SEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
31st July 2011
Graphics and cartoons & liturgical material appear only in the printed version
A STRINE STORY
A Texan farmer, a nephew of George Bush visited Australia for a holiday. There he met an Australian Mallee farmer not far from Pineroo in South Australia. The Australian showed off his huge wheat field, but the Texan said, "Oh yeah! We have wheat fields that are at least twice as large as this". They then drove around the property for a while and the Australian showed off his fine herd of cattle. The Texan immediately said, "We have longhorns that are at least twice as large as your beasts." The conversation had by this time all but died and then the Texan spotted a mob of kangaroos hopping through the paddock. He asked, "And what are those"? The Australian replied laconically, "Don't you have any grasshoppers in Texas"?
THIS, THAT
AND THE OTHER (7)
Andrew Neaum
On Monday, my day off, I read at one sitting a little book about a very fine priest I used to work with and who ended up a bishop, poor fellow. It was a tribute to him, and so far less a biography than a hagiography. It certainly made him seem saintly, but neither nauseatingly or untruthfully so.
In the years that I worked closely with him, even to my sceptical and cynical eye, he appeared to be a truly remarkable, talented, godly, benignly and pleasingly eccentric, very English sort of person and priest.
The choice
On finishing the little book and reflecting upon it, I found myself wondering, in the absence of any critical appraisal of the book's subject, whether he didn't illustrate, just a little, the truth of the first two lines in Yeats' brilliant little poem "The Choice"
The intellect of man is forced to choose
perfection of the life, or of the work....
In other words, did his priestly vocation (ie his "work") consume him to the detriment or at the expense of his private and family vocation (ie his life)? Did his saintliness and success come at the cost of his humanity? How easy is it for the family of a saintly priest to tolerate that saintliness?
My reflections along these lines might well have been more self-justification of my own lack of saintliness than anything else of course. Certainly the priest I talk of was a far, far more accomplished, prayerful and devoted priest than I am, or have ever been. In reading the book there were moments when I was moved to tears, which says a lot for the man and his story, because it was a fairly pedestrianly written tribute.
The Yeats poem refers more to the choice between life and work for an artist than for anyone else. But in the case of a priest the choice is all the more interesting for being in fact not a matter of choice at all. We all of us expect in our clergy life and work to be one, to be all of a piece. You cannot be a profoundly effective, successful and good priest, unless you are a profoundly effective, successful and good human being, socially and familially. It is not a matter of choice, the one cannot be complete without the other.
For the artist it might well be that...
The intellect of man is forced to choose
perfection of the life, or of the work....
We almost expect artists to be "bohemian", that is, randy, sex-sodden, selfish swine. If they are not, can they be the real thing? Are they not "bourgeois" pretenders?
For the priest not so. Holiness is also wholiness. Perfection of life and of work need to be yoked. Pity me! Pity us!
A busy week
I might have had a good day off, but since then I have been too busy to diarise and so I conclude this weekly column with an article I wrote some years ago, one that is based upon another wonderful poem.....
Loss of Faith
One of the greatest and most moving of nineteenth century poems is Matthew Arnold's "Dover Beach".
It is set in Dover, and Arnold is staying at an inn with his bride. They are on the way to honeymoon in Europe. He stands looking out of a window over Dover Beach and the English Channel on a lovely evening....
The sea is calm to-night.
The tide is full, the moon lies fair
Upon the straits;—on the French coast the light
Gleams and is gone; the cliffs of England stand,
Glimmering and vast, out in the tranquil bay.
Come to the window, sweet is the night-air!
Only, from the long line of spray
Where the sea meets the moon-blanch'd sand,
Listen! you hear the grating roar
Of pebbles which the waves draw back, and fling,
At their return, up the high strand,
Begin, and cease, and then again begin,
With tremulous cadence slow, and bring
The eternal note of sadness in.
He goes on to reflect upon what Sophocles made of the same sad sound of waves on the beach of the Ægean Sea many centuries before, and then pens the most famous of the poem's lines.....
The Sea of Faith
Was once, too, at the full, and round earth's shore
Lay like the folds of a bright girdle furl'd.
But now I only hear
Its melancholy, long, withdrawing roar,
Retreating, to the breath
Of the night-wind, down the vast edges drear
And naked shingles of the world.........
