Year of Grace Begins With Sorry

The Year of Grace is being launched this weekend in Catholic Churches throughout Australia.It is obvious that a decent budget has been set aside to promote this program of renewal which is pitched at "all" rather than many Catholics.

The online resources have been designed with social networking practices in mind. Comments and stories are welcome to various segments. However the audience to date seems to be a passive congregation. The "Knowing Jesus" video has had more than 1500 views so far but no one is taking up the invitation to respond with their favourite image of Jesus.

In my home Archdiocese of Brisbane there are opportunities to share stories of grace-full experiences. Some have already begun to contribute to this site.

The Year of Grace program begins at the conclusion of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity and the beginning  of National Reconciliation Week. I suggest the Australian Bishops have missed a perfect opportunity to "roll the wagons out into new territory"  with the  lack of any reference to these significant dates coinciding with the Feast of Pentecost.

This post is being written on the eve of Pentecost which this year falls on  Sorry Day.  So here is  the "quote for the day" from the Australian Catholic Bishops:


In a spirit of sorrow and forgiveness, we, the Catholic Bishops of Australia wish to record our commitment to continue the healing process for the benefit of victims of the unjust policies of the past, to support the just needs of indigenous people today and to contribute to the quest for national reconciliation. It is our prayerful hope that this commitment will help our nation grow in unity and live as one people with dignity and in peace.


I suggest the image we should all be reflecting on as we begin this journey of grace is  from  my artist friend Tony Albert:





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