Prayers and Resources
We provide culturally appropriate prayer material and develop resources to support prayer services and activities in parishes, schools and social justice groups. The following may be freely used but please acknowledge their source.
The Reconciliation Church Prayer
God of all creation,
as we journey together in this Great Southern Land,
We pray for healing, forgiveness, and unity,
Creating a path of goodwill, with justice and compassion.
Jesus through the power of your love,
you have given us the courage, wisdom and strength
To share our gifts and talents in humility.
In peace and understanding we reconcile with each other.
Great spirit, we come together in prayer and thanksgiving
For the many blessings we have received.
Allow your spirit to wash over us and give us strength,
to walk together as one.
This prayer was written by a small group of Aboriginal Elder women and Aboriginal Catholic Ministry staff in 2014.
Prayer of the Aboriginal People
Creator of all,
You gave us the Dreaming.
You have spoken to us through our beliefs.
You then made your love clear to us in the person of Jesus.
We thank you for your care.
You own us. You are our hope.
Make us strong as we face the problems of change.
We ask you to help people of Australia to listen to us and respect our culture.
Make the knowledge of you grow in all people, so that you can be at home in us and we can make a home for everyone in our land.
Amen
Prayer composed for the meeting between Pope John Paul II and Aboriginal people
National Reconciliation Prayer
Creator Spirit,
All creation once declared your glory, your laws were honoured and trusted.
Forgive us our neglect as our Country approaches the most critical moment in its history.
Listen to our prayer as we turn to you, hear the cry of our land and its people
Just as you heard the cry of Jesus, your Son, on the Cross.
Help us to replace our national shame with true national pride by restoring the dignity of our First People whose antiquity is unsurpassed.
May our faith and trust in you increase.
Only then will our nation grow strong and be a worthy place for all who wish to make their home in our land.
©Aunty Elizabeth Pike, September 1997. Aboriginal Catholic Ministry Victoria
Reconciliation Prayer
Holy Father, God of Love, you are the Creator of all things.
We acknowledge the pain and shame of our history and the suffering of our peoples, and we ask for forgiveness.
We thank you for the survival of Indigenous cultures.
Our hope is in you because you gave your Son Jesus to reconcile the world to you.
We pray for your strength and grace to forgive, accept and love one another, as you love us and forgive and accept us in the sacrifice of your Son.
Give us the courage to accept the realities of our history so that we may build a better future for our Nation.
Teach us to respect all cultures.
Teach us to care for our land and waters.
Help us to share justly the resources of this land.
Help us to bring about spiritual and social change to improve the quality of life for all groups in our communities, especially the disadvantaged.
Help young people to find true dignity and self-esteem by your Spirit.
Wontulp-Bi-Buya Indigenous Theology Working Group 13 March 1997, Brisbane.
Aboriginal Our Father
You are our Father you live in heaven
We talk to you, Father you are good (repeat)
We believe your words Father
We are your children, give us bread today (repeat)
We have done wrong, we are sorry
Teach us Father, all about your Word (repeat)
Others have done wrong to us
And we are sorry for them Father today (repeat)
Stop us from doing wrong Father
Save us all from the evil one (repeat)
You are our Father you live in heaven
We talk to you, Father you are good
The Lord’s Prayer from the “Missa Kimberely
Copyright applies. Diocese of Broome, Western Australia
Prayer for Special People
Father, Our Creator,
You created all things, seen and unseen.
Listen to my silent prayer as I stand before you.
As my weary eyes look back over distant horizons;
back to those days where my people walked.
The footprints of my Grandfathers are imprinted on the earth,
and the images become real to me.
I see my Grandfathers standing tall and strong, warriors of long ago.
I hear them singing,
I see them dancing,
and my spirit moves within me.
They told of the emus fighting and the kangaroos picking up the scent of our hunters.
The images fade away as I feel the hurt of my people.
I can hear the cries of my Grandmothers as they cry for their children.
Grandfather, you can see me as I stand here and feel this hurt.
Father Creator, is this the purpose of my being here?
Or is it your plan to reshape my people to be once again the proud race it once was?
Let me walk with you and my Grandfathers, towards the dawning of a proud and new nation.
I thank you for my Sacred Being.
Prayer for the Journey of Healing
Almighty and loving God, you who created ALL people in your image,
lead us to seek your compassion as we listen to the stories of our past.
You gave your only Son, Jesus, who died and rose again so that sins will be forgiven
We place before you the pain and anguish of dispossession of land, language, lore, culture and family kinship that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have experienced.
We live in faith that all people will rise from the depths of despair and hopelessness.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families have endured the pain and loss of loved ones, through the separation of children from their families.
We are sorry and ask your forgiveness.
Touch the hearts of the broken, homeless and inflicted and heal their spirits.
In your mercy and compassion walk with us as we continue our journey of healing to create a future that is just and equitable.
Lord, you are our hope.
Amen
© National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Ecumenical Commission (NATSIEC) 2007