Speech by Rod Benson, Palm Sunday Rally and March, Belmore Park, Sydney, 2026 Friends, we gather at a moment in history when the language of power dominates our public life. Politicians speak platitudes. Governments speak of security. Nations attempt to dominate and eliminate enemies real and imagined. Genuine peace initiatives rarely even make it on to the …
Jesus the prophet
Our Gospel reading today tells the story of the “triumphal entry” of Jesus into Jerusalem (cf kZec 9:9), riding a donkey, welcomed by cheering crowds, just one week before his violent death. It’s the first of three symbolic acts in Matthew 21. This is the beginning of Passover Week: Jesus enters Jerusalem, the holy City of …
Should Protestants reframe purgatory as final sanctification?
Last night, over a communal dinner, the conversation turned to John 17, and then to the status of Judas Iscariot, and then to the notion of “perdition” (Jn 17:12), which may refer to “destruction, ruin, or ultimate loss.” From there, we skirted around the theology of predestination and Judas’s assumed eternal fate, and then on …
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A prayer for Palm Sunday
Almighty and everlasting God,as we recall the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem,and our world groans with conflict and pain,we rejoice in the veiled genius of your kingdom:not established by violence or threatbut through humility, mercy, and love.You scatter the proudand lift up the lowly.Now plant within us the song of Mary,that we may celebrate your …
What’s so good about the Uniting Church?
The Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) is distinctive among Australian Christian denominations because of a particular way of being church: it is intentionally ecumenical in origin, conciliar in structure, dialogical in decision-making, and diverse in practice. Formed in 1977 through the union of Methodist, Presbyterian, and Congregational traditions, it represents a culmination of ecumenical aspiration and an ongoing experiment …
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