Almost thirty years ago in the International Year of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, Australia held its first Reconciliation Week activity - a week of Prayer for Reconciliation. This was an event celebrated by Australia’s major faith communities of Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism. Today Reconciliation Week is celebrated in schools, businesses, and community groups across the country. The word ‘Reconciliation’ comes from the Latin word reconcilliare meaning ‘go back’ and bring together’. We understand this in modern terms to make friendly or to restore relationship.

Reconciliation Week is held annually and is book-ended by the 1967 Anniversary of the Referendum which saw the removal of discrimination of our First Nations’ people in the Constitution and Mabo Day next Friday, 3 June, which marks the historic Native Title finding of the High Court. It is during this week that we are reminded of the journey we are all on to restore the relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people that has been so affected over the last 235 years since Australia was invaded and government policies of separation and genocide have ruined lives.

Reconciliation can partly be achieved through education - when our young people are taught the history of this nation, there is a greater understanding of why we need to close the gap for our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. When we know the truth about the policies that lead to the stolen generations, we can start to appreciate the need to ‘go back’ and ‘bring together’.

On the weekend we saw a change of Government in the election. I was struck by the immediate acts of reconciliation shown - a promise to enshrine a voice for Indigenous people in the Constitution as outlined in the Uluru Statement from the Heart and the  installation of the Aborginal and Torres Strait Island flags in the press conference.

But it is not only up to our schools and governments to enact Reconciliation. It is every one of us - and its benefits are just as profound for non-Indigenous people. True reconciliation stamps out racism for people of all cultural backgrounds and bigotry for all people who experience disadvantages such as people with disabilities. A little kindness to every one has a ripple effect that can be felt the world over.

At Good Shepherd, I see tiny acts of kindness every day - in the smile of a student, when a student picks up a piece of litter instead of walking past it, when a teacher gives up their lunch break to go over a topic that a student missed in class. I also see huge acts of generosity and compassion - this week we sent the money that students raised for Caritas last Term - a whopping $2100. This money is going to communities that really need it.

The challenge for all of us to do just as the theme of National Reconciliation Week says - be brave, make change. Be brave enough to stand up to racism, bullying and nasty behaviour when you see it and take steps everyday in our lives to make positive relationships with those around us and then restore them when those friendships are strained.

One really powerful way to show our First Nation brothers and sisters that we believe in Reconciliation is to support the events of National Reconciliation Week and next term in NAIDOC Week. Next Friday we will host a Movie Night to mark Mabo Day. All families are invited to share in this great event.

Finally, our Christian story is full of references to reconciliation. In the Book of Amos Chapter 5 it states, “Let justice roll down like streams of living water…”. There is a sense of things that need to be redeemed and need to be righted. Reconciliation is about justice and righting the wrongs of the past.

In order for that ultimate reconciliation to come about we need to understand that it requires a willingness to give of ourselves. Reconciliation can't just come from one side. And it can't just be seen as something that you have to do. It's got to be something that we want to do because we know the ultimate reward that's going to come in the end. It requires faith that reconciliation is not just going to be good for us individually, but good for the whole. And in this week of Laudato Si which is about caring for Creation and National Reconciliation Week which is about renewal and restoration - it is the perfect time to be brave and make change.