March – May 2019
From the Rector
Dear Friends
On 28 January, our former archbishop, Ian George, died.
I expect, like me, you read of his death in the newspapers, with the headline of “inept bishop.” I was greatly saddened by that headline. Bishop Ian had failures, like most of us. But I believe he made a positive contribution to the church and state in Adelaide.
Bishop Ian was baptised in St George’s by the great Fr Wise and always had a soft spot for this parish and was a frequent visitor, even after his retirement. Many of you may remember the Lenten series he conducted here some years ago.
Many of you may remember his forced retirement only a few weeks before he had planned to go. Sadly, he lost the confidence of Archbishop in Council which forced his premature retirement. The reasons for that were blazoned in the media at the time. They were significant errors. However, in my opinion he was a convenient scapegoat for the wider failures of the Church. The Archbishop of Adelaide in our system is no dictator, he governs with a Council elected from Synod, which is elected by us. The failures of recognising abuse were not solely his failure: it was the failure of all the system and ourselves.
In my opinion the Diocese treated him very badly on his retirement: there was no public farewell, no traditional laying up of his pastoral staff, no opportunity to thank him for his contribution. He told me that after his retirement he was even banned from preaching in the diocese for a while.
I am proud that our parish often invited him here.
The diocese is still very reluctant to deal with his legacy. I was sorry that despite his stroke some two weeks before his death there was no email to inform us of his illness, nor were we asked to pray for him and his family. The diocese took two days to tell us of his death, and we have not been asked to pray for his soul, nor pray for his family. To the best of my knowledge there has been no diocesan service to give thanks for his life.
I should say we bury people in churches and pray for them, not because we think they are perfect. We pray for and bury sinners, like ourselves, in need of God’s mercy and the hope of the resurrection. Bishop Ian’s faults were made very public. It has overshadowed a life for which there was much to give thanks.
We burnt the paschal candle near the font where he was baptised on the Sunday before his funeral and on the day of his funeral, we had a special requiem for him. May our diocese learn to take more responsibility for its failures and more generosity towards its children.
Moving on from Bishop Ian we are now entering the great penitential time of Lent. A rule of life is always worthwhile at this time that addresses the three calls of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Every little bit helps discipline and train our souls so that we may enter more fully into the mystery of suffering and the love of God. Don’t short change yourself! You will see the dates for the main services below.
God bless,
Fr Scott
Stations of the Cross
Every Friday in Lent
4.30 pm
Follow our Lord
on the Way to the Cross
HOLY WEEK & EASTER
14 April Palm Sunday
8.00 a.m. Mass
9.30 a.m. Blessing of Palms & Solemn Mass
4.00 p.m. Evensong
15 April Holy Monday
6 p.m. Mass
9.00 p.m. Compline
16 April Holy Tuesday
10 a.m. Mass
9.00 p.m. Compline
17 April Holy Wednesday
8 a.m. Mass
9.00 p.m. Compline
18 April Maundy Thursday
12 noon Mass
7.30 p.m. Solemn Mass
The Watch of the Passion will be kept until Midnight
19 April Good Friday
10.00 a.m. Stations of the Cross
3.00 p.m. Mass of the Pre-Sanctified
5.00 p.m. Confessions
20 April Easter Eve
8 p.m. Vigil Mass
21 April Easter Day
8.00 a.m. Mass
9.30 a.m. Solemn Mass
ST GEORGE’S DAY
Sunday 5 May
Mass at 10.30
Guest Preacher:
Fr Jesse Poole
Of the Diocese of the Murray
Followed by a shared lunch
The Wiring
The lighting within the church is now complete and we are in the process of tidying up small jobs in the church. We finally have the strong purple lights on the ceiling completed; we were stumped by a technical problem for many months but that is now solved.
It is not the intent to have all the lights on at every mass. The idea of the lighting is to create moods for different times. At a midweek mass the church is only partly lit with things like the shrines highlighted. We are blessed to have a beautiful building, and this is a way to enhance that beauty.
