Campfire Reflection for ATSI (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Sunday and NAIDOC Week 2025: The Next Generation: Strength, Vision & Legacy

As we gather this Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Sunday (6 July), we pause to honour this sacred day set apart in the life of the Church – a day that recognises and celebrates the deep faith, culture, and enduring presence of the First Peoples of this land.

ATSI Sunday stands not only as a significant moment of prayer and reflection in its own right, but also as the spiritual doorway into NAIDOC Week (6-13 July), inviting the whole nation to listen, learn, and walk more gently in relationship with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Around the warmth of the campfire flame – an ancient and living symbol of truth-telling, Spirit, and community – we remember that this land has always been held, known, and loved by its First Peoples. On this day, as Church and community, we are called to honour their strength, their vision for life lived in harmony with Country, and the legacy they offer to us all.

This year’s NAIDOC theme, The Next Generation: Strength, Vision & Legacy, invites us deeper into that story—a story not finished – it is living, breathing, and growing like embers stirred into flame.

Strength is not simply survival; it is the courageous, generous hospitality that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples offered Mary MacKillop and Julian Tenison Woods in a time when colonial law made it illegal for Europeans to associate with Aboriginal peoples. Yet, despite this injustice, Mary and Julian chose to walk the harder path. They sat by fires, listened to language, learned the rhythms of Country, and shared in the deep spiritual knowing of the First Peoples of this land. The strength of those Aboriginal men, women, and children who welcomed the Sisters into their places of struggle and survival is part of the Church’s strength today. Without their openness and trust, the Sisters’ mission of love and service could never have taken root.

Vision is seeing what is possible when others cannot. Mary and Julian dreamed of a Church not separated by skin, race, or status, but united in Christ’s love and justice. Their vision broke laws to uphold the greater law of dignity and humanity. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, too, have always carried vision: of lands cared for over countless generations, of Lore that respects all living things, of Songlines that hold the wisdom of creation. Together, Mary’s vision and the peoples’ ancient wisdom gave rise to encounters of grace that changed lives – both settler and Aboriginal alike.

Legacy is what we now hold in our hands. The Sisters of Saint Joseph have, for more than 150 years, walked gently but purposefully in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities – listening, learning, and serving. But it is also the legacy of the First Nations peoples – their forgiveness, resilience, and generosity – that we inherit. These are the Elders and families who opened their homes and hearts to the Sisters, who taught them to see Country not as property but as kin, who shared stories even when those stories had been silenced elsewhere.

And so, this ATSI Sunday and NAIDOC Week, as we sit beside the ancient campfire of faith, let us honour not only the courageous Sisters who defied unjust laws but the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples whose strength, vision, and legacy made such friendships possible. May we walk in their footprints – bold, humble, and true – so the next generation may rise with healing, dignity, and shared hope.

Cassandra Gibbs-Smith
Yuwaalaraay | Yuwaalayaay | Gamilaraay Yinarr
Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) Facilitator – Sisters of Saint Joseph