“The Harvest is plenty but the labourers are few.” – Luke 10:1-9
Today we celebrate the fact that God has always been present with, and loved, our First Peoples in Australia, a love that God extends to all First Peoples across the world.
I was working in Italy last year when I was appointed auxiliary bishop in Brisbane. When I was asked about any preferences I had for the ordination liturgy, I knew that I wanted truly ‘Australian’ symbols and rituals, but I was relatively powerless to put anything significant in place as I was so far away.
I wanted a Pectoral Cross and Vestments decorated in an Aboriginal design. I knew I wanted to be ‘smoked’ as a symbol of cleansing at the beginning of my Episcopal Ministry. Various people at the Brisbane end began diligently working on this by contacting First Nations people and others who could help out.
I was deeply touched and strengthened by the results, which included the Vestment design being transferred also to the Mitre, two Pectoral Crosses with Sacred Land from Lake Mungo in their centre, and a Smoking Ceremony inside the Cathedral that included me and all the bishops who entered behind me. I believe God was very happy with that!
What amazed me was that so many people were willing to act on my behalf to profile the symbols and rituals of First Nations people in the ordination ceremony. There was an enormous amount of good will and creativity that was made immediately available simply because people were asked to help.
An indigenous man performs a smoking ceremony during the ordination of Tim Norton SBD as Auxiliary Bishop for the Archdiocese of Brisbane at St Stephen’s Cathedral, Brisbane in February 2022. Image: Image: Alan Edgecomb, Purple Moon Photography/Archdiocese of Brisbane/Supplied
In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us to pray to ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest. If we truly want more labourers for the vineyard that produces the Good News of life in abundance for all, the same vineyard that also tells the Jesus story through the eyes and hearts of Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders, then praying is only one way to do this. We also need to make a deeper commitment to our sisters and brothers through being labourers in the vineyard.
NAIDOC has a theme this year of ‘Get up, Stand up, Show up’. Labourers for the harvest of the Lord do exactly that – they labour or work for the Lord, and that can take the form of getting up and being active. There is much we can do as Christian people to address issues that affect our First Nations sisters and brothers.
I have my story of asking others for help to profile Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture – the world’s oldest continuing culture – during my Episcopal Ordination. What is your story? When were you active with issues that affect First Nations people? And if you don’t have a story yet of being a labourer in that vineyard, then get up, stand up and show up to places where issues of First Australians are being addressed. People are just waiting to be asked. The harvest is plentiful but the labourers are few.
Bishop Tim Norton SVD is Auxilary Bishop in the Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane.
With thanks to the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholic Council (NATSICC).
