Devotion

National Reconciliation Week

All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation 2 Corinthians 5:18

National Reconciliation Week (NRW) started as the Week of Prayer for Reconciliation in 1993 (the International Year of the World’s Indigenous Peoples) and was supported by Australia’s major faith communities. In 1996, the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation launched Australia’s first National Reconciliation Week. In 2001, Reconciliation Australia was established to continue to provide national leadership on reconciliation. In the same year, approximately 300,000 people walked across Sydney Harbour Bridge as part of National Reconciliation Week, and subsequently across bridges in cities and towns to show their support for reconciliation. Today, National Reconciliation Week is celebrated in workplaces, schools and early learning services, community organisations and groups, and by individuals Australia-wide. 

As we celebrate National Reconciliation Week, we bring the focus of reconciliation to honouring, learning more about, and respecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. 

In Corinthians, God calls all believers to a ministry of reconciliation. This ministry calls us to action because, as the theme of NRW says, reconciliation is more than a word. To reconcile is to put things right. It requires forgiveness, communication, honesty and restoring relationships. Reconciliation is at the centre of restorative practices used in helping students to work through and develop their relationships. 

Living reconciled with Jesus, allows us to follow his example in sharing his love and living in the light of reconciliation. 

Jayne Zadow

PYP Coordinator