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Social Justice Calendar - August 2000

Wed 2 FIRST INDO-CHINESE REFUGEES ALLOWED TO SETTLE IN AUSTRALIA, 1965

Sat 5 ST DOMINIC, FOUNDER OF DOMINICAN ORDER (died 1221).

Sun 6 TRANSFIGURATION OF JESUS
NATIONAL VOCATION AWARENESS WEEK COMMENCES
HIROSHIMA DAY, 1945: Each year, the world is reminded of this day when an atomic bomb was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, resulting in great suffering and destruction.
  REFLECTION: Sadako Sasaki was two years old when the atomic bomb fell about two kilometres from her home in the city of Hiroshima. She was neither burned nor injured at the time, but ten years later became ill with leukemia. When a friend sent a paper crane in the mail, she decided to make a thousand paper cranes. By the time she died, she had folded 644 paper cranes. For Sadako, the simple gesture of folding paper into a bird was symbolic of a prayer for peace.
  ACTION: Create a symbol that reminds you of peace. Place it where you will see it often.

Tue 8 ATOM BOMB DROPPED AT NAGASAKI, 1945
BLESSED MARY MCKILLOP: Mary was born in Melbourne in 1842. At the age of 19, she decided to dedicate herself to teaching children in rural areas. In 1866, with Father Julian Tenison Woods, she founded the Institute of the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart, more commonly known as Josephites. The new congregation encountered considerable opposition from Church authorities because of its innovative approach. It was disbanded in 1871 and Mary was excommunicated. Restoration came the following year. By the time Mary died, in 1909, the Josephites numbered more than 1000. Mary McKillop was beatified in 1995 - the first Australian blessed.

Mon 14 ST MAXIMILIAN KOLBE

Tue 15 ASSUMPTION OF MARY
END OF WORLD WAR II IN THE PACIFIC, 1945

Wed 16 WAVE HILL STATION RETURNED TO THE GURINDJI PEOPLE, 1975: Aboriginal workers on Wave Hill station which was owned by the British meat company Vesty, went on strike in 1966, in protest against the low pay ($6 per week), poor working conditions (12 hour day, 7 days per week) and abusive treatment they were receiving. They moved to their traditional land at Daguragu (Wattie Creek), resisting all attempts to move them, defying white law and following their own. On April 19, 1967, the Gurindji People, led by Vincent Lingiari presented a petition to the Governor General, Lord Casey, seeking adequate pay and conditions, access to educational and medical facilities and control and ownership of their traditional lands.
  The strike turned into a nine year struggle focussed on land rights. On 16 August 1975, Prime Minister Gough Whitlam, handed back to Vincent Lingiari the crown lease to 3000sq km of Gurindji land at Daguragu. Ten years later, after the passage of the Northern Territory Land Rights Act, the Gurindji people gained full rights to their land.
  ACTION: Listen to or read the lyrics of Paul Kelly's song From Little Things Big Things Grow which tells the story of Vincent Lingiari

Fri 18 VIETNAM VETERANS DAY

Sun 20 WORLD YOUTH DAY JUBILEE CELEBRATION FOR YOUTH: 25 years ago at the close of the Holy Year in 1975, the Holy Father called representatives of the youth of the world together in Rome to challenge them to spread the good news that the presence of Christ can bring to the world. On that occasion a great wooden cross was entrusted to the young people, and in the years since it has been the main symbol at annual gatherings of youth around the world. In 2000 the Cross will return to Rome, as Pope John Paul II renews his challenge to open the doors of our own hearts and our societies, so that Christ may enter and make a difference to us and the world. The mystery and the paradox is that being able to make this difference, is some how bound up with the cross, the cross that was Christ's and must in different ways be ours.

Sun 27 300,000 WOMEN MARCHED TO GREENHAM COMMON MILITARY BASE IN PROTEST AGAINST NUCLEAR MISSILES, 1987

Wed 30 EAST TIMOR DECIDES, 1999
On this day in 1999, the people of East Timor participated in a United Nations supervised referendum to determine their future.

PRAYER FOR EAST TIMOR
All powerful and ever-present God:
look with love on the people of East Timor,
as they await the dawning of a new life for their country.
Send your Spirit to guide them
on their journey to self-determination.
Enlighten the hearts and the minds of all engaged in this process,
so that true freedom and lasting peace will be achieved.
We ask this in the name of Jesus, Your Son,
who lives with You, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, now and forever.
Amen.