The poem is suffused with sadness, regret and unease at the ebbing of Christian Faith among the intelligentsia of his day, including himself.
How far removed from Arnold's sensitive regret and unease at Faith's retreat, is the response shown today to its continuing decline by so many gurus in the media. Faith is widely decried, diminished and despised. Its demise is predicted and anticipated with relish. The influence of the Christian Faith upon our civilization is portrayed as largely inimical, and it is not infrequently argued that loss of faith will improve the world enormously.
Behind much of the apparent fervour and glee displayed in publicising the Church's failures, behind much of the hounding of a Governor General who happened to be a bishop, behind much of the chronicling of sexually wayward priests and of the absurdities of fanaticism and fundamentalism, lies an ignorant hatred of the Christian Faith that is disturbing, and annoying as well as very often stupid.
Our civilization arises largely out of the Christian faith. Christianity has provided not only most of its foundation stones, but also much of its cement. The continuing decline in Faith will have and indeed is having incalculable consequences.
To replace as role models the extravagantly self-sacrificing Saints of old with the extravagantly self-indulgent pop stars of today, is bound to have enormous and almost certainly regrettable consequences. To swap sacrificing Love's great symbol the Cross for the logo of MacDonald's or Nike likewise. A retreat from the awe and reverence associated with traditional worship of God into navel gazing, self obsession and narcissism could well be as dangerous as it is deplorable. Even today's widespread concern for the environment often seems to be based less upon its God given beauty and intrinsic worth, than upon a carefully orchestrated fear for our future. This reveals it to be as essentially selfish (and so no less absurd) as primitive Faith's use of the fear of hell and damnation to frighten people into goodness!
The catalogue of reasons for regretting Faith's decline rather than rejoicing at it could be extended for pages. I resist the temptation in order to point to an irony that arises out of Arnold's great poem.
The only answer that Arnold in his poem finds to the sadness that arises within him at the Sea of Faith's "melancholy, long, withdrawing roar...", is human love.....
Ah, love, let us be true
To one another! for the world, which seems
To lie before us like a land of dreams,
So various, so beautiful, so new,
Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light,
Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain;
And we are here as on a darkling plain
Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight,
Where ignorant armies clash by night.
Well, human love might indeed in Arnold's day have still seemed to provide some sort of consolation and realistic substitute for love of God, but only because the Christian view of married love as lifelong, exclusive, faithful and sacrificial was still largely aspired to if not always adhered to. Now, however, the retreating tide of faith has washed that view of marriage and human love away.
Wherein then lies any consolation in the brave new liberal world of our faithless intelligentsia? Nowhere. So stand firm in the faith!
THE GOOD SHEPHERD
WITH THE KID (Matthew Arnold)
‘He saves the sheep, the goats he doth not save!'
So rang Tertullian's sentence, on the side
Of that unpitying Phrygian sect which cried:
‘Him can no fount of fresh forgiveness lave,
‘Who sins, once wash'd by the baptismal wave!'
So spake the fierce Tertullian. But she sigh'd,
The infant Church; of love she felt the tide
Stream on her from her Lord's yet recent grave.
And then she smiled, and in the Catacombs,
With eye suffused but heart inspired true,
On those walls subterranean, where she hid
Her head in ignominy, death, and tombs,
She her Good Shepherd's hasty image drew;
And on his shoulders, not a lamb, a kid.
The piece of verse above is a comment by Matthew Arnold on a drawing in the catacombs of the Good Shepherd with a kid, (baby goat) not a lost sheep on his shoulders. Tertullian taught that when once baptized, if we sin there can be no forgiveness. This drawing is seen as a rebuttal of that harsh judgement. (A.N)
CONGRATULATIONS
Birthdays:
June McKellar 6th Aug
WELCOME
We welcome today for baptism into the Church of God, Jaxon Wadeson and all his family and friends. We welcome too all those who have been able to make it here from Murchison, Rushworth, Dookie and Katandra. Welcome too, of course, to the Bishop. After the service there is a Bring and Share lunch in the hall. If you have brought nothing come along anyway. As followers of Jesus we are specialists at satisfying myriads of the hungry from what might appear little.
ON LEAVE
The Reverend Gail Bryce is on leave from now and for all of August. If the Rector ever looks at all harassed, he will be putting on an act to elicit your concern and charity.
