Preparing for NAIDOC Week
The following information was taken from the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholic Council website
Our Mothers, Sisters, Aunties, Grandmothers and Daughters have been, and continue to be the thread which holds our families together. They have fought for justice, reconciliation and social change.
Women form the backbone of communities across Australia. This is particularly true for Aboriginal and Islander Catholic Ministries. Women are at the forefront of these community driven organizations designed to meet the spiritual and physical needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholics.
It is time for us to celebrate and embrace the role that women play in our Ministries, our Church and our families. The Resource kit which NATSICC produces to assist Schools, Parishes and communities to celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Sunday will highlight the women in our Church and community by providing Liturgy resources, stories of faith, prayer suggestions and youth activities.
The AMPJP congratulates the winners of the NATSICC, first ever, Service to Community Awards:.
- Elder award winner: Peter Smith has been a stalwart and inspiration for Catholics nationally with his gentle way and his willingness to share culture with the next generation;
- Adult Award: shared by Phillippa Johnson from Rockhampton and Karan Taylor from Wollongong are esteemed Catholic educators;
- Young Adult Award winner: Cameron Balcombe from Melbourne;
- Youth Award winner: Jasmine Wyld from Sydney;
- Non-Indigenous Award winner: Miriam Dieudonne who epitomises Reconciliation through practical actions. Arriving at Santa Teresa in 1971, Miriam is loved by the community and, as noted in their application for the award ‘She is one of us’.
As a lead up to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Sunday, NATSICC will be featuring an award winner on our Social Media platforms each day next week. We will be using #natsiccawards for all images and stories. Every day next week we will feature a story on a winner from each category. Use the social media links below to visit the NATSICC Facebook page (www.facebook.com/natsicc)
Following on from the success of last year, multi media resources will again be available to allow Parishes and schools to engage with the more tech savvy students and congregations. Powerpoint presentations, videos and youth activities have been a successful addition to the resources and have seen a large increase in the online downloads of the Resource kit.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Sunday Resource Kit
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Sunday Resources will be available in May. Hard copies are sent out to every School and Parish in Australia. Should you require a hardcopy, please contact the NATSICC Secretariat is happy to organise postage. The package includes the youth activities below as well as Liturgical suggestions, Acknowledgment and Welcome to Country guidelines and stories from the Kimberley and Torres Strait Islands.
NATSICC encourages schools to utilise the resources to help Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students to express and understand their faith and to educate non Indigenous students to the gifts of the world’s oldest living, continual culture.
Bishops Pastoral LetterBy Bishop of Broome, Christopher Saunders
Liturgical Suggestions This year NATSICC is offering two sets of liturgical resources. One for parish worshipping communities and another for assemblies where the majority of worshippers are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islanders.
Reflection by Erica Bernard Broome resident Erica Bernard sees a lot of similarities in her Catholic faith and her Yawuru/Gidja spirituality.
Welcome to Country and Acknowledgment Ceremonies Guide
Other NAIDOC Week information is available at: https://www.naidoc.org.au/
