THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER
22 April 2012
Graphics and cartoons & liturgical material appear only in the printed version
BEFORE MY GLASSES STEAMED UP
This morning, quite by chance, I worked out why I have been putting on weight and have lost control of my figure. After a terrible night, with very little sleep I got into the shower to wake myself up and wash away the night's grime. However, I did so with my glasses on. I discovered this to be the case as I grabbed for the shampoo and realised that for the first time I could read the details on the bottle. As I read them what a shock I experienced! The shampoo I have used for the past few months and which I allow to run down my entire body every morning, advertises itself as:‘for extra volume and body.' That is the last time I will ever use it! Instead, from now on, I intend using ‘Fairy Liquid' the dish washer. On that bottle it says: ‘dissolves fat that is otherwise difficult to remove'. Just the ticket!
How beautifully leaves grow old.
How full of light and colour are their last days.
John Burroughs
THIS, THAT
AND THE OTHER (42)
Andrew Neaum
As I write settled, lovely autumn days are upon us. Cool evenings and sunny days that reach no more than twenty five or twenty six degrees are as perfect as it gets, especially if humidity is low. On the Island of St Helena, at seventeen hundred feet above sea level, the temperature never ever exceeded twenty five degrees on the hottest day, nor fell below fourteen on the coolest night. Humidity being the crucial determinant of tolerability however, it did sometimes appear to be hot.
The Currawongs are back, clumsily terrorising trees and smaller birds and lifting my heart with their musicality. I begin to look forward to open fires at night and to crumpets toasted thereon dripping with butter.
Through a screen darkly
I cannot say that I am a devotee of Power Point presentations and liturgy on a screen. The focus in a liturgical and beautiful church like ours should be the altar, not a screen, but screens are fast becoming the most important window into the world and "reality" for many of us. A "reality" which, for the most part, is manufactured and manipulated by Mammon and Profit, rather than the Divine and the Good. However, so complicated are modern books of "common" prayer, so difficult are they to navigate, that for services attended by those unfamiliar with the liturgy, a screen does appear to be the most satisfactory way forward.
Happy chaos
At the 10.30 Eucharists we have been using a projector and screen for well over a year now, and it works. Last Sunday the church was filled with the friends and relatives of four little ones being baptized. It was a happily chaotic and relaxed service, but also purposeful and ordered in true Anglican fashion. That the babies were not quite perfectly at peace with the proceedings added spice to the fun. To be able to dispense with both prayer books and hymn books meant being able to dispense with elaborate and complicated directions as well. Anyone at all inclined to participate in the worship had no difficulty in doing so. Unless, of course they suffered from myopia and stupidly sat at the back. The screen is now an indispensable part of our effort to turn the 10.30 Eucharist into a "family" service.
We are planning very soon to mount the projector permanently on a rafter and as well to enlarge slightly and raise the screen. Our very able and accomplished technician and adviser found it hard to understand why we insist on the screen being retractable. So ubiquitous and necessary have screens become they are considered to be a suitable and indeed beautiful focus for any room. Certainly they dominate most lounges I visit these days. Even in a beautiful church like St Augustine's our technical adviser tried to convince us that a permanently displayed, always open, "beautiful" screen would enhance the building. The screen, he thought would be a friendly rival or complement to the altar. Not so! The screen will remain retractable.
It will be good to farewell the cumbersome, trolleyed projector, with its cords snaking and slithering dangerously on the floor. The operators will now be able to do their necessary work in a more discreetly Anglican fashion.
The eight thirty Eucharist will remain screenless. Those unfamiliar with the liturgy will have to negotiate and navigate the Prayer Book. Ideally, however, the liturgy becomes so familiar to us that we do not need to refer to a book at all. We close our eyes, or focus them upon the altar, allowing what is comfortably familiar to enable and allow the Divine to infuse our hearts, minds and wills. Beautiful.
