As we continue to read, listen and participate in the many viewpoints about an Indigenous Voice to Parliament, we offer this article to this discussion.
As people of the Resurrection, we pray that whatever happens ensures First Nations people dignity, respect and love.
Creator Spirit,
All creation once declared your glory,
Your laws were honoured and trusted,
Forgive us our neglect as our country approaches
the most critical moment in its history.
Listen to our prayer as we turn to you,
Hear the cry of our land and its people,
Just as you heard the cry of Jesus,
your Son, on the Cross.
Help us to replace our national shame
With true national pride by restoring the
dignity of our First People whose antiquity is
unsurpassed.
May our faith and trust in you increase.
Only then will our nation grow strong and be
a worthy place for all who wish to make their home in our land. Amen.
© Elizabeth Pike, September 1997 Aboriginal Catholic Ministry, Melbourne.