Bound by the united belief in the God of Abraham, Perth Auxiliary Bishop Don Sproxton, representing the Christian faith, will soon be participating in the much-anticipated Abraham Day event, hosted at the University of Notre Dame Fremantle.
Scheduled for Tuesday, 26 October, the collaborative interfaith event held annually, brings together leaders from the three Abrahamic faiths – Christianity, Judaism and Islam – with the aim of practising the spirit of openness, fraternity and communion.
Aptly themed “Hope in Unsettling Times,” the event is set to commence at 2:30pm, with introductory remarks on the theme, from leaders of each faith tradition, including Perth Hebrew Congregation Chief Rabbi Daniel Lieberman, and representing the Islam community in Perth, Sheikh Muhammad Agherdien will join Bishop Don for the afternoon event, opened to the public.
This will be followed by a panel discussion, followed by a Q&A audience session, then, conclude with a reading and prayer from each faith tradition.
Present at the 2016 Abraham Day, Perth Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB offered his reflection on the mercy of God, drawing on the theme on the theme ‘Abraham: Our Father in Faith. He compared three aspects of each religion: Psalm 86 in the Torah, which speaks of God as merciful and gracious; the labelling of God in Islam as the all-merciful and all-compassionate and the figure of Jesus Christ as the embodiment of God’s mercy.
Archbishop Costelloe also spoke of God’s call of Abraham as “a key moment in God’s involvement in the world and in human history”, which the three faiths also hold in common.
At the last Abraham Day held in 2018, Rabbi Lieberman, Sheikh Agherdien and Archbishop Costelloe, took turns to dialogue and answer the question: “How do people of faith engage in a secular world?”
The leaders of the three Abrahamic faiths, Christianity, Judaism and Islam, planted an olive tree, a symbol of peace, in Notre Dame University’s Malloy Courtyard at the 2016 Abraham Day. This years’ event, held at the same university will take place on 26 October. Photo: Marco Ceccarelli.
In her welcome address, former UNDA Vice-Chancellor Professor Celia Hammond revealed that in 2016, 30 per cent of the Australian population identified as having ‘no religion.’ She then invited the faith leaders to present their opinion on how people of religious faith, “engage with this reality.”
Archbishop Costelloe’s response to this,
echoed sentiments of Pope’s Francis and Benedict, to “propose ceaselessly, but
never impose.”
“I think that we need to be careful, not to accept the values of secular
society around us, making them the basis of our lives and decisions, rather, to
make our belief in God and our desire to know God’s will in the heart of
everything we do.”
All are welcomed to attend this event. For more information and to RSVP by Friday, 22 October, go to notredame.edu.au/abrahamday.