An ANZAC Prayer
Help us Lord God – as we think of Gallipoli and Villers-Bretonneux and Passchendaele and Fromelles and Bullecourt and Pozieres – and so many other places such as Burma and Vietnam – help us as we feel that grief to also feel and know enormous gratitude, pride and honour, and delight in this legacy of freedom we now enjoy.
We have been called, rather disparagingly, by those who currently seek to destroy, “the Nations of the Cross” (Libya, on the beach “A message signed in blood, to the nations of the cross”). And yes, Lord, we wear the cross as a badge of honour and we place it, with solemnity, on the tombs of those who have fallen and we are sobered as we survey those fields of crosses.
And as we see and hear, once again, those immortal words “greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” we are reminded that they were your words Lord Jesus, and that the cross also was Yours.
Dear God, help us as we celebrate this Anzac centenary time to get this mix right – to glory in the love and sacrifice of so many, to remember with grief, to despair that it was ever necessary, to exult in the freedom we enjoy – and to know that this is the Message of the Cross.
What is the Message of the Cross? to glory in Your love and sacrifice, to remember with grief, to despair that it was ever necessary, and to exult in the freedom You offer to all who will accept.
___
Adapted from A Centennial Anzac Prayer, April 2015.
Recent Articles:
9 October 2024
4.2 MINS
Australians have marked one year since Hamas’ incursion into Israel killed 1,200 and divided the West. Coordinated public events saw prominent political figures from the Liberals, Nationals, Independents, and some minor parties gather in solidarity with Israel’s hour of mourning.
9 October 2024
2.9 MINS
The Federal Government faces continuing trouble in its “overkill” attempt to legislate the construction industry’s troubles out of existence. The reality is that Labor wants the CFMEU off front pages and TV screens in the lead-up to the 2025 federal and 2026 Victorian elections.
9 October 2024
4.1 MINS
The Word clearly tells us how to speak about leaders, and claiming that Jesus used insulting, coarse or even vulgar language when speaking about Herod is just an excuse for our own carnality.
9 October 2024
1.6 MINS
Police posting police messages in the blue and white colours of the police force are now Islamophobes, according to Macquarie University’s Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah.
9 October 2024
7.7 MINS
Take away the history of a people or a culture or a nation, and you effectively take away the people, the culture, and the nation. We are today what has gone before in our past. Being unmoored from our own past makes us quite vulnerable.
9 October 2024
3.4 MINS
We must redoube our commitment to the family – especially fathers – as a lynchpin of Christian training. Children who lack a stable sense that theirs is a Christian household are most vulnerable to drifting away from the Church.
8 October 2024
4.1 MINS
There is a lot to learn about the number 5 from a Jewish and Biblical perspective. In March 2025, we will step into 5950 according to the Essenes. This is a Jubilee year – a year of double 5, double grace, double breath of the spirit to behold, a time when slaves are ordained to be set free.