A busy Sunday
For me last Sunday began on Saturday evening with the quiet Vigil Eucharist at 6.00pm in the glittering Lady Chapel. Then at 10.30pm the Easter Ceremonies for our Macedonian Orthodox brothers and sisters began. As with our own, Easter Eve Ceremonies, the previous Saturday, we began outside with the lighting of the new fire, and the procession into the dark tomb-like building, where everyone's candle was lit, to redeem the darkness with gentle, risen light and life. The service ended just after midnight with the blessing and distribution of blessed bread and then the merry cracking and eating of coloured, hard-boiled eggs. I am grateful to John Griffin, Joe Fernandes and Deacon Grace for their support in this lovely act of worship, as well as to Carole who so thoroughly and thoughtfully prepared everything for us. The next morning we zoomed off to the Eucharist at Dookie for 8.45am, after which we squeezed in a brief AGM before heading back to take the happy, well ordered and yet slightly chaotic Baptism.
Much of the rest of the day was taken up by interviews before it all came to a satisfactory, self-satisfied conclusion with Evening Prayer and a delicious little roast leg of lamb.
Holy emanations sing
I remember once praising something someone had said or written and being told, "Come off it Andrew, you are simply praising it because you agree with it. You are patting yourself on the back." Too true.
Little wonder then that I loved the following snippet that I came across last week in an article about the artist and poet David Jones: "His was a sacramental vision of celebration and praise, based on an understanding that transient natural beauty was but a reflection of eternal things. As Auden wrote of William Blake, he:
‘heard inside each mortal thing
Its holy emanation sing'.
In his art, David Jones proceeded from the known to the unknown, rediscovering the sacred in the ordinary."
I love that because it crystallises perfectly my own understanding of religious experience, my own understanding of how we apprehend the Divine and my own understanding of Art.
God is to be seen, if at all, in the ordinary. It is a matter of perspective. All art, at its best, certainly for the likes of me, is an attempt (as William Blake puts it at the beginning of his "Auguries of Innocence"):
To see a world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour.
Dangerous couplets
I also love the Auden couplet in the quotation above simply because I love rhyming couplets. They can so satisfyingly, concisely and perfectly crystallise and encapsulate a truth. The supreme master of the couplet is Alexander Pope:
Hope springs eternal in the human breast:
Man never is, but always to be blest.
'Tis education forms the common mind,
Just as the twig is bent, the tree's inclined.
Such neat couplets can be dangerous when used, as they were by Pope, for satire. They enable insults to be expressed so neatly and pointedly that a victim finds them unbearable.
In his huge, satirical masterpiece the Dunciad Pope pillories a host of "hacks", "scribblers" and "dunces" so effectively that the work has been called the greatest folly in Pope's life. It brought such hostility from those satirized and their sympathizers that they pursued him relentlessly ever afterwards, "with a few damaging truths and a host of slanders and lies...". According to his sister, Pope would never go for a walk without the company of his Great Dane, "Bounce", and a pair of loaded pistols in his pocket.
Many years ago now, in a far less polished and very much more inept way, I did something similar to Pope. When editor of the Ballarat Diocesan Chronicle I was not infrequently so outrageous, outspoken and satirical that I made mortal enemies. Some of my pusillanimous clerical colleagues binned ever copy of the paper they received, refusing to pollute the minds of their parishioners by distributing it! It was great fun and well worth it, but it certainly did not endear me to the less robust of the bishops of that time. Even now mention of my name can sometimes raise an eyebrow.
Pell and Dawkins
On reading my musings upon Pell versus Dawkins in last week's pewsheet, an atheist friend admonished me to come down from my ivory tower, informing me in an email: "Q & A does not purport to be a debating forum for senior students in the Theological College. It is a current affairs programme for folk who would otherwise be watching "Sex and the City" or "The Footy Show" or something similarly inane......" I remain, however, dubious about the value of "Q&A.
To me the most telling incident in this particular debate was when Jones took Pell to task for a comment he made about the Jews. Although Pell had made his point stupidly and badly, anyone listening knew what he meant. He had suggested that (at the time of Moses or thereabouts) the Jews were "inferior" to the Egyptians. It was plainly a historical comment not a racist one, for at the time in question the Egyptians were a hugely sophisticated and civilized people, whereas the Jews were most emphatically not. For Jones deliberately to focus not on what Pell obviously meant, but upon what he literally and somewhat stupidly said, indicates that "Truth" clearly is not what Q&A is about. It is argument as entertainment, as contest, as a decider of winners and losers. As such it is futile.
