EASTER SUNDAY
31 March 2013
Graphics and cartoons & liturgical material appear only in the printed version
DOOKIE WISDOM
Two inebriated Dookie men were walking home from Shepparton along the railway tracks. The first said, “What a lot of steps there are! Thank heavens I go regularly to the gym, they are no effort to me at all! The second, nowhere near as fit, said. “What a pity the handrails are so low down.”
THIS AND THAT (78)
Andrew Neaum
What is it about Shepparton and St Augustine’s that I will most fondly remember once I have left, I wonder. It is rarely anything predictable that reminds us of places or people no longer present to us.
I am reminded of St Helena whenever I see ginger growing. This is because on my way to say mattins each morning on that island I passed through a great patch of it. When it was in flower it smelt glorious.
I am reminded of my daughter Rachel whenever I help myself to a spoonful of sugar. The little bowl we use is hers.
I am reminded of Margaret every Thursday when saying Mattins. The canticle we say on that day is made up from the first verses of the first chapter of St John’s Gospel and was her favourite.
We like to think that we will be remembered for what we are most proud of about ourselves, but this I am sure is rarely so. My sermons? Come off it! My jokes? Surely not, jokes are the most ephemeral of pleasures. My often quavery voice? That’s more like it! Who knows? Should one even care?
Last week I came across a fine and telling piece of verse written by the black American Poet Countee Cullen:
Incident
Once riding in old Baltimore,
Heart-filled, head-filled with glee,
I saw a Baltimorean
Keep looking straight at me.
Now I was eight and very small,
And he was no whit bigger,
And so I smiled, but he poked out
His tongue, and called me, “Nigger.”
I saw the whole of Baltimore
From May until December;
Of all the things that happened there
That’s all that I remember.
We have a bucketful of green olives standing in our bath. They are being rinsed after a soaking in lye (caustic soda). We have had a good crop on the Rectory tree this year and so try this drastic, olive abusive treatment which is used widely commercially to rid them of bitterness. I last did so when Rector of Ararat and most successfully, but with black olives. I prefer green olives these days, so I live in hope.
RETURN TO
TRISTAN DA CUNHA (13)
Sunday 23 September, 2012 6.25am
.....I turned the crayfish we received from the factory into a crayfish mayonnaise for lunch, with diced tomato and peas in it. Lovely, though the flavour is so delicate it is almost lost it in the mayonnaise. As is so often the case with food, texture is all important. It is the denseness of crayfish and prawns that lifts them a peg or two above most other fish, whereas with Orange Roughy it is the delicate softness of the flesh that makes it so special. Fr Michael told me that a favoured way of serving crayfish in America is with melted butter, each morsel of fish is dipped in the butter and it is delicious. It sounds very good to me, except of course there is no butter available on the island.
In the morning yesterday we put the heater into the study and I read the priest’s wife diary from 1906 aloud, as Diana rummaged through records. After lunch we went for a walk in slightly less dull weather than in the morning. We redid the beach walk from the harbour to Hottentot Gulch, again regretting the flotsam and jetsam of plastic bottles, broken buoys, bits of rope, plastic and so on. From the Gulch we went through the gate to look over the golf course, which comprises the flattest area of ground on the plateau. It is dotted with several white painted, scientific monitoring stations and used to be used for football, cricket and other games and probably still is, for in the middle we discovered a concrete cricket pitch over which the grass has not been allowed to grow. With is spongy turf instead of well rolled, compacted and cropped greens, putting would be a nightmare. Cattle also graze the course regularly, so soft cow pats more than bunkers are hazards to avoid. The cliff edge is now attractively dry-stone walled, a wise precaution. The views of the beach and cliffs to the west are stunning. We walked past the generating station, not at all noisy, a large iron shed with four generators, the fishing company, I believe, providing two of them.
