Fifth Sunday of Easter 9th May 2004

FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER

9^th May 2004

QUOTES OF THE WEEK

The bharal, a Himalayan wild sheep, blue in hue, is as much goat as sheep, thus provoking a theological dilemma. D J Enright

Religion is to God as sex is to love - the former gives expression to the latter but in a form which may cast the gravest doubts upon the latter's existence.Andro Linklater

Teresa of Avila, when thrown off her carriage, slammed rudely to the ground, and deposited in a mud puddle, questioned God. He answered her, `This is how I treat all my friends.‘ Her tart reply was, `Then, Lord, it is not surprising that you have so few.'

BUTTONED BELLIES

Two little boys were sitting on the beach near the Hume Weir examining each others navels. "What are they?" asked one. "Well, when you are born there is a piece of rope hanging out there. And they cut if off and twist the end around and tape it inside." "What for?" "So that you won't go pssssshhhhhhh and go down."

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MEL

Fr Andrew Neaum

At last I have seen Mel Gibson's "The Passion". I went unwillingly, out of a sense of duty. I am not much of a cinema man, I prefer books. Even films that are good seem usually too fleeting for me, fast food. A few days spent over a good book are far more satisfying than a few hours watching a good film. I am also squeamish, I don't like violence and gore. So much so, that when visiting folk in hospital I have been known to have to sit down to avoid fainting when a patient has described, in too lurid detail, exactly what a surgeon has done to him. So the much talked of violence in "The Passion" filled me with trepidation. Nor am I an admirer of Mel Gibson. We were persuaded, when in Scotland, to see his "Braveheart" and found it a tendentious, vulgar parody of history. So to have a dubious film star present the Christ to me shivered my discriminating and delicate timbers.

It was my first visit to the cinema in Shepparton and on walking in to the theatre I noticed on the far side a big round silver fixture. I wondered, momentarily, if it wasn't a font installed for all the conversions the film is making. It was probably, however, a waste bin, I didn't go over to investigate.

The film I found to be far better than I anticipated. Not least, I suppose, because the story of Jesus' Passion is a most compelling one no matter who tells it. We Christians know it pretty well off by heart and yet still, every Good Friday, it moves us almost to tears. Certainly when I play my part in the dramatic reading of the Passion each year on Palm Sunday and Good Friday, a lump comes invariably to my throat. Not even Mel Gibson could ruin this archetypal story of innocent suffering and selfless love, of acceptance and heroic forgiveness, of the lengths to which love will go and the profundity of a loving God's love. Of all the world's stories of heroic love, selflessness, acceptance and faith it is both the archetype and the summation. It is an immortal, unforgettable unutterably wonderful narrative. On Good Friday I listened, with my daughter Rachel, to Bach's great version of the story, the St Matthew Passion and was moved immeasurably by it, especially by the simple Passion Chorale upon which the whole worked is based, with its unutterably lovely melody and the frequent and intimate use of the possessive pronoun for Jesus, "My Jesus holds his peace......give me back my Jesus...." and so on.

Mel Gibson's version, for the most part, held my attention well. What is good about it? All the dialogue being in either Aramaic or Latin is very effective. For a start it gives the film the feel of a documentary and therefore of historical authenticity, it also avoids the American or British accent problem, but more than that, to see the well known, much loved texts flick up on the screen as you watch, gladdens the heart, and with many of them there is the delight of anticipation, you know what is about to flick up before it comes. I also found the androgynous devil, with a woman's face and a man's voice, unutterably sinister and fascinating, she/he is a constant presence faintly smiling or sneering at every torture and setback of Jesus, and then at the end is shown shrieking in powerless rage at the bottom of an abyss. The defeat of the crucifixion being in fact the triumph of good over evil and the devil's defeat. Jesus' mother is also excellent, a constant, tender, suffering presence to offset or balance the devil's omnipresence.