There is a technical word for it: eristic (from the ancient Greek word eris meaning quarrel or strife) "Eristic argument" refers to a manner of arguing that I sometimes engage in with my brother. It has no goal except to win, it is argument for the sake of conflict as opposed to the seeking of conflict resolution. Not really my scene, but then I have never been much of a sportsman.
Frank and Joan
On Tuesday I called in to see the Harders at their new residence in the Mercy Nursing Home. It was the day after their move.
Joan appeared already happily settled, reading in the lovely, daylight-bright and spacious multi-purpose area. Frank was eating a meal in his room. He looked a little weary, but relieved to be settled, if not to have left his beloved home.
The new wing at Mercy is very lovely, I was impressed. To have to move and leave so much behind in your old age is to opt perforce for a simplicity of life, freed from possessions, that is akin to monasticism. Wholly appropriate for the last stage of one's Christian pilgrimage. Joan sends her love and best wishes to us all.
CONGRATULATIONS
Birthday:
Alexandra Redevski 20 April
Betty Garraway 27 April
Anniversary:
Elaine & Daniel McMullen 24 April
GARDEN WORKING BEE
Sat 28 April 9 am
That our gardens look so beautiful is no accident! Come along at 9.00am on Saturday and enjoy finding out why.
ADMITTING CATECHUMENS
There will be a little Rite of Reception as "Catechumens" for our junior Confirmation Candidates at the 10.30am Eucharist today. They will be anointed with the Oil of Catechumens and blessed in their undertaking. Our candidates are: Maddie Coates, Sam Coates, James Davies, Sara Davies, Nicolas Hammond, Georgia Redwood, Will Rohde, Ella Rohde.
ADMITTING PARISH COUNCILLORS
We now have a full complement of Parish Councillors as the Rector has made his two appointments. We will admit them, as well as our Wardens, on Sunday the 6th of May, 8.30 attenders at the 8.30 service, 10.30 at the 10.30. The Vestry members at Dookie and Katandra will be admitted as to be arranged. Parish Councillors, Wardens and their families are invited to lunch at the Rectory on Sunday the 6th at 12.00 noon.
ELLA'S LOVELY WORK
Ella's stunning embroidered panels on the east wall of St Augustine's, completing her triptych, are to be dedicated at the 8.30am Eucharist on the 13 of May. Helen Malcolm will be both Celebrating and Dedicating as the two panels are in memory of her parents.
SUPPORT PLEASE
A delightful young Japanese girl (with quite good English) needs someone to turn to occasionally for advice/support on parenting/official documents etc, & maybe meet for a coffee once a month. If you feel you could offer this support for a couple of years, please ring Charlotte Brewer on 0432361226 for a confidential discussion.
CHILDREN'S CHURCH
Sunday 10.30am every Sunday
Anyone who would like to help plan and take a monthly activity session for the children after their talk at the 10.30am Eucharist on Sundays, or to come out and be an assistant please have a word with Diana or the Clergy. The activity is usually based on the Gospel of the day.
LADY DAY AT ST AUGUSTINE'S
There were too many rival events, outings and distractions in town for the ABM Morning Tea to achieve the support it needed to be a success. However, those who did attend enjoyed good food and friendly company. It was decided to carry the Raffle for the hand-painted and generously donated plate by Joan McKellar over for a couple of more weeks. Tickets are available from Guild members or Nola at $2.00 a ticket. Every cent raised will go to the Philippines to provide what we in Australia take for granted: the education of girls and clean water. Nola Brewer
CONFIRMATION
Thursdays at 4.00pm
The Junior Preparation Session is on Thursday each week. Adult sessions are likely to be on Thursdays at 7.30pm.
PLAY GROUP
Tuesday 10-12noon in Roz's Room (Hall).
ARISE 255 YOUTH GROUP
23 April 5.30-7.30 pm - Film Night.
More details next week.
RENEW NAME TAG
Is your name tag tatty or faded? A new one can be made. Please put your name on the list in the drawer on the Narthex table.