A Feast by any other name…
On the first Sunday of February this year we kept the lovely feast of Candlemas. Our Calendar nowadays encourages us to keep this on the first Sunday near the traditional date of 2 February. Candles were blessed and carried in procession as we called to mind the coming of Christ as Light into the world.
Alternative names for Candlemas with which we are familiar are The Presentation of Christ in the Temple and The Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary. These commemorate the keeping of Jewish law by the Holy Family. But as if three names for the one feast are not enough, there are at least two others.
In the Philippines it has the charming name of Our Lady of the Candles. A 16th century statue of Mary and the Child Jesus is enshrined at Jaro Cathedral. Each is depicted carrying a taper. The title Our Lady of the Candles points to the Presentation of Christ and the simultaneous ritual purification of Mary in the temple at Jerusalem. The story is told in the Philippines that the statue first appeared in 1587 when a group of fishermen found it floating in a river. Initially they could not lift it because of its weight, but when they decided to take it to Jaro, the image suddenly became easier to carry. It is today a focus of pilgrimage and devotion.
The Orthodox Church gives to this day the name of The Feast of the Meeting of the Lord. Of this Meeting St Basil the Great wrote, “What a tender scene the Meeting of the Lord shows us! The venerable elder Simeon, holding the infant God in his hands, on either side of him the righteous Joseph and the Most Holy Mother of God. Not far away is the prophetess Anna, an 80-year-old faster and a woman of prayer. Their eyes are all directed toward their Saviour. Their attention is absorbed by Him and they drink in spiritual sweetness from Him, which feeds their souls. You can judge for yourself how blessed was the state of these souls”.
Emily Harding
With acknowledgement to Wikipedia and St Basil the Great Orthodox Church, St Louis, Missouri.
A backward glance
In the last issue of The Messenger I wrote in an article “Christmas is coming…” of an Italian tradition which tells of bagpipes being played by the shepherds who came to pay homage to the infant Jesus. I noticed only after writing this article that one of the shepherds in our Crib scene is depicted with a bagpipe, so it is possible that the Crib figures were made in Italy.
Emily Harding
If Lent is here, can Easter be far behind?
Have you ever wondered how it is that rabbits feature so prominently at Easter? One theory connects the appearance of the rabbit at Easter time with the origins of the word “Easter”. It derives from the Old English eastre, a heathen festival held at the time of the spring equinox in honour of Eastre, a Germanic goddess of the dawn. Eastre’s companion animal was a rabbit.
From ancient times eggs have been symbols of fertility and as such were adopted by the Church as symbols of new life in the Resurrection. So according to another theory it was only natural that rabbits, those prolific producers of new life, should come to be linked to the symbolism of eggs.
The pomegranate is another symbol of the Resurrection. With its many seeds in a single case, it is bursting with new life. One of our sets of vestments features panels embroidered with pomegranates, and pomegranates are also appear in the decoration on the orphreys of one of our copes.
Our High Altar candlesticks on the gradine take up the same symbolism. Carved at the base of each candlestick are seed pods split open in readiness to shed their seeds.
As with some other Christian symbols, the pomegranate has its roots in Classical antiquity, being associated in both Greek and Roman mythology with Persephone (or Proserpina) who was the goddess of vegetation and returned every spring to regenerate the earth.
In some paintings the infant Christ is depicted holding a pomegranate.
Emily Harding
Palm Sunday
Now to the gate of my Jerusalem,
The seething holy city of my heart,
The saviour comes. But will I welcome him?
Oh crowds of easy feelings make a start;
They raise their hands, get caught up in the singing,
And think the battle won. Too soon they’ll find
The challenge, the reversal he is bringing
Changes their tune. I know what lies behind
The surface flourish that so quickly fades;
Self-interest, and fearful guardedness,
The hardness of the heart, its barricades,
And at the core, the dreadful emptiness
Of a perverted temple. Jesus come
Break my resistance and make me your home.
