Lest we forget

Today marks the 100th anniversary of ANZAC Day - a time where we in Australia and New Zealand not only remember the battle of Gallipoli which began on this day back in 1915, but also the many men and women who have fought for our freedom over the many years as part of our defense forces.

It was great to see so many people this morning lining the streets of the local area I live in as those who have fought in combat for us or if they had passed on, their children and grandchildren walked down as part of the commemorative parade.

While this day is all about remembering the battles we've fought in and the efforts of our defense forces - it's not the dates that are the reason we remember. If it was only about remembering the day a battle had happen, the flame would have died out long ago.

ANZAC day is about remembering the values that make us who we are, that have been the building blocks of the two countries the name stands for and which even today we need a reminder about every once in a while.

For starters, there's the idea of sacrifice. Too often in our lives today, we see sacrifice as something horrible that we run away from because it's easier to live in comfort than to help out another or fight for something we believe in. In the lives of our defence men and women however, we see people who see sacrifice as something different.

To them, sacrifice is a beautiful gift of giving of ones self to help a greater cause, to truly show what they believe in and it is something that if required, they will do without question. These men and women and the lives they lead are a great example to us all of why sacrifice isn't such a bad thing and why we should all be more willing to do it.

Then there's the idea of service. We live in a world where everyone, including myself at times is just interested in themselves. We spend our days worrying about money, about how we are going to get what we need to get done and how much others are hindering that progress. In the stories from the war fields however, we see a different perspective on life.

As the Director of the Australian War Memorial, Dr Brendan Nelson said this morning - these men and women are never thinking of themselves first, even in their last moments as they lay wounded on the battlefield, it's always about what they can do for others that's in the forefront of their minds. Imagine if we were all like this, gave to others first no matter the cost, I am sure the world would be a better and happier place. As it says in the bible: "There is no greater love, than for a man to lay down his life for another."

Next, there's the idea of what being a hero is really about. We all have idealistic dreams of being heroes are and there's nothing wrong with that, even the boys who signed to WWI had those - it's probably why many took up the challenge. To us and to them, being a hero means doing a great thing and everyone loving you for it. The truth is though, that's not always the case and in particular was not the case with our ANZACs.

For all the sacrifice they made for their country, when many got home, they weren't treated like they are today with parades and celebration. If you were Indigenous after WWI you were an outcast, if you got ill, you were isolated and if you came back after Vietnam, the country wasn't particular fond of you. While a lot of this was injustice and is wrong, I view it as a great example for all of us in life. That no matter what you do, sometimes the accolades won't come, but that doesn't mean you don't do it anyway. We need to spend more time in life doing things without reward- something I know I struggle with but which in doing so, will lead to greater riches in Heaven,

Finally, the biggest thing I think we remember on ANZAC day is the power of mates. No matter whether what is written in war history is fact or exaggerated fable from fact, there's one thing that does remain true, and that is with all the battles, it has been our mateship that has seen us through. Aussies and Kiwis sticking together to get a job done and supporting each other no matter what has seen us win many more battles than we have lost over the years.

It's the same in life. We will win more battles than we will lose if we do things as a team, work to a common cause and support each other through all obstacles. It's a lot harder to do something by yourself but it's a lot easier and more likely to succeed when others are helping out. This applies to whether you are putting together a bed or fighting in the trenches. Whenever I see our defence personnel out in the field, I am reminded by this and days like today hopefully will instill this message into the generations to come as they read and learn about how these men through mateship overcame all.

May you be inspired by the ANZACs today to keep striving to live life to it's fullest and with an importance on what really matters - helping out others, giving of self no matter the accolades and always knowing that if you believe in what you are going for, it is always worth fighting for.

Lest we forget and till next time..

Time to move on...

Hi everyone!

Apologies once again for the gap in posts (seems like I should make this a monthly post LOL!)

Seriously though, I do apologise for the delay in writing and for not getting any more Lent posts up. I have recently moved and we didn't have internet for a whole month (another story for another day) but yes, now we have it, I'll be back online and hope to have a post for you every 2 weeks.

But yes, back to that news in the last paragraph- I've moved. It's not a spur of the moment thing, I've been planning to move for a few months now, but it's finally happened.

I haven't just moved down the road though, I've moved to the other side of the city and with that has brought many interesting experiences and adjustments to get use to being in a different location and in a different environment to the one I've become very use to.

Like any move, there's been the setting up of rooms, the travelling of stuff and the joy of having boxes around the place and never having any time to do anything with them. Along with this though, there's been the differences that take a bit of getting use to - like being at the Easter Triduum (for those who don't know what that is- it's the time between Holy Thursday and Easter Sunday) and not being in my home parish- having different ways of doing things and being in a different place in general when you are so use to being at the same place for so long can be a bit of a shock.

As the weeks go on however, I am getting more and more use to being in a new place and I feel as if it is now more home than my old place is. I am enjoying the new journeys and I am fortunate to have some great housemates which has made the whole thing even smoother than usual.

I write all this above as I think it relates very well to where I reckon a lot of you are as we head out of Lent and into this Easter season.

For many people, there were things that you did over Lent that were different to what you had done before (sacrifices made, attitudes changed) and you are not where you were when we started those 40 something days ago.

The problem with this is that now that Lent is over and you are once again able to do the things you could do before, there's a temptation to go back to what is comfortable and you know the outcome of - to slip back into bad habits or lose the progress made during this time in the desert.

This is not however what God has called us to. We are always called to something greater and to grow in ourselves and our ever deepening relationship with Christ.

Just like how for me, getting use to moving has taken time - so it is with you and your changes. For everyone of us, change is a difficult and at times scary thing - but it is so necessary if we want to keep growing and it is vital that we stick to the path, no matter how challenging it might become.

I've written before about how you need to keep going at something for it to become a habit and the same relates for the changes we have made over the Lenten period.

It is great to have given up chocolate, being angry, being more compassionate to others or to have begun to read more scripture or go to mass more often over these last few days, but if we don't keep on with this after Lent then we will miss out on our chance to grow as people of God.

To really see how God will work in your life, you need to take your Lenten promise and keep running with it for all of your life. It should become part of your psyche and another building block to your development as a Child of Christ.

Now I don't mean that if you've given up something, you must keep giving it up, but I do mean that you shouldn't go back to old ways.

For example, one of the things I did this Lent was I had a few weeks where I took a complete break from social media. Now while it is tempting to go back to spending every spare moment looking at Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, the truth is, I know how much of a waste of time that was and so I am now going to limit my time on these, knowing I'll be better off because of it.

If we are to be the Easter people God wants us to be, then we need to make sure that we keep alive the light that God calls us to carry- and that includes working to become the people we started to grow into over Lent.

Now that doesn't mean we aren't going to stumble every now and then - that's human nature but we know from Christ rising for us that he won't ever not be there for us and in these times, we need to turn to him and then keep powering on.

So don't let the work you've done over Lent go by and in the process lose the real value of Easter and Resurrection Day. Make this be your move to a greater and better life- as God intended it to be.

Praying for you all and till next time...