In the evening, before we set out for a fiftieth birthday party, Diana began to feel nauseous. After allowing the nausea to have its way she felt too fragile to go to the party and so I went alone. Her nausea is associated in her mind with the crayfish and so I will be eating this delicacy on my own from now on. The party was rather smaller than others we have attended and popular music blared. Again though, I was warmly welcomed. I had a good chat to Fr Michael, the Robertsons and young Geoffroy. An islander who had plucked up the courage in so small a community to go and see Brian the psychiatrist told me how good he had been and how pleased with he was with his diagnosis. He said he would call in to have a chat with me before I left. Generous offers of booze were urged upon me, but I managed to limit myself to three small light beers before making my way home, passing the Administrator and wife on their way up. They and Brian tell me there is a fair amount of gastric trouble going the rounds, so it might not be my crayfish mayonnaise that caused Diana’s problem, but I fear that she and that delicacy are sworn enemies from now on.
Monday 24 September, 2012 10.15am
It apparently rained most of the night and was doing so very well when we awoke at about six, but it stopped soon thereafter. A pleasing surprise was the phone ringing and hearing son Peter who is staying this weekend with Lil in Benalla because Nathan is in Canberra. All is well with them, though it took me some time to work out who it was talking to me, because there was the sound of children in the background, it was a man’s voice but not Nathan’s. Yesterday was a quiet day with Diana taking things easy. She didn’t come to church, but that went well enough with about 65 present, the only expatriate being Bob the Scottish dental technician who said he had made a copy of the DVD from the nineteen fifties and which features our family and that he would copy one for us, so I have bought a blank DVD and will take it up to him.
My sermon fell into the vacuum of island reticence, a reticence that appears to be collective rather than individual, because if you encounter folk one for one, or as a little family unit, they are very forthcoming. I didn’t do a kids talk because there appeared to be only one child present.
In the afternoon I went for a walk on my own along the cliffs west of the harbour, a lovely walk over some mighty cliffs and gulches. I saw the donkeys and photographed them, though they are much wilder and wary of human beings than they were in my youth. I walked along the bottom of the primitive golf course and then right up to the Hill Piece. It was necessary to travel inland a bit to cross some of the gulches, but it was all well worth it and not all that windy in the lee of the hill. Only when I went a little way round it did it begin seriously to blow. Even going back along the road I took my jacket off it was so warm.
We read a good chunk of the fascinating diary of Mrs Barrow, the island’s priest’s wife from the first decade of the twentieth century. We also baked a perfect loaf of bread in the bread maker and ate a couple of pieces fresh, it was also good as toast this morning. No butter though, only margarine sadly.
This morning on the way to mattins we observed two waterfalls tumbling down the mountain. It was windy with quite a bit of blue to the sky and periods of sun. A pleasant change. The wind was blowing the water of one fall right back on itself. The rocks of the mountain glinted in the sun, very lovely. The weather is a constant preoccupation of my mother’s diaries from the fifties. I find that it is much the same with my own in 2012.
We went to the shop for this and that, and having acquired a good supply of lemons Diana is making some lemon curd with which we will treat the Church Council at a meeting here at half past five. Francoise called to see how Diana is getting on and also to say that the weather might be alright to attempt a trip to Nightingale tomorrow or Wednesday. We had a chat with Anderson and his wife on the way back from church. They told us that the weather forecast is not at all promising.
Wednesday 26 September, 2012 9.00am
I have just been up to say mattins and to prepare the church for the 10.00am Eucharist. It is a cold morning with a high blanket of grey cloud over all the sky, the mountain clear and for the first time, I think, the wind is very definitely in the east, both the flags on the way up indicating this. There was condensation on the windows of the church for the first time too, probably because the church is less sheltered from the east than the west, but also possibly because it is a bit colder. On Monday, as I recall, we did little of any great moment. However there was the PCC to which came Eddie Rogers, Lars Repetto, Carlene, Glass-Green, Damien Swain, Harold Green, Trina Repetto and Agnes Lavarello (if Carlene is counted a Glass this represents all but one of the island’s total of seven surnames). There were apologies from Robin Repetto, Judy Green and Kirsty Green. It was an amiable affair with me taking minutes. Carlene usually performs this task but didn’t bring the wherewithal and can only whisper because of the flu that has caused the school’s closure and half of the island’s workforce to be laid low. We trust that it is the variety of flu that we suffered from early in our Australian winter. It was a good and happy meeting, though with some disgruntlement expressed at the Diocese for not having found a priest for the island for over two years. When I suggested that with the absence of a sermon when no priest is present, a children’s talk from the Sunday School leader might go down well, Trina demurred, saying that she was an Islander and it would not be well received. This is the downside of close community and fellowship.