CHRISTIANITY AND ISLAM
In some weeks time we intend holding a study on Christianity and Islam. The word "and" is important, it is not "versus". Anyone interested please put your name on the list in the Narthex as booklets need to be ordered. We will meet in the Rectory on Tuesdays. The course will be split in to two, the first about six or seven weeks.
RAFFLE ROSTERS
Our annual Major Raffle is an important part of the Parish Fair and Garden Party and its success depends upon the sale of swags of tickets before the event. There is a Roster in the Narthex for volunteer ticket sellers. This can be an enjoyable and sociable task, especially in the company of a friend.
PASTORAL CARE MEETING
This meeting takes place in the library at 11.15 after the 10am service this Wednesday the 3rd. Pastoral Care is a vital part of our Christian ministry in the parish. Please come along if you would like to be involved.
OUTREACH DEADLINE
The next edition of Outreach will come out in mid-August. Please have any material for publication by today 31st July to Helen via the church office or at hmalcolm@bigpond.com
"ENCOURAGING YOUNG PEOPLE"
At Holy Trinity Church, Benalla, August 20th 10.00am to 3.30pm, there is a workshop on encouraging the young to be church involved.
A WINTER CONCERT
There is "a warming musical feast" in Wangaratta Cathedral on Sunday 7th August 2.30pm. The Bishop informs us that he will be performing four songs along with all the other musical delights on offer. "So if you want to see your bishop make a fool of himself" come along. Admission $15 children 15 and under, free. A sumptuous afternoon tea with mulled wine is included in the ticket price. Flyer on the board in the narthex.
HELP FOR THE STARVING
Anglicord has raised an appeal to assist its partners in some of the worst affected areas, to help ease the suffering in East Africa. Children, pregnant women and elderly are amongst those hardest hit in the burgeoning crisis caused by the worst drought in sixty years in the Horn of Africa. There are donation forms on the Narthex table.
SUNDAY@ 5
This is an "Alternative Worship Service" devised and run by Mary Pearson. The next is on the 7th August in the Narthex at 5pm. Come along if you would like to experience a different form of and approach to worship
"MOVING ON" GRIEF SUPPORT
There is a Dinner Meeting at 6.30pm in the Narthex on Tuesday 9th August. The topic for the evening is "Planning a Funeral" and Canon Andrew will be our Guest Speaker. Everyone welcome, please place your name on the list on the Narthex table for catering purposes. Cost is $5.
SAUSAGE SIZZLE
On the 10th of September there is a fund-raising sausage sizzle outside Harvey Norman for which volunteers are required. There is a list in the narthex for names.
STEWARDSHIP
Continue to pray for the success of our Stewardship Campaign. A second letter and brochure should be winging their way into our households this week. The brochure is a very fine piece of work indeed.
DATES FOR THE DIARY
Aug 7th Sunday's@5, Alternative worship service
Aug 8th Casserole Lunch/St. Paul's Rushworth
Aug 9th Social Responsibilities Meeting
Aug 9th "Moving On" Dinner meeting 6.30pm/Narthex
Aug 11th Parish Fair & Garden Party Meeting
Aug 20th Wedding
Aug 21st Thanksgiving Sunday
Aug 27th Garden Working Bee
Aug 27th St. Columb's Travelling Fair/St. Augustines
Sept 3rd Women's Breakfast
Sept 10th Harvey Norman Sausage Sizzle (Fete)
Sept 13th Funeral Expo/St Augustine's Hall
Sept 13th Social Responsibilities Meeting
Sept 22nd Parish Fair & Garden Party Meeting
Sept 24th Garden Working Bee
