The sacred music we sing together at Mass praises the trinitarian God of love and gives voice to our call to be transformed into people of justice, mercy and compassion. We participate in the Paschal Mystery through the sacramental life of the Church, experiencing God’s saving power. In the Eucharist, we become bread for the hungry and wine for the thirsty. Our sacred songs give voice to this shared mission, naming the God we follow in bringing forth God’s reign.
Is there room for ‘patriotic’ songs in Masses in Australia? Most songs in this category (like the Australian national anthem, Advance Australia Fair) address and centre the nation, not God. This is also true of what many would call the unofficial religion of Australia – sport. A beloved footy team song is best placed in other celebrations (like the wake after a funeral), or before or after formal liturgy.
GIVE GLORY TO GOD
When the Body of Christ gathers together to pray, the hymns and songs sung give glory and thanks to the God who has gathered people together and forms them in God’s saving love for lifegiving mission.
There are some hymns and sacred songs that recognise and centre God’s work, while also speaking powerfully and poetically of Australia: these can be sung in Masses and prayer services. The emphasis is on the ‘we’ over the ‘me’, reflecting the communal nature of liturgy and of living together as diverse, respectful and dynamic Christian communities here in Australia.
Br Michael Herry’s ‘A Blessing Hymn for Australia’, again uses the well-known tune of ‘Thaxted’, and music resources are available for free on the Marist Music website:
Holy Spirit, breathe your life in us, your truth to guide our way.
Now with open hearts we hear your call to follow you each day.
Bring us one and all together, under southern skies above,
so the cross will lead us onward, Great Southland of your love.
Give us joyful hearts in days to come, all fear and dark cast out.
Help us build in Christ a world reborn in justice and in love.
FOR ECUMENICAL GATHERINGS
Geoff Bullock’s classic hymn ‘The Great Southland of the Holy Spirit’ is well-known across Australia by a range of Christian denominations and is available in the As One Voice Volume 2 collection (159) and for digital download. It would work especially well in ecumenical gatherings. Michael Mangan’s ‘Hearts on Fire’ is another widely known hymn featuring Australian imagery that centres Christ and is available to order from LitMus Productions.
Irish-Australian theologian and composer Maeve Heaney and First Nations Leader and musician Toni Janke have co-written ‘On this Sacred Ground’, which could be used as a gathering hymn. It was part of morning prayer at the Second Assembly of the Plenary Council of Australia (2022) and calls people across Australia and beyond to remember that we are all God’s sacred people, living on sacred ground:
Lord, lead us and guide us, sustain us and teach us new ways to be.
We are one with creation, the Dreaming, the Spirit, throughout history . . .
Living breath, we pray, breathe in us today.
Fiona Dyball works across parish, school and tertiary settings in Melbourne as a musician, educator and liturgist, and serves on the national executive of the Australian Pastoral Musicians’ Network.
Resources for liturgy
A Blessing Hymn for Australia by Br Michael Herry FMS
Catholic Worship Book ll (655) or free digital download from Marist Music
The Great Southland of the Holy Spirit by Geoff Bullock
As One Voice Volume 2 (159) or digital download from Praise Charts
YouTube
Hearts on Fire by Michael Mangan
Order from LitMus Productions
YouTube
On this Sacred Ground by Maeve Louise Heaney and Toni Janke
Digital download from Willow Publishing
YouTube
Aboriginal Our Father (Lord’s Prayer) from Broome Diocese:
See NATSICC
YouTube
Image: Stained glass window from Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Church (OLSH) in Alice Springs by Kathleen Kemarre Wallace, an eastern Arrernte woman.