ADVENT SUNDAY
3rd December 2006
Graphics and cartoons appear only in the printed version
LAUDATOR TEMPORIS ACTI
Two old bushies were sitting on the verandah of the pub, chatting over a couple of beers. They were discussing the “new” metric system which meant that when talking to other than themselves they had to talk metres instead of yards, kilos instead of pounds and hectares instead of acres. They shook their heads sorrowfully. “What next? I suppose we’ll have to drive on the right-hand side of the road.” “Well that’d be all right provided they brought it in gradual.”
BETTING ON THE ARCHBISHOP
In a snooty Melbourne Club
idly bored and yawning
Sat two hardworking business men
at ten one Monday morning.
The only other occupant
read the Melbourne “Age”
Totally absorbed it seemed
in each and every page.
Said business man to business man,
“That fellow over there
I’m sure’s the Anglican Archbishop,
though it doesn’t do to stare!
“That he should be a fellow member
of this exclusive club
Surprises me, for how can he
afford the mighty sub?”
“That’s not the Anglican Archbishop,”
declared the other man,
“He looks far more intelligent
than any bishop can!”
“It is, I tell you,” said the first,
“I’ll bet you fifty dollars,
For I can sniff the clergy out
outside or in their collars!”
They argued fiercely for a while,
each stubbornly one-sided
Until to ask the man himself
they recklessly decided.
They tossed a coin to settle who
should rise and go and ask.
The one who thought the man the bishop
won this dubious task.
And so he rose and made his way
across the room and said:
“Aren’t you the Anglican Archbishop?”
The stranger raised his head
And as no bishop would he shouted,
in manner most malign,
“Mind your own foul, stinking business
You snotty, nasty swine!”
The business man returned, sat down,
surprised but not undone.
And said, “The blighter wouldn’t tell me.”
(So neither of them won!)
Andrew Neaum
THE GREAT DOCTOR JOHNSON
One of the greatest of all Anglican laymen is Dr Samuel Johnson. There follows an extract from an essay on him in “The City Journal on him by Theodore Dalrymple.
Macaulay’s summary of Boswell’s biographical account gives us a clue as to why we are so moved by Johnson and tend to make him a touchstone of what we consider the most admirable, the highest type of man. Thanks to Boswell, says Macaulay, “Johnson grown old, Johnson in the fulness of his fame and in the enjoyment of a competent fortune, is better known to us than any other man in history.” He continues:
Every thing about him, his coat, his wig, his figure, his face, his scrofula, his St. Vitus’s dance, his rolling walk, his blinking eye, the outward signs which too clearly marked his approbation of his dinner, his insatiable appetite for fish-sauce and veal-pie with plums, his inexhaustible thirst for tea, his trick of touching the posts as he walked, his mysterious practice of treasuring up scraps of orange-peel, his morning slumbers, his midnight disputations, his contortions, his mutterings, his gruntings, his puffings, his vigorous, acute and ready eloquence, his sarcastic wit, his vehemence, his insolence, his fits of tempestuous rage, his queer inmates, old Mr Levett and blind Mrs Williams [who lived for years in his household at his expense], the cat Hodge and the negro Frank are all as familiar to us as the objects by which we have been surrounded from childhood.
What Johnson said of the London of his time, that it contains all that human life can afford, seems also true of his own life. Johnson is a good but flawed man, always trying to be, but not always succeeding in being, a better one: he is proud, he is humble; he is weak, he is strong; he is prejudiced, he is generous-minded; he is tenderhearted, he is bad-tempered; he is foolish, he is wise; he is sure of himself, he is modest; he is idle, he is hardworking; he is opinionated, he is consumed by doubt; he is spiritual, he is carnal; he is hopeful, he is despairing; he is skeptical, he is credulous; he is melancholy, he is lighthearted; he is deferential, he is aware that he has no superior in the world; he is clumsy of body, he is elegant of mind and diction; he is a failure, he is triumphant. We never expect to meet anyone who, to such a degree, encompasses in his being all human vulnerability and human resilience.
