Faith and Mission

Over the past few days, our College Principal Raymond Pisani and I had the pleasure to join Kildare Ministries Executive Leaders, Co-chairs and KM school Principals and Faith Leaders on a spiritual retreat to Lake Mungo in South Australia. Our host Vicki Clarke OAM, a proud First Nations Mutthi Mutthi and Wemba Wemba woman, led us through the lands of her ancestors around Lake Mungo to listen, learn and feel the spirit of the land. To read more about Vicki, please see this site. 

https://www.vic.gov.au/vicki-clark-oam

The Lake Mungo tourist site writes, “Scientists have discovered artefacts of this ancient culture dating back over 50,000 years across the expanses of the last ice age. This makes Mungo one of the oldest places outside of Africa to have been occupied by modern humans since ancient times.”  http://www.visitmungo.com.au/

Upon reflecting on my personal experience of this sacred place, I decided to write a poem which touches on its immense beauty, its significance and sacredness to First Nations People and the work that continues to be done in First Nations Peoples’ self determination.

Awaken the Spirit in Mungo

Amidst the ochre hues of desert sand,

Where the windswept dunes stretch out so grand,

Lies a sacred place where the First Ones roamed,

A land of peace, a land of home.

Lake Mungo, where the spirits dance,

And the water whispers in a trance,

Where the ancient stories still survive,

And the land and people are so alive.

The First People knew the desert’s ways,

The secret of the sun’s harsh blaze,

They knew the rhythm of the land,

And the sacred bond of lake and sand.

Their connection to the earth was pure,

Their reverence for all things, so sure,

For the land was not a thing to own,

But a precious gift that they had in hand.

Their hearts were light, their spirits strong,

And in their songs, they would belong,

To the land, the water, the sky so bright,

To the endless wonder of the desert’s might.

Now, we look upon ancient land,

With the knowledge of a shared command,

To walk with grace, to understand,

The Spirit of this sacred land.

For the First People showed us the way,

To live in peace, to honour each day,

To know that all things are connected,

And to leave this land, not dissected.

So let us walk with humble hearts,

And know that we too play our parts,

In the dance of life, in the sacred plan,

To honour this land, and all in its hand.

Bernadette Casey

Assistant to the Principal - Faith and Mission