Another successful feature of the film is the use of creative flashbacks. These provide not only relief from the constant and ultimately wearing violence, they also impart a sense of deja vu, because several at least of the flashbacks seem deliberately staged to recall some of the greatest of Christendom's works of art. I only fully realised what was going on right at the end of the film when this sense of recognition or familiarity became explicit in a very obviously posed Mary as pietà, her veil blown to one side as in one of the famous paintings by Bellini and like the Madonna painting in St Augustine's at the back of the north aisle. The fact that much of the film is shot in Italy, which is the homeland of Christendom's greatest artists, means that much of the background to the action also recalls Christendom's great artistic interpretations of the passion narrative. The film's long, long Way of Cross, with its overdone and constant scourging, is similarly redeemed by what seem to be deliberate reminders of the devotional Way of the Cross that so many of us have walked during Holy Week. Even the unhistorical but devotionally authentic Veronica comes forward to wipe our Lord's face. In some ways then, the film is truer to the history of Catholic devotion, and its interpretation of what happened, than it is to what probably actually happened. There is nothing wrong with this, for much of the detail of what actually happened is largely unrecoverable. Bare facts need clothing imaginatively for us to appropriate, and Christendom's great artists have provided us with the greatest of all aids in this regard.

I did find the visual violence overdone, and at times almost boring in that it simply goes on and on and on. The concentration on scourging, which to me seemed ridiculously overdone, was in fact, I suppose, something of a cop out, almost a necessity, because the truly dreadful horrors of dying of asphyxiation on a cross have to be glossed over, are too terrible by far to show as brute reality. So the naked victim is made to wear a chaste loin cloth, there is no emptying of the bladder or bowels portrayed, I am pleased to say, even the raven plucking out an eye of one of the two thieves, though disgusting, is also, when you have done and said all, evasive, a little bit of nastiness on the side because the nastiness at the centre is far too foul to show as it really is. There is a limit to realism. Indeed the reality of evil in the film has to be perceived less in all the overdone violence than in the moral evil that so insistently accuses and condemns an innocent man.

I was far more impressed by the film than I expected to be and found its retelling of one of the most moving of all stories, for the most part, absorbing. The film, unabashedly Catholic, is filled with Catholic imagery and piety and the theology of the Atonement underlying it doffs its hat not at all to the theory of penal substitution so beloved by extreme Protestants and the Diocese of Sydney, but is more Christus Victor" with a hint or two of the interpretation ascribed to Abelard. It is therefore ironic that the film should be so enthusiastically embraced by bible-based, evangelical Christians, folk who refuse even to countenance in their churches a cross that has the representation of a corpse on it! This might be seen as simply ignorance on the part of such Protestants. In fact it is more likely to be a sign of a growing, barely articulated awareness that the divisions within Christendom are as nothing when compared to the hostility from without, be it from the liberal elites and the likes of Christopher Hitchens, who once attempted a demolition job on Mother Theresa, or from Islam. The Catholic Church, since the Second Vatican Council, has undergone a kind of Reformation, certainly in its approach to Scripture, which brings it closer to Protestantism than either side sometimes realise. The Gospel according to Mel is worth seeing.

Love

Is it like a carnival with spangles and balloons,

Fancy-dress and comic masks and sun-drenched afternoons

Without a cloud to spoil the blue perfection of the skies?

"Well yes, at first, but later on it might seem otherwise."

Is it like a summer night when stock and roses stain

The silken dark with fragrance and the nightingale again

Sweetly pierces silence with its silver blades of song?

"I say once more it can be thus, but not for very long."

Is it like a great parade with drums and marching feet

And everybody cheering them, and dancing in the street,

With laughter swirling all around and only tears of joy?

"If that alone, you'd find the fun would soon begin to cloy."

Is it like the falling snow, noiseless through the night;

Mysterious as moonlight and innocent and bright,

Changing the familiar world with its hypnotic spell?

"It has been known to be like that, and other things as well.