Humility and pride contend in Johnson’s heart and mind. He does not object in the slightest to social hierarchy—quite the contrary, and consistent with his profound conservatism, he repeatedly supports it as a necessary precondition of civilization —and he has no objection to inherited wealth, eminence, or influence. Yet when he feels slighted by a nobleman, he objects to the insult to his own worth in the most manly, uncompromising, eloquent, and fearless fashion. Writing to Lord Chesterfield, who encouraged him at first to compile his great Dictionary, then ignored him entirely during his years of almost superhuman toil, and finally tried to pose as his great patron once he had brought his Dictionary to completion, Johnson says in prose whose nobility rings down the centuries: “Is not a Patron, my Lord, one who looks with unconcern on a man struggling for life in the water, and, when he has reached ground, encumbers him with help? . . . I hope it is no very cynical asperity, not to confess obligations where no benefit has been received, or to be unwilling that the Publick should consider me as owing that to a Patron, which Providence has enabled me to do for myself.”
His integrity (a virtue no more common in his time than now) shines out from a letter that he wrote to a lady who had asked him to recommend her son to the archbishop of Canterbury for admission to a university (either Oxford or Cambridge):
MADAM,
I hope you will believe that my delay in answering your letter could proceed only from my unwillingness to destroy any hope that you had formed. Hope is itself a species of happiness, and, perhaps, the chief happiness which this world affords; but, like all other pleasures immoderately enjoyed, the excesses of hope must be expiated by pain. . . . When you made your request to me, you should have considered, Madam, what you were asking. You ask me to solicit a great man, to whom I never spoke, for a young person whom I had never seen, upon a supposition which I had no means of knowing to be true.
I don’t think you could read this letter without perceiving in its writer great intellect, eloquence, wit, knowledge of life derived from deep reflection upon experience, and—what perhaps most compels respect—moral seriousness.......
Johnson was never satisfied with himself, and did not blame the world for his dissatisfaction; 50 years after he was cheekily disobliging to his impoverished father, the GREAT SAMUEL JOHNSON, in Boswell’s phrase, stood bareheaded for an hour in the rain in Uttoxeter marketplace in atonement for his sin.
Johnson is an unusual writer, in that he is far greater than the sum of his parts...... only a few lines of his poetry are now remembered; his essays, though vastly more self-analytically honest and morally useful than anything Freud wrote, do not appeal to an age that prefers psychobabble to true reflection, and in which self-exculpation is de rigueur.
However, his Dictionary—43,000 definitions and 110,000 citations from literature, a work of near unimaginable proportions, when one considers the labour of devising for oneself the definition of even one word—provides a key to his abiding greatness. His definition of the word “conscience” is “the knowledge or faculty by which we judge the goodness or wickedness of ourselves.” Above all, Johnson saw the exercise of judgment as the supreme human duty; however inviting it is for human beings to avoid judgment, because it is impossible to judge correctly of everything, it is inescapably necessary to make judgments. Truly, he was as Boswell described him, a man whose extraordinary “character” compels “admiration and reverence—and illuminates every line he wrote. “His mind resembled the vast amphitheatre, the Coliseum of Rome,” Boswell wrote. “In the centre stood his judgement, which like a mighty gladiator, combatted those apprehensions that, like the wild beasts of the arena, were all around in cells, ready to be let out upon him.” And, of course, upon us.
PARISH EMAIL
The observant will have noticed on the front of this pew sheet that the parish is now online and has its own email address, namely: staugustinesshep@bigpond.com.au Many thanks indeed to Alan Tattersall who installed everything for us, a more than usually difficult job, given the complications that arise from our phone system.
SETS OF PLEDGE ENVELOPES
Pledge envelopes are now available on the table in the Narthex, please take yours today. The new set is now due to start, so please deliver any that you can, without delay.
ANGLICAN CALENDARS
The Anglican Calendars have now arrived for those who placed an order. They are available from the office upon payment of $10 each.
