ANZAC Day 2021: May we remember

'Friends, last year across Melbourne and the entirety of Victoria we stood out on our footpaths and balconies at dawn – separated from neighbour, but united in heart. We lit candles and looked outwards in silent prayer, holding close all those men and women who have served us, and are serving us now.

The ANZAC Day spirit of coming together as a whole nation could not be subdued despite the difficulties we all faced, the hardships, and the separation – and in that true Aussie spirit, we simply found a new way of doing things.

I’m sure we all hoped that 2020 would be a one-off disruption, but we find ourselves still grappling with an invisible enemy – and once again have greeted the ANZAC dawn paying our respects at home, in limited gatherings or from a distance.

In the bigger picture, these are small sacrifices when weighed against what was offered and sacrificed for our own safety on so many battlefronts and theatres of war across the world. The simple sacrifices we have been called to make over this past year really do pale into insignificance compared to that.

So what would those valiant and brave men and women ask of us on this day, at this time?

I think they would ask that we might recognise that each of us have a role to play in building a future of peace, dignity and good will, however big or small our own actions might be. That caring for each other in a Christ-like way – with an intentional self-sacrifice that brings care and compassion to all, is what truly matters. And, that there is always new hope to pursue in pathways to peace.

Lord, as you loved us so completely that you gave your only Son in sacrifice that we might live anew in you, grant eternal rest to those who gave of themselves in service and sacrifice for those they loved and cared for.

In every way that we can gather today, may we remember them.'