We talked yesterday briefly to Jim Kerr the Educational adviser from England who said that island incomes are low. Teachers receive only a couple of hundred pounds a month. What has been killing the local economy for some years has been the cost of medicine, hence the new income tax now and a nominal fee for hospital treatment. For example, new knees and the like have up until now all been at little or no cost in private hospitals in Cape Town. It is unsustainable.
For the whole series of these articles so far see:
http://www.andrewneaum.com/articles.htm
FROM THE REGISTERS
Birthdays:
Shirley Bartlett. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 April
Betty Downing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 April
Dale Wells. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 April
Isobel Black Griffin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 April
Maurice Fennell. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 April
Alannah Hamilton. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 April
MURCHISON 5 SUNDAY LUNCH
7 April Sunday after 10.30 service
Come and join the combined congregations of Murchison and Rushworth for lunch at the home of Don & Norma Leslie after the 10.30 am service at Murchison or come down from Shepparton directly. For catering purposes please book a place via the office 58 212 091 & for more details or to arrange lifts. Treat yourselves to a superb home cooked Sunday feast and great company for only $20 per head.
LAY SILENT RETREAT
19-21 April Feathertop Chalet Harrietville
‘The Still Point of the Turning World :
Walking the Labyrinth & Centring Prayer’
The 2013 Diocesan Lay Retreat is to be led by Helen Malcolm and Rob Whalley. For more information please call 57 213 484. The cost is $200, but partial “scholarships” are available from the Diocese.
A FAREWELL MEAL
An “Elegiac Banquet”
10 May Friday 6.00pm Church Hall
A Farewell to the Neaums will be held on the date above. There will be a dinner and drinks, a speech or two and if anyone would like to put on an act of any sort for us, make an offer to John Griffin or via the office. There is sure to be a rueful verse from the Rector.
April 7 Sun. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Murchison Sunday Lunch
April 8 Mon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.15am Lady Day Wangaratta
April 9 Tues. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Grief Support-Moving On
April 16 Tues. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Friendship Group
April 18 Thur. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ladies Guild
April 19 Fri . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Until 21 April Lay Retreat - Harriettesville
April 22 Mon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Arise 255 Youth Group
April 28 Sun. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Deadline for Outreach
May 10 Fri. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rector’s Farewell 6.00PM
May 23 Thu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4pm Raffle sub Committee Roz’s Room
May 31 Fri. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (and Saturday 1 June) Synod
June 2 Sun. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Patronal Festival & Induction of New Rector
June 8 Sat. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Martyrs of Uganda Service and Breakfast
June 13 Thur. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4pm Fair Planning Group Roz’s Room
Oct 19 Sat. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Parish Fair
Oct 26 Sat. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Murchison - Boot Sale
REQUESTS FOR PRAYER
Hilary & Alan Akers, Joyce Auldrige, Liam Bognar, Angela Brown Joyce Cavill, Win Fehring, Chris Furze, Frank Harder, Victoria Heenan, Bruce Hodgson & family, Katherine Holt, Edwyn Johnson, Dos King, Bob & June McKellar, Colin McKenzie, Elsie Lieschke, Paul Liversedge, Helen McDonald, Anita Saville, Lynda Saville, Dawn & Kent Scott, John Scott, Sandra Simonis, Suzanne Singh, Nicole Sleeth, Patricia Sparkes, Shirley Venimils, Peter, Marion, Cheryl, Joy, Simon, Barry, Jenny, Tom, David, Jon & Justin.