Oct 1st Car Boot Sale/Christ Church Murchsion
Oct 1st Wedding 2pm
Oct 5th Lunch function
Oct 8th Wedding 10am
Oct 8th Wedding 2pm
Oct 8th Wedding 3.30pm
Oct 11th Social Responsibilities Meeting
Oct 22nd Parish Fair & Garden Party
Oct 23rd Confirmation
Oct 29th Wedding
Oct 29th Garden Working Bee
Nov 12th Wedding 2pm
Nov 19th Wedding 1pm
Nov 19th Wedding 3.00pm
Nov 26th Wedding 2pm
Dec 3rd Women's Breakfast
Dec 10th Men's Breakfast
Dec 10th Wedding
Duties for 31st July 2011
Readers 8.30 Bev Condon, Norm Mitchelmore
Readers 10.30 Verna Pestell
Servers 8.30 Volunteers please
Servers 10.30 Rick, Braden & Sam Coates
Intercessors (8.30 only) Celebrant
Euc. Assts 8.30 Bev Condon
Euc. Assts 10.30 G Pestell, J Pleming (if necessary)
Welcomers 8.30 Beryl Goodfellow, Bev Ralph
Welcomers 10.30 Sandra Simonis, Nola Brewer
Sidespeople 8.30 Gwyn Cowland, Merv Cowland
Sidespeople 10.30 Nola Brewer, Mitch Macheda
Tea 8.30 Val Bambrook
Welcoming Table Dorothy Cook
Mowing John Pleming, John Wellman
Altar Linen/August Rosemary Mitchelmore, Pat Griffin
Duties for 7th August 2011
Readers 8.30 Victoria Heenan, John Wellman
Readers 10.30 Jenny Pleming, Peter Martin
Servers 8.30 volunteers please
Servers 10.30 Zeb, Jenny, Joe
Intercessors Heather Fitzgerald, Jenny Pleming
Euc. Assts 8.30 Heather Fitzgerald, John Griffin
Euc. Assts 10.30 Greg Pestell, Joe Fernandez
Welcomers 8.30 Heather Nichols, Judy Lloyd
Welcomers 10.30 Charlotte Brewer, Jenny Moran
Sidespeople 8.30 Bev Ralph, Max Ralph
Sidespeople 10.30 John Pleming, Jenny Moran
Tea 8.30 Bev Reither
Welcoming Table Beverley Walsh
Mowing None this week
Altar Linen/August Rosemary Mitchelmore, Pat Griffin
READINGS NEXT WEEK
Genesis 37:1 - 4, Romans 10:4-15
REQUESTS FOR PRAYER
Alan Akers, Deb Bagley, Liam Bognar, Marlene Bovaird, Mavis Burgess, Ian Carman, June Cato, Ross & Helen Dainton, Val Downie, Kath Grills, Frank Harder, Katherine Holt, John & Kate Horder, Angela Hawthorn, Michael Green, Ross Judd, Elsie Lieschke, Bronwyn Mitchell, Lyn Morcom, Marj Millerick, Margaret Kidman, Albert Oxenbury, Isabelle Richards, Sandra Simonis, Peter Swindells, Patricia Sparkes, Fay Warren, David, Krystina. Peter, David & Judith, Kaye.
Anniversaries:
Lenard Lindrea 31st, Tassie Zurcas, Charli Fallon, Dorothy Fowler, James Cooper 2nd Mabel Gaskin 3rd, John Brown-Shepherd, Charles Fennell, Steven Daly 4th, Leo Rogers, Georgina Dalgleish 5th, Alma Nowell, Brett Wells, Albert Dean 6th.
THIS WEEK IN THE PARISH
Monday 1st August
(Rector's day off)
7.45am Mattins & Eucharist - Lady Chapel
Tuesday 2nd August
7.45am Mattins & Eucharist - Lady Chapel
10.00am Playgroup - Roz's Room
11.00am Shepparton Aged Care
4.15pm Confirmation Class - Library
Wednesday 3rd August
7.45am Mattins only - Lady Chapel
10.00am Eucharist - St Augustine's
11.15am Pastoral Care meeting - Library
4.00pm Eucharist- Banksia
6.00pm EfM/ Roz's Room
Thursday 4th August - John Vianney
7.45am Mattins & Eucharist - Lady Chapel
9.30am Eucharist- Hakea & Acacia
11.00am Eucharist - Harmony
5.30pm Choir Practice - Rectory
Friday 5th August - Oswald
7.45am Mattins & Eucharist - Lady Chapel
10.00am Professional Standards Day - Seymour
11.00am Eucharist - Mercy Centre
Saturday 6th August-Transfiguration
7.45am Mattins & Eucharist (trad) - Lady Chapel
6.00pm Vigil Eucharist - Lady Chapel
Sunday 7th August
8.30am Sung Eucharist - St Augustine's
10.30am Eucharist - St. Augustine's
8.45am Eucharist - St. Luke's
9.00am Eucharist - St. Pauls/Rushworth
11.00am Eucharist-Christ Church/Murchison
5.00pm Sundays @5, (Alternative worship)
5.30pm Evening Prayer