STUDY COURSE
Christian Zen and Thomas Merton
Tuesdays 1,8,15,22 May 7.30 - 9pm
This interesting study course is out of the ordinary and stretches boundaries a little. Conducted by Fr Rob Whalley it will explore the place where Mystical Christianity and Zen Buddhist practice and presence find a common ground of being. Using the life and teaching of Thomas Merton as a guide, it considers how the contemplative actions found in both traditions can lead us to live with more peace, passion and purpose. Each session will include meditation, study and conversation, with time for a cuppa following. Sign up in the Narthex.
SUNDAY LUNCH AT MURCHISON
Sunday 29th April at 12.15pm
Sunday Lunch at 12.15pm is a fund raising meal at the invitation of Don & Norma Leslie, 160 Pogue Road Toolamba. All welcome (with a limit of 50, so book early). $20:00 Bookings preferred 58262422 / 58265270. Come either after 10.30am combined service at Murchison or direct from Shepparton.
Fr LAURENCE FREEMAN
Christian Meditation as a path to fullness of life
St Mel's Church Hall Thu 3 May 7-9.30pm
Cost $10 ( pensioners and students as can)
Book to Sandhurst Diocese Chancery
by Mon 30 April 03 54412544 or adultfaith@sandhurst.catholic.org.au
ST COLUMB'S FAIR
Our Hall Saturday May 12th 10.00am - 3.00pm
St Columb's Fair is into its third year in our Diocese, nourishing faithful Anglican folk, refreshing people who used to enjoy Church but get bored and welcoming spiritual people who never thought to look in the greatest ethical, spiritual wisdom tradition western civilization ever produced. All are Welcome.
This session: 1) Growing Congregations who Practice what they Preach. 2) Growing a Farmer's Market. 3) Fearlessly Praying for People. 4) Contemplative Eucharist. See the Notice Board for more information. (Let us know, for catering, if you are coming.)
FOR THE DIARY
Apr 20-22 Fri-Sun Lay Retreat
April 23 Mon Arise 255
Apr 28 Sat Garden Working Bee 9.00am
Apr 29 Sun Combined Service & Lunch Murchison
May 1 Tues First of four Studies-Christianity and Zen
May 3 Thurs Christian meditation-St Mel's 7-9.30pm
May 5 Sat Women's Breakfast after 8am mass
May 10 Thurs Raffle Sub Committee Meeting 4.00pm
May 12 Sat St Columb's Fair @ St Augustine's 10-3pm
May 20 Sun St Augustine's Patronal Festival
May 25-26 Synod - Wangaratta
May 28-31 Lay and Clergy Conference - Harrietville
Jun 14 Thurs Parish Fair Planning Meeting 4.00pm
Jun 25-29 Clergy in Service Training Trinity College
July 15 Sun Confirmation
Sep 24-27 Mon-Thu Clergy Retreat - Harrietville
Oct 20 Sat 2012 Parish Fair and Garden Party
REQUESTS FOR PRAYER
Dulcie Ackland, Hilary & Alan Akers, Robert Bailey & family, Liam Bognar, Angela Brown, Betty Bush, Michael Egan, Christine Furze, Vida Hardy, Frank Harder, Bruce Hodgson & family, Katherine Holt, John & Kate Horder, Bill Hunter, Margaret Kidman, Jack Lear, Ruth Lewis, Elsie Lieschke, Merle Maskell, Adrian Moule, Olive Paez, Bev Ralph, Dawn & John Scott & family, Sandra Simonis, Jon Singh, Suzanne Singh, Patricia Sparkes, Heather Steen, Fay Warren, Mary Warren, Jean Wellman, Joyce & Ray, Liza, Kaye, Lewis, Margaret, Peter, Seth.
Rest in Peace: Emmi Dean.
Anniversaries: Alexandros Damianopoulos(22),Evelyn Gould, Leslie Alexander, Joyce Davis, Kole Stojchevski (23), Willian Fentham, Merle O'Donohue (24), Norman McArthur, Elizabeth Guyatt, Frederick Broadbridge (26), Elsie Minchin, Vivian Parrant (17), George Hardwick, Hock Stonehouse, Eunice Earl (28).