,
Rest in Peace: Reg Olphert
Anniversaries: Dick Griffin (31 Mar), Clifford Dodson, Caroline Waymouth, Hazel Kalms, Doreen Jeffery (1 Ap), Alec Bassett, Mary Schliebs (2 Ap), Clifford Page (priest), Helen Thomson, Eloise Cummins, Donald Douglas (5 Ap), Thomas Tomlinson, Ted Phillips, Mary Harris (6 Ap).
READINGS EASTER TWO 7 April
Acts5 27-32, Psalm 11814-29, Revelation 14-8.
Duties for Easter Day 31March
Readers 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Victoria Heenan, Heather Pearson
Intercessor 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Heather Pearson
Servers 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . John Griffin, Beth, Soibhan
Euc. Assts 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Heather Pearson, Barbara Schier
Sidespeople 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Trevor Batey, Joe Pearson
Welcomer 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Beryl Goodfellow, Shirley Dean
Welcome Tbl 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dorothy Cook
Tea 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Gwyn Cowland
Reader 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Peter Martin
Intercessor 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Jenny Pleming
Servers 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jenny, Olivia, Oscar
Euc. Assts 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Joe Fernandez
Sidespeople 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .John Pleming, Beryl Black
Welcomers 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kylie Milsom, Irene Crawford
Welcome Tbl 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dorothy Cook
Projector 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mary Pearson
Children’s Church. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Suzanne Lear
Mowing 6 April . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Merve Cowland, Beryl Bonfitto
Monday Office 1 April. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .holiday
Duties Second Sunday of Easter 7 April 2013
Readers 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bev Condon, Heather Pearson
Intercessor 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Pat Griffin
Servers 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .John Horder, Soibhan, Michelle
Euc. Assts 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . John Griffin, Joe Pearson
Sidespeople 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Gwyn and Merv Cowland
Welcomer 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Eileen Quaife, Bev Ralph
Welcome Tbl 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Dorothy
Tea 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Barbara Schier
Reader 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ryan Bhat
Intercessor 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Aaron Bhat
Servers 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Euc. Assts 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jenny, Joe
Sidespeople 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . John Pleming, Rob Gilbert
Welcomers 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Irene Crawford, Yasmin Bhat
Welcome Tbl 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dorothy Cook
Projector 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Black Family
Children’s Church. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mary Pearson
Mowing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .none
Monday Office 8 April. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Jenny Mintern, Jan Phillips
THIS WEEK IN THE PARISH
Sunday 31 March Easter Day
4.00pm Jacobite Easter Day Mass
5.30pm Evening Prayer- Lady Chapel
Monday 1 April
7.45am Mattins & Eucharist - Lady Chapel
11.00am Shepp Aged Care
Tuesday 2 April
7.45am Mattins & Eucharist - Lady Chapel
5.00pm Evening Prayer
7.30pm Baptism Preparation
Wednesday 3 April
7.45am Mattins - Lady Chapel
10.00am Eucharist - St Augustine’s
4.00pm Banksia
5.00pm Evening Prayer
Thursday 4 April
7.45am Mattins & Eucharist - Lady Chapel
9.30am Tarcoola
11.00am Harmony
Hospital
5.00pm Evening Prayer - Lady Chapel
5.30pm Choir Practice
Friday 5 April
7.45am Mattins & Eucharist - Lady Chapel
5.00pm Evening Prayer - Lady Chapel
Saturday 6 April
7.45am Mattins & Eucharist - Lady Chapel
9.00am Jacobite Mass
6.00pm Vigil Eucharist
DAYLIGHT SAVING ENDS
Sunday 7 April 2nd Sunday of Easter
8.30am Sung Eucharist - St Augustine’
10.30am Eucharist & Children’s Church St Augustine’s
10.30am Eucharist - Christ Church Murchison
8.45am Eucharist - St Luke’s Dookie
2.00pm Sudanese Service
5.30pm Evening Prayer