Australia Day Homily – 26 January 2026
Welcome to this Mass for Australia Day.
In recent weeks, I have been chuckling at some of the locals who have been complaining about the heat. Remember back in ‘Crocodile Dundee’ when Dundee says, “That’s not a knife, this is a knife”. I was thinking 27 degrees is not hot, 45 degrees in Fr Mark’s new diocese is hot.
But isn’t that part of the beauty — and the challenge — of living in this country? Only weeks ago we were remarking on unusually cool days for summer, and then suddenly we were reminded how fierce the Australian sun can be. This is a land of contrasts.
Australia is a country shaped by wilderness and fertility. Vast, arid spaces sit alongside astonishing abundance. And sometimes the two meet in moments of breathtaking grace — when rain finally falls on desert ground and a carpet of wildflowers bursts forth, turning red earth into something unexpectedly beautiful.
The prophet Isaiah knew something of that mystery. He associates justice with the wilderness, and integrity with fertile land. It is a striking image. Justice belongs in the hard, dry places — where life is tested. Integrity belongs where things flourish — where there is the temptation to take more than we need.
That insight speaks powerfully to us as Australians. Justice must be done for the peoples of this land, especially for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, who have lived on and cared for this country for tens of thousands of years — often in the most remote and demanding places. And integrity must guide how we treat the land itself, so that its richness is not exploited by greed, neglect, or indifference.
Isaiah goes on to say that integrity will bring peace, and justice will give lasting security. At that point, the prophet shifts his focus. Land itself is neither just nor unjust. It cannot be faithful or unfaithful. These are human qualities. They belong to people.
People of integrity are those who work for peace.
People who seek justice are those who build the foundations of real security.
On this Australia Day, let us pray that we might be known as a people of integrity — and as citizens who value justice. Because when integrity and justice are absent, the consequences are not abstract. We see them every night on the news: neighbourhoods disturbed by unrest, families unable to rest peacefully in their own homes, people living with fear instead of security.
We cannot fix the whole world. But we can listen. We can allow our ears — and our hearts — to be open to the word of the Lord, who, as the psalm reminds us, speaks peace to his people.
If we are people of faith who work for the Lord with patient, untiring effort, then our respect for the land will be genuine, not sentimental. Our care for others — especially those in need — will not be a performance or a slogan, but an expression of real charity and empathy.
The Gospel chosen for Australia Day invites us not to worry about tomorrow. That is easier said than done. Many of us have done more than our fair share of worrying over recent years. Much has happened that lay beyond our control, and some still wonder whether life will ever fully return to what we once called “normal”.
Let me finish with a simple but powerful thought.
Each year, the Sisters of St Joseph give each bishop a copy of their calendar which contains phrases and anecdotes from St Mary of the Cross and Fr Julian Tennison Woods.
One of the phrases of Mary stopped me in my tracks, she wrote:
“Begin once more in real earnestness.”
What a perfect message for Australia Day.
For many, this day marks the end of summer holidays and the beginning of the working year. For all of us, it is an invitation. An invitation to begin again — not casually, not half-heartedly — but in real earnestness.
May we begin again in faith.
Begin again in justice.
Begin again with integrity.
Begin again with love and generosity.
And may God bless Australia — this beautiful, challenging, fragile, and hope-filled land we call home.
Archbishop Anthony J Ireland