2026 Prayers for Peace

The Revd Dr Bill Leadbetter Convenor, Social Responsibilities’ Commission

Our world seems to need peace more than ever. Wars persist, both civil and between nations in too many places in the world. Too many people still find no security or safety in their homes or in their communities. In contemporary Australia, we encounter a breakdown in civility.

Subtly, we encounter this in language and attitude; more obviously, in the incidence of political violence. Most of us were shocked by the attempt to bomb the Invasion Day rally here in Forrest Place.

The Social Responsibilities Commission has taken for its theme this year the biblical question ‘Who is my neighbour?’ In Luke 10, Jesus is tested by a teacher of the law, who asks him what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus’ response is to cite the first two commandments: to love God with everything that you have and are; and to love your neighbour as you love yourself. But the teacher of the law isn’t done. He wants to go one up on Jesus. He wants to win the argument. ‘And who is my neighbour?’ he asks.

Characteristically, Jesus responds with a parable, the one that we call the parable of the Good Samaritan. The essence of the story is that a man is beaten up and robbed and left by the side of the road. Those who might be thought righteous – a priest and a Levite – took one look and crossed the road to avoid encountering the injured man. Instead, he was cared for by a Samaritan, one who was considered by the mainstream Jewish community of Jesus’ day to be a wicked outcast, a member of a misguided and heretical sect.

Jesus showed in this story that being a neighbour is not about being a member of the same community, or even living next door. The neighbour is the one who shows mercy, who acts with compassion, who provides generously. Neighbourliness is not a state of being, but of doing. It is not, in fact, a noun at all, but a verb.

This year, the Social Responsibilities’ Commission is holding its annual Prayers for Peace gathering on Palm Sunday (29 March) at 1.00pm at St George’s Cathedral. On this first day of Holy Week, led by Bishop Hans Christensen, and with ecumenical contributions, we will be reflecting on and praying through this parable together. I encourage everyone to come who can, so that together, we might express in prayer and community that deep truth that Jesus taught that we are all one another’s neighbours.