Duties for Sunday 22 April
Reader 8.30 John Wellman, Jeanette Smith
Intercessors 8.30 Jeanette Smith
Servers 8.30 Beth, Michelle
Euc. Assts 8.30 Barbara Schier, John Horder
Sidespeople 8.30 Norm Mitchelmore, Trevor Batey
Welcomer 8.30 Eileen Quaife, Gwenda Betson
WelcomeTable 8.30 Dorothy Cook, Beverley Walsh
Tea 8.30 Shirley Dean
Readers 10.30 Aaron Bhat, Ryan Bhat
Intercessors 10.30 Andrea Fisher
Servers 10.30 Zeb, Olivia, Oscar
Euc. Assts 10.30 Joe & Jenny
Sidespeople 10.30 Mitch, John Pleming
Welcomers 10.30 Judy Lloyd, Chris Sim
Welcome Table 10.30 Dorothy Cook
Projector 10.30 Mary Pearson
Children's Church Diana
Mowing none
Altar Linen - April Pat Griffin
Monday Office Joyce Oxley
Duties for Sunday 29 April
Reader 8.30 Gwyn Cowland, Carole
Intercessors 8.30 Victoria Heenan
Servers 8.30 Beth, Soibahn
Euc. Assts 8.30 Carole, John Griffin
Sidespeople 8.30 Gwyn and Merv Cowland
Welcomer 8.30 Bev Reither, Beryl Goodfellow
WelcomeTable 8.30 Dorothy Cook, Judy Lloyd
Tea 8.30 Barbara Schier
Readers 10.30 Charlotte Brewer, Jenny Pleming
Intercessors 10.30 Christine Evans
Servers 10.30 Joe, Jenny
Euc. Assts 10.30 Grace, Linda Prosser
Sidespeople 10.30 John Pleming, Charlotte Brewer
Welcomers 10.30 Irene Crawford, Beryl Black,
Welcome Table 10.30 Judy Lloyd , Dorothy Cook
Projector 10.30 Mary Pearson
Children's Church Suzanne
Mowing 5 May Gary Grant, John Horder
Altar Linen -April Pat Griffin
Monday Office Bob Galt, Volunteer
READINGS NEXT SUNDAY 29 April
Acts 4 5-12, Psalm 23, 1 John 316-24
THIS WEEK IN THE PARISH
Sunday 22 APRIL Second of EASTER
5.30pm Evening Prayer- Lady Chapel
Monday 23 APRIL Rector's day off
7.45am Mattins & Eucharist - Lady Chapel
5.00pm Evening Prayer- Lady Chapel
5.30pm Arise 255 Youth Group
Tuesday 24 APRIL
7.45am Mattins & Eucharist - Lady Chapel
10-12am Play Group -Roz's Room- Church Hall.
12 noon Bishop in Council etc.
5.00pm Evening Prayer - Lady Chapel
Wednesday 25 APRIL (Anzac Day)
7.45am Mattins - Lady Chapel
10.00am Eucharist - St Augustine's
5.00pm Evening Prayer - Lady Chapel
6.00pm No EfM (Public Holiday)
Thursday 26 APRIL
7.45am Mattins & Eucharist - Lady Chapel
8.25am Narthex Breakfast
10.15am Eucharist -Grutzner
11.00am Eucharists - Harmony
11.00am Eucharist - Ave Maria
12.15am Clergy Luncheon
4.00pm Confirmation Class
5.00pm Evening Prayer - Lady Chapel
5.30pm Choir Practice
Friday 27APRIL
7.45am Mattins & Eucharist - Lady Chapel
8.25am Narthex Breakfast
5.00pm Evening Prayer - Lady Chapel
Saturday 28 APRIL
7.45am Mattins & Eucharist
9.00am Garden working bee
6.00pm Vigil Eucharist
Sunday 29 APRIL
8.30am Sung Eucharist - St Augustine's
10.30am Eucharist - St. Augustine's & Children's Church
8.45am Eucharist - St Luke's Dookie
10.30am Eucharist - Murchison combined w Rushworth
5.30pm Evening Prayer - Lady Chapel