How can you say to your brother, "Brother, let me take out the splinter that is in your eye", when you cannot see the plank in your own?   (from Luke 6)

 

 

 

It talks about the splinters and the planks that can block our view or impede our vision.

 

There are many forces that can blind us to the reality around us.  One such powerful force can be culture.

 

The challenge is always to identify our own limitations and the prejudices that are deeply hidden within us.  These prejudices can blind us to new ways and new insights.  They can narrow our perspectives rather than broaden our horizons.

 

During our recent National Conference, we focused on culture.  In particular, we studied the growing multicultural nature of our Australian society and of our Catholic Church.

 

We committed ourselves anew to be people open to the 'other' or to the 'stranger', wherever we encounter one another.

 

Following on from our National Conference, Catholic Religious Australia will continue to seek and find ways for dialogue across cultural divides and barriers.

 

Many religious men and women work at the community development level, and they engage in their day to day lives with a diverse range of people across cultural differences, respecting this diversity as gift to our country.

 

Many of our members work side by side with our first Australians, our indigenous brothers and sisters.  We stand for open and respectful dialogue in responding to the issues that exist within our broad community.

 

We abhor racism as divisive and as destructive of the very fibre of our society.  We work to overcome it by taking a position of listening to one another and by being in the place where we can learn from one another, rather than by being in the dominant and controlling position.

 

Through the many young people from so many parts of our global community, World Youth Day brought an energy and freshness to the Australian Church.  The friendliness, the vitality and sheer joy expressed by these young people over those few days showed us what a world of understanding and respect could look like.

 

I am aware of the enormous effort and work, that Religious Orders undertook in bringing so many young people together and in sharing their faith and their charisms as part of the WYD activities. Only good can come from these activities.

 

Let us move forward with our eyes wide open and so continue to live Gospel values and be a source of unity and justice in our world.