"But if you find, when all the brightest ribbons have grown frayed

The colours faded, music dumb, and all that great parade

Dismissed into the darkness where the moon has been put out,

Together you find warmth and strength, then that's what it's about."

Vernon Scannell

A family is a unit composed not only of children but of men, women, an occasional animal, and the common cold.

Ogden Nash

A PRAYER FOR THE WEEK

O Lord, we remember before you all the workers of the world: workers with hand or brain: workers in cities or in the fields: those who go forth to toil and those who keep house: those who command and those who obey: those whose work is dangerous: those whose work is monotonous or mean: those who find no work to do: those whose work is the service of the poor, or the healing of the sick, or the proclamation of the Gospel of Christ at home or far away. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

CONGRATULATIONS

Congratulations to Bev & Michael Condon who celebrate their wedding anniversary on Wednesday the 12th of May. Also to Gladys Petschack who celebrates her birthday on Thursday the 13th and to Jenny Pleming and Norm Mitchelmore who celebrate theirs on Friday the 14th.

MOTHERS' DAY BARBECUE

There is a BYO Barbecue today after the 10.00am service, as is usually the case after Children's Church, all are most welcome to come along. Weather permitting it will be held under the big tree in front of the hall.

HEALING SERVICE

I would like to reinstitute the Healing Service component to Sunday's Eucharist now and then and so propose to do so initially on Pentecost Sunday, the 30th June at the 10.00am service. Anyone who has any ideas or views on these services or would like to discuss them, please contact me.

ST AUGUSTINE'S DAY

Our Patronal Festival looms. We are celebrating St Augustine and St Augustine's on the actual day, which is Wednesday the 26th of May. The Eucharist is to be at 6.30pm and will be followed by an excellent dinner, with a glass of wine all for a mere $10.00. The preacher and guest speaker will be Fr Chris Shields, the best of men and Father Andrew hopes to compose a special grace in verse for the occasion. Invitations which will require a response are to be sent out this week. Lifts can be arranged for those who do not like to drive at night or who have no transport and next week there will be a list put out for such folk. Although it is winter we hope a good number of folk will make the effort to be present.

WORKING BEE

There is a Working Bee in the church Gardens on Saturday 22nd of May, starting at 9.00am. All able bodied parishioners will be greeted with joy and treated with deference.

PRAYER REQUEST

Your prayers are asked for deacons Raymond Brewer and Mark Gliddon, to be ordained priest in the Cathedral on June 5th at 11.00am.

ST. AUGUSTINE'S EVENING GUILD

New Office Bearers

President Margaret Kidman58 251 962

Vice Pres.Ella Egan

SecretaryKath Grills58 216 358

Asst. Sec.Merle Maskell

TreasurerCecily McDonnell

Members are reminded that our next meeting will be held in the Narthex on May 20th at 1.30

HALL KITCHEN

We held a constructive meeting about the refurbishment of the Hall Kitchen last week and the next stage is to approach kitchen outfitters to discuss options and costs. All is not lost, there will, in the not too distant future be a cockroach's nightmare, a pristine, well equipped, hygienic hall kitchen at St Augustine's.

BUS TOUR OF ABORIGINAL SITES AND ORGANISATIONS

On Tuesday May 25, from 10.303.00pm there is a bus tour of Aboriginal sites and Organ-isations. The fee of $15 includes a bus fare, commentary, indigenous morning and afternoon teas and Iraqi lunch. Please be interested and put your name on the list in the narthex. Further enquiries to Linley 5820 0018; 5855 2422AH or Joan 5821 4459. This is an ecumenical endeavour that was initiated by Fr Andrew, who, being a newcomer, feels a need and duty to know about all the creative work being done in this regard in this area. Do support this venture.

EVENING GUILD GARAGE SALE

Do not forget the Garage Sale, June 18th and 19th. We require all those unwanted bits and pieces. contact 58 315601 or 58 251 962 for details and enquries.

