourite passages of Scripture is Romans 5:1-5...
1. Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
John says this Scripture really resonates with his hopes for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. They have suffered and persevered and have had the chance to build character. But ultimately, John says he prays they find hope in our Lord.
At the NAIDOC assembly, the Reverend Emma Newling, Junior School & Gawura Chaplain led this prayer, which will also use at church this Sunday.
Lord God of all the Earth, you are worthy of all praise and honour and glory and power, for you are the author of life.
As you care for all nations, so you have watched over this land and all the generations of people who have lived, and worked, and rested here.
As we celebrate NAIDOC week, please work in us a spirit of unity that seeks what is good for our neighbours and serves those in need. Please spare our country from division but rather bring healing, respect, and a spirit of generosity in the days ahead.
Please make all Australians, but especially our policy-makers, people who are quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry.
God in Heaven, may all people - and particularly First Nations’ people - have the freedom, the health, and the opportunities to flourish wherever they are in Australia. Where there is injustice, please establish honest fairness. Where there is pain, please bring comfort and healing. Where resources are scarce or there is a cycle of poverty, please give what is needed and provide what is lacking.
And may all of us come to know your steadfast love, the power of your grace, and the hope of peace with you, as we look to the future together. In Jesus’ name we ask these things, Amen.
Warmly in Christ,
Sandy Grant
Dean of Sydney