The Cross, not an armband
…and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Australia Day is upon us. And as has become our custom, an argument brews about what date this day should be celebrated. At the heart of the debate is a profound misunderstanding of our nations and its day. A profound misunderstanding that originated in our failure to understand what a Christian nation is and that ours is a Christian nation. In the following Special Article, we examine a better way of understanding our National Day and its date.
Introduction
There is a version of our nation’s history that wishes to shroud it in black cloth and ashes. This version, which is often referred to as the black armband version of history[1], wants to define our country according to “its darkest moments.” This “national debate”, usually held in Council chambers far away from the voting crowds, is more declaration than deliberation. A very one-sided affair that seeks to educate the many in the ideas of the view, all in the name of democracy. This phenomenon surfaces at the time of our national holiday on January 26[2].
No reality, no life, no identity is captured truly in its worst parts. At the end of a person’s life, you can describe that life according to its worst moments, or its best. Concentrating on just one aspect at the exclusion of the other, will never give you the full picture. As Catholics, we do not like to speak ill of the dead. This is not something peculiar to Catholicism, it is a universal norm of human behaviour across many different cultures. The one common human reason for why we do not speak ill of the dead is because that person is not present to defend himself. It is, as it were, to take advantage of his enforced silence while we put words to his story. I think anyone of good conscience is ill at ease with this kind of thing.
As Catholics, however, we have an added reason that lends weight to why we do not wish to define anything according to its worst- redemption. Every seriously minded Catholic understands that redemption has been won for us. It is not something that we presume or take for granted. We each know, deep within the quickest part of our conscience, that we do not deserve the redemption that we have been offered. And so, why should my unworthiness be any less unworthy than the next person? The fact that I do not deserve God’s mercy does not make the next person any more undeserving. We all hope that the same mercy that opened up for us the gates of heaven will be shown to us. And so, we do not dare to use the worst of anything as its measure lest we be judged as we ourselves have judged (Mt 7:1).
However, the hope of redemption is not something confined to a final act. The hope of redemption is also the hope of conversion. It is the hope of a change of heart and a return to the true and to the holy along the way. The black armband version of our history is a fundamentally anti-Christian view of our nation and of the world. It seeks to define our nation according to what are allegedly its worse moments. It then goes on to demand that penance be performed but no forgiveness is ever offered. There is a great rush to confess our nation’s sins- but there is never any mechanism to absolve them. As such, this “debate” never ends because there is no resolution possible. Every year, when the news stories are slow, the chattering classes take up the cause to change the date of Australia Day from January 26- for the sake of unity- but no other date is ever suggested because no other date unites us.
What’s in a date?
At the end of Matthew’s Gospel, the Great Commission was as much a prophecy as it was a command. The Lord enjoined his apostles and disciples to take the Gospel- to preach everything that he taught them- to the ends of the earth. On January 26, 1788, that prophecy was in part fulfilled. The Cross and Christianity were brought to our nation, the ends of the earth, so that all the world may know the saving power of God. On that date in January, the founding of our nation, the ends of the earth were reached and our Lord’s prophecy was fulfilled when a flag was unfurled.
We have no way of knowing if the first settlers had any inclination of what that moment represented. It is not recorded, as far as I can tell, what their religious thoughts were at that moment. We only know that the flag that was raised included not one cross, but three. The Union Jack[3] is one of the most Christian flags of any nation- but there is one flag that is perhaps even a little more so.
The raising of the Union Jack, was not the first cross to fly across our nation. For when the settlers came, they found another cross, the Southern Cross[4], that had long been making its way south towards the as yet, undiscovered nation. A celestial way of the cross long preceded the First Fleet, caused by the phenomenon known as precession[5]. The Cross would be at the heart of our nation long before we even were one. It would seem, that the Lord God Almighty, had already raised the Cross where the prophecy of His only Begotten Son would be realised. It is for this reason that we have the Southern Cross on our national flag next to the Union Jack.
What we have lost
But why does this date matter? Surely, we could commemorate the same idea on a different day? But this is to fail to understand the thing we celebrate and why we celebrate it. On January 26, we are not just memorialising the arrival of a few ships and a couple of convicts. The reason why we must not change the date is not because we don’t want to lose a day off work in the summer and an opportunity for a bit of lamb on the barbecue. A nation’s day is not simply a celebration of the past- it is rather a chance to commemorate its virtues and to remember its sacrifices. At the heart of this push to change our national day is a loss of the two virtues that have defined much of the life of our country: generosity and gratitude.
On January 26, we honour all those who have made a contribution to our nation. That is why we bestow national awards on that date to those people who have made some sacrifice in order to better our national way of life. We also hold ceremonies to welcome those men and women into our nation who want to be citizens and make their own contribution. The push to change the date of our national celebration with no other option to replace it, is because we have lost our sense of gratitude to God who has blest us and to those countless men and women who have made peace and prosperity our national way of life.
What we commemorate
So, what do we do when we fail to live into the promises that our nation has made? It is true, in the history of any nation, there are moments when we fail and fall short. We do not always live according to the principles that we hold dear. Every nation has those moments and ours is no different. The modern way is to tear everything down under the arrogant assumption that we can do better. The error in this way of thinking, is that we believe that somehow, we are immune to the temptations and mistakes of others- because we can see the errors of the past that we must be superior to the past. That is a profoundly unwise view of the world and one’s self.
We are a Christian nation. And by that, we do not mean that every person in the nation is Christian or goes to Church. We do not mean that everyone must be Christian in order to be a citizen. Ironically, that would be a most profoundly unchristian nation. The ideal of a Christian nation is not one where no one makes a mistake and everything is perfect from the start. It is not a land free of errors. A Christian nation is one that is not weighed down by its errors because it has not allowed them to define it. A Christian nation is one who knows that forgiveness lies at the heart of its peace and prosperity.
