‘My constituency is the desperate, the damned, the disinherited, the disrespected, and the despised?’

Rev Jesse Jackson

Isaiah invited us last week to imagine a different world and a different way of being together by using images of a world restored. Pope Francis keeps referring to a ‘culture of encounter’. Advent’s vision of a peaceable realm is not just about a lion and lamb together, but about seemingly more unimaginable – people living justly and peacefully together and in harmony with creation.

We are being prepared to bring God into our hearts, lives and world. We are being prepared for the coming of the One who reveals God’s priorities which are different to those of the world’s rulers.  Something powerful happened when God became flesh who in Jesus hit the streets, especially those of the poor. Jesus’ mission in bringing ‘good news to the poor’ and identifying with ‘the least of these’ was expressed in nonviolent living: turning the other cheek, practicing  humility, going the extra mile, putting away their swords, loving one’s including one’s enemies in order to usher in ‘peace on earth, good will toward all’.

Click the following link to download the report on Settlement Experience of Syrian and Iraqi Refugees

Settlement Experience of Syrian and Iraqi Refugees: Opportunities, Challenges and the Way Forward

After a pilot community evaluation project in 2017 in which the settlement needs and challenges of newly arrived Syrian and Iraqi refugees in Sydney were evaluated, the Edmund Rice Centre launched the “Syrian and Iraqi Refugee Settlement Experience Research” in 2018. The research investigates the settlement experience of Syrian and Iraqi refugees in Sydney, specifically the gap between what is currently provided and what is needed to achieve positive well-being outcomes for refugee settling in Australia.