PATRONAL FESTIVAL KATANDRA
St. Mary’s Patronal Festrival takes place on Friday the 8th of December at 8.00pm. All are welcome and supper will be served. Please note that there will be no service at St. Mary’s on December the 10th.
ANGLICARE ANGELS
One of the ways that Anglicare raises funds is by selling little angels and other thingamajigs at Bunnings. Have we any volunteers to join Bev Condon on the 9th of December or a day or two thereafter. Have a word with Heather Camm or Bev.
ACCOMMODATION WANTED
Aaron Riding is a 21 year old man looking for accommodation for 6 months in Shepparton while he has a full time placement with Rural Ambulance Victoria.
He is single, has no pets and is looking for full board or shared accommodation. Contact the Parish office if you can help.
CONGRATULATIONS
Birthdays
Lillian Walter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4th December
Elaine Brown. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5th December
Anniversaries
Betty & Barry Pleming. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3rd December
David & Lynda Harcoan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9th December
ANGLICARE CHRISTMAS APPEAL
A basket for donated gifts (unwrapped) will be in the narthex for the next three Sundays. Gifts of cash are also welcome. The aim of it all is give joy in the form of gifts to disadvantaged children.
CAROL SERVICE
The Carol Service is on Friday 15th of Dec. at 7.30pm and is followed by nibbles and drinkies should anyone be considerate enough to bring along something to share. It is well worth inviting a friend or two along . There is no sermon!
LECTIONARIES
Anyone wishing to purchase a lectionary for the daily readings of the Church please indicate on the sheet in the narthex. They cost about $10 each. You can have the new one which we use for Sunday’s readings or the old, which we use for weekday readings.
GRIEF SUPPORT
The next Grief Support session takes place on Tuesday the 12th of December at 7.30pm. Do encourage folk to come along who you think might benefit from the expertise and fellowship on offer. Coping with Christmas and other celebrations will be a subject dealt with.
HALL USAGE
The Parish Council has formed a small Hall Committee to look into the usage of the hall and how best to improve its facilities and make use of them. There is a meeting of the Committee on Wednesday at 5.00pm in the Supper Room. Members are: John Pleming, Sandra Simonis, Carole Henderson, Charlotte Brewer and the Rector.
NEXT YEAR’S DUTY ROSTERS
It is time to start thinking about what duties we wish to be rostered for next year. We can mow lawns, read lessons, welcome, intercede, provide tea after services, help with the flowers and so on and so on. There are lists in the narthex for folk who would like to sign up or sign off. Unless you sign off you will automatically be assumed as wishing to stay with the duties for which you were rostered in 2006. We might well this year print up rosters for only half a year to allow for revision.
DATES FOR THE DIARY
Dec 8th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Patronal Festival - St Mary’s Katandra
Dec.9th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Wedding 2pm
Dec 10th. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Wedding 3pm
Dec 15th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Carol Service
Dec 16th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Wedding
Dec 19th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Baptism Preparation
Dec 20th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Parish Council
Jan 19th. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Pastoral Care meeting 1.30/Library
Jan 20th. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Wedding 3.30
Feb 10th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Wedding 3pm
Feb 17th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Wedding
Mar 1st . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ash Wednesday
Mar 3rd. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Wedding 2pm
Mar 10th. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Wedding 1pm
Mar 10th. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Wedding 3pm
Apr 8th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Easter Sunday
May 20th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Patronal Festival
May 27th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Pentecost
May 24th. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Parish Fair meeting 4.30pm
Duties for 3rd December 2006
Celebrant 6.30 Saturday 2nd Dec. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Gail Bryce
Celebrant 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Andrew Neaum