Forgiveness is no easy thing. It is not pretending that what has been done did not happen. That is a profoundly untrue and unchristian way of viewing it. Forgiveness requires three things. The first is a recognition of the wrongs done. Those who have committed the wrong or responsible for it, must make an acknowledgement of it. The second, it requires those who have been wronged to let go of what is owed. The simplest way of putting the idea of forgiveness is: you owe me nothing. The third and final act, is that those who have been released (forgiven) must try and make up for what they have done. Not out of obligation but out of gratitude for the generosity shown to them. This is the only way that relationships can be restored. To cling to past grievances is to be burdened by them. You allow whatever is worst to define you.
Our nation is not perfect. We do not honour it because it is. Rather, we honour it for the standards by which it judges itself and to which it holds itself accountable. The fact that it falls short means that the nation itself has high standards. It must find a way in each generation to live into them more fully. This cannot be achieved by simply changing a date. Rather, it is achieved by remembering what stands at the heart of our nation- forgiveness- made possible by the Cross of Christ. Made ours by the stars across our heavens. Made tangible in our nation by the forgiveness we have received and show to others. We do not require a change of date- we need a change of heart.
The following is a short extract from the memoire of a great friends of the Oriens Journal- Fr John Rizzo. His story- so simple and so utterly captivating- highlights the mystery of Christian forgiveness.
Wrong Floor- or so I thought…
I was ordained on May 19, 1985. Before I could accept my first assignment, I had to complete some studies at the seminary. One night – about a week after I was ordained – the rector of the seminary knocked on my door and said to me "Father, I want you to go to St Vincent's Medical Centre in Bridgeport (in Connecticut). Annie, a benefactress of
ours is there, and she is seriously ill. I would like you to give her Holy Communion and the Last Rites." I immediately left my desk, borrowed a seminary vehicle, and drove for an hour and a half to the medical centre.
When I got to reception, I asked what room Annie was in. "Room 312", I was told. I got into the lift as quickly as I could, and pushed the button for the third floor. When the doors of the lift opened, I ran out and went quickly into what I thought was room 312. As I ran in, my stomping feet woke up the man who was lying in the bed. I turned around to look at the room number – Oh no, wrong room! I nervously said to him "Oh, I am so sorry – I am looking for room 312 – and I see that this is room 212. I have to go up another floor." He said to me "No worries, Father."
When I heard him call me 'Father', I said to him "Are you a Catholic?" He said "Yes Father, but I haven't been to Church for many years." I jokingly replied to him "You know, RC means Roman Catholic, not Retired Catholic!" He chuckled a bit and we got talking. He said "You know, Father, I have not been to Church, but I have said many Rosaries to Our Lady." I was in no doubt about who had led me to this man's room – thank you, Mother Mary. I said to him "Why don't you make your peace with God – would you like me to hear your confession?" He said "Oh Father, how can I do that? It has been so long." I said "I can help you with your confession, if you like."
Whenever anyone has not been to confession for a longtime, and is unsure what or how to confess, I go through the Ten Commandments with them. He agreed to that. He made a beautiful and necessary confession, after which I gave him half of the Communion Host I had with me for Annie. I then gave him the Anointing of the Sick, and what is called the Apostolic Pardon, an indulgence for the remission of temporal punishment due to sin. I asked him "What are the doctors saying about you?" He said "The doctors say that I am doing fine, and that I will be home by the end of the week." It was a Wednesday evening that I was speaking to him. He was anticipating going home on the Friday. I said goodbye to him and hurriedly went upstairs to see Annie.
After giving Annie the Sacraments, I left the hospital and drove back to the seminary. The following day – Thursday – I was busy taking exams. In the evening, I decided to call the hospital and find out how Annie was. The nurse told me that she was doing fine. I then asked her "There is a gentleman in room 212 – I don't know his name – how is he doing?" The nurse said "Hold on, Father, I will just find out." About 30 seconds later, she got back on the phone and said "I am sorry to say, Father, but he died this morning." I was shocked – he certainly didn't look like he was going to die. But you know what? That man was right. He said that he would be home by the end of the week – and he was, holding onto the hand of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Mary, Refuge of Sinners,
pray for us.
Memoires from the Heart of a Priest
Fr John Rizzo
[1] The black armband view of history was a phrase first used by Australian historian Geoffrey Blainey in his 1993 Sir John Latham Memorial Lecture to describe views of history which, he believed, posited that "much of [pre-multicultural] Australian history had been a disgrace" and focused mainly on the treatment of minority groups (especially Aboriginal people).
[2] Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Observed annually on 26 January, it marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet and raising of the Union Flag of Great Britain by Arthur Phillip at Sydney Cove, a small bay on the southern shore of Sydney Harbour
[3] The flag combines aspects of three older national flags: the red cross of St George for the Kingdom of England, the white saltire of St Andrew for the Kingdom of Scotland and the red saltire of St Patrick to represent Ireland. Although the Republic of Ireland is no longer part of the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland is.
[4] Crux is a constellation of the southern sky that is centred on four bright stars in a cross-shaped asterism commonly known as the Southern Cross. It lies on the southern end of the Milky Way's visible band. Even though it is the smallest of all 88 modern constellations, Crux is among the most easily distinguished as its four main stars each have an apparent visual magnitude brighter than +2.8. It has attained a high level of cultural significance in many Southern Hemisphere states and nations.
[5] In astronomy, precession refers to any of several slow changes in an astronomical body's rotational or orbital parameters. An important example is the steady change in the orientation of the axis of rotation of the Earth, known as the precession of the equinoxes.
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