COFFEE MORNING

The Ladies Guild Coffee Morning takes place this Monday, tomorrow, at 10.00am. One of the social events of the year and a mere $3.50 a head. Don't miss it, and bring along a friend.

IMPORTANT DATES

May 10^th Ladies Guild Coffee Morning

May 18^th Afternoon Guild 2pm

May 20^th Evening Guild 2pm

May 18^th - 21^st Annual Priests' Retreat

May 22^nd Working Bee 9.00am

May 22^nd Wedding 2.30pm

May 25^th Reconciliation Activity

May 26^th St Augustine's Patronal Festival

May 30^th Ecumenical Service St. Mel's 7.30pm

Jun 5^th Ugandan Martyrs - Breakfast

Jun 6^th Mass for Africa

Jun 12^th Wedding 2.00pm

Jun 18 - 19^th Evening Guild Garage Sale

July 18^th Confirmation

June 30^th Ecumenical Service for Unity 7.00pm

Sept 17- 18^th Synod

Oct 3^rd St Francistide Pet Blessing

Oct 16^th Wedding 3.00pm

Oct 23^rd Wedding 3.00pm

Nov 6^th Wedding 3.30pm

Nov 13^th Wedding 2.30pm

Nov 13^th Parish Fair

Nov 21^st Bishop's Visit

Nov 27^th Wedding 1.30pm

Dec 18^th Wedding 1.30pm

DUTIES FOR 9th May 2004

Readers 8.30 Jeanette Smith, Norm Weaver

Readers 10.30 Christine Jones, Nancy Noonan

Servers 8,30 Michelle, Stephen, Debbie

Servers 10.30 Jennifer Pleming, Zebedee, Tiana

Euch. Assists 8.30 John Griffin, Heather Fitzgerald

Euch. Assists 10.30 Christine Edwards,Carole Henderson

Intercessors Carole Henderson, Children

Welcoming 8.30 Joyce Cavill, Gwen Betson

Welcomers 10.30 Sandra Simonis, Charlotte Brewer

Sidespeople 8.30 Trevor Batey,Victoria Heenan

Sidespeople 10.30 Alan Akers, Adrian Evans

Tea 8.30 Cecily McDonaldPat Griffin

Mowing Frank Steen, Michael Egan

DUTIES FOR 16th May

Readers 8.30 Norm Mitchelmore, Heather Carlyon

Readers 10.30 Joan McCann, Nancy Fennell

Servers 8,30 Beth, Kate, James

Servers 10.30 Joan McCann, Jenny Waite, Jenny Pleming

Euch. Assists 8.30 Heather Fitzgerald, Bev Condon

Euch. Assists 10.30 Christine Evans, Carole Henderson

Intercessors Heather Fitzgerald, Bev Condon

Welcoming 8.30 Shirley Dean, Bev Reither

Welcomers 10.30 Jennifer Pleming, John Pleming

Sidespeople 8.30 Bob Galt, Joe Pearson

Sidespeople 10.30 Charlotte Brewer, Nola Brewer

Tea 8.30 Pat Gibson

Mowing

FOR PRAYER

Liam Bognar, Richard Goodfellow, Iris Grant, Ron Hall, Jean Hastie, Thelma Irwin, Fr Wayne Ireland, Marie Law, Joyce Maloney, Betty Mercer, Ann Mills, Richard Pearson, Anthony Pease, Ray Prosser, Mary Rider, Rohan & family, Margaret Robinson, Roger Saville, Peter and Eva Swindells, Rev.Glenis Traill, Brian Ward, Malcolm Waterson, Glenda, Darryl, Elizabeth, Faith, Michael, Nea,

Rest in Peace

Alfred Probst

Anniversary of Death

June Reid 11th ,Charles Causon 12th, May Jones 13th, Pamela Oliver 15th.

THIS WEEK

Monday May 10th

Fr Andrew's Day off