Celebrant 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Gail Bryce
Celebrant Dookie 8.45. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gail Bryce
Celebrant Katandra 10.45. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Andrew Neaum
Readers 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Heather Carlyon, Norm Mitchelmore
Readers 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Joan McCann, Jenny Moran
Servers 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Michelle, Phillipa, Bethany
Servers 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Joan, Polly, Henry
Euc. Assts 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Margaret Neaum, John Griffin
Euc. Assts 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bev Condon, Carole Henderson
Intercessors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Heather Carlyon, Nancy Noonan
Welcoming 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Shirley Dean, Heather Nichols
Welcomers 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cheryl Richards, Frank Steen
Sidespeople 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Max Ralph, Bev Ralph
Sidespeople 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Alan Akers, Adrian Evans
Tea 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Val Rose
Mowing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kay McGregor, Merv Cowland
Welcomers Table. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dorothy Cook
Duties for 10th December 2006
Celebrant 6.30pm Sat 9th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Andrew Neaum
Celebrant 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Gail Bryce. Preacher Helen Malcolm
Celebrant 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Andrew Neaum
Celebrant Dookie 8.45. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Andrew Neaum
Readers 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Heather Pearson, Bev Condon
Readers 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Andrea Fisher, Charlotte Brewer
Servers 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Michelle
Servers 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jenny, Zebedee, Joe
Euc. Assts 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Margaret Neaum, Heather Fitzgerald
Euc. Assts 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Maureen Cormican, Christine Evans
Intercessors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Carole Henderson, Children
Welcoming 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Beryl Goodfellow, Erma Wilson
Welcomers 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Jenny Moran, Sandra Simonis
Sidespeople 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Joe Pearson, Bob Galt
Sidespeople 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .John Pleming, Jenny Pleming
Tea 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bev Reither
Mowing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Norm Mitchelmore, Lawrie Tinning
Welcomers Table. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ros Dunlop
REQUESTS FOR PRAYER
Liam Bognar, David Burrow, Hamish Fisher, Melissa Galizia, Gwen Isobel Kay, Leon Meyer, Marven Mould, Jan Riches, Cheryl, Don, Greg, Maurie, Robert, Ross, Sherena, Jim, Wayne.
Rest in Peace
Catherine Herschig, Donald Sinclair
Anniversary of Death
Georgie Gribble 3rd, Yvonne Guthrie 4th, Joseph Lidgard 5th, Bertha Nelson 6th, Marj Gash, Keith Howlett 7th, Francis Burgman, Marjorie Green 8th, Ewen Boord 9th.
THIS WEEK IN THE PARISH
Monday 4th December Nicolas Ferrar
Rector’s Day Off
7.45am Mattins & Eucharist - Lady Chapel
Tuesday 5th December
7.45am Mattins & Eucharist - Lady Chapel
3.00pm Chapter Meeting and Bishop in Council
12.15pm Simply Soul Soothing - Lady Chapel
Wednesday 6th December Nicholas of Myra
7.45am Mattins - Lady Chapel
10.00am Eucharist- St Augustine’s
11.30am Bible Study - Library
12.00noon Hospital Ethics Committee
3.30pm Evening Prayer - Lady Chapel
5.00pm Hall Committee meeting
Thursday 7th December
7.45am Mattins & Eucharist - Lady Chapel
9.30am Eucharists at Tarcoola Village
11.00am Eucharist - Harmony Village
5.30pm Choir Practice
6.00pm S.I.C.C.end of year dinner
7.30pm Bible Study - Narthex
Friday 8th December Conception of B.V. Mary
7.45am Mattins and Eucharist - Lady Chapel
3.30pm Evening Prayer - Lady Chapel
6.00pm Wedding Rehearsal
8.00pm St Mary’s Katandra Patronal Festival
Saturday 9th December
Associate Priest’s Day Off
7.45am Mattins - Lady Chapel
2.00pm Wedding - St Augustine’s
4.00pm Wedding Rehearsal
6.30pm Vigil Eucharist - Lady Chapel
Sunday 10th December
8.30am Eucharist - St Augustine’s
10.30am Eucharist - St Augustine’s - Children’s Church
8.45am Eucharist - St. Luke’s Dookie
3.00pm Wedding
5.30pm Evening Prayer