Malcolm Guite
Seven Stanzas at Easter
Make no mistake: if He rose at all
it was as His body;
if the cells’ dissolution did not reverse, the molecules
reknit, the amino acids rekindle,
the Church will fall.
It was not as the flowers,
each soft Spring recurrent;
it was not as His Spirit in the mouths and fuddled
eyes of the eleven apostles;
it was as His flesh: ours.
The same hinged thumbs and toes,
the same valved heart
that-pierced-died, withered, paused, and then
regathered out of enduring Might
new strength to enclose.
Let us not mock God with metaphor,
analogy, sidestepping, transcendence;
making of the event a parable, a sign painted in the
faded credulity of earlier ages:
let us walk through the door.
The stone is rolled back, not papier-mâché,
not a stone in a story,
but the vast rock of materiality that in the slow
grinding of time will eclipse for each of us
the wide light of day.
And if we will have an angel at the tomb,
make it a real angel,
weighty with Max Planck’s quanta, vivid with hair,
opaque in the dawn light, robed in real linen
spun on a definite loom.
Let us not seek to make it less monstrous,
for our own convenience, our own sense of beauty,
lest, awakened in one unthinkable hour, we are
embarrassed by the miracle,
and crushed by remonstrance.
John Updike (1932–2009)
From the Register
We record the death of Gloria Gazley, wife of parishioner John Gazley on 21 January 2019. Gloria was a Roman Catholic, but often helped at St George’s in years past with the flowers. Her funeral was at Holy Cross with Fr Scott assisting.
I see His Blood Upon the Rose
I see his blood upon the rose
And in the stars the glory of his eyes,
His body gleams amid eternal snows,
His tears fall from the skies.
I see his face in every flower;
The thunder and the singing of the birds
Are but his voice – and carven by his power
Rocks are his written words.
All pathways by his feet are worn,
His strong heart stirs the ever-beating sea,
His crown of thorns is twined with every thorn,
His cross is every tree.
Joseph Mary Plunkett
Calendar
March
1 David, Bishop of Menevia, Patron of Wales, c601
2 Chad, Bishop of Lichfield, Missionary, 672
3 QUINQUAGESIMA SUNDAY
6 ASH WEDNESDAY
7 Perpetua and her Companions, Martyrs at Carthage, 203
8 Edward King, Bishop of Lincoln, 1910
8 John of God, Worker among the Sick and poor, Spain, 1550
8 Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy, Priest, Poet, 1929
9 Sister Emma SSA, Superior of the Society of the Sacred Advent, Queensland, 1939
10 LENT 1
13 Ember Wednesday
15 Ember Friday
16 Ember Saturday
17 LENT 2
18 Cyril, Bishop of Jerusalem, Teacher of the Faith, 386
19 JOSEPH OF NAZARETH
20 Cuthbert of Lindisfarne, Bishop and missionary (d. 687) or 4th Sept.
21 Transitus of Benedict, Abbot of Monte Casino, Father of Western Monasticism, patron of Europe, c550
21 Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1556
24 LENT 3
26 THE ANNUNCIATION TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY (FROM 25)
26 Harriet Monsell, Founder of the Community of St John the Baptist, Clewer, 1883
31 LENT 4 MOTHERING SUNDAY
April
1 The Annotine Easter 2018
1 Frederick Denison Maurice, Priest, Teacher of the Faith, 1872
6 Frederick Barker, Bishop of Sydney and pioneer of theological education and the General Synod, 1882
7 LENT 5 PASSION SUNDAY
8 Georgina Molloy, pioneer church leader and botanist from Western Australia, 1843
9 Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Pastor, Teacher, Martyr, 1945
10 William Law, Priest Spiritual Writer, 1761
11 George Augustus Selwyn, First Bishop of New Zealand, 1878
14 LENT 6 PALM SUNDAY
18 MAUNDY THURSDAY
19 GOOD FRIDAY
21 EASTER SUNDAY
25 ANZAC DAY
28 EASTER 2
29 Catherine of Siena, Mystic, Teacher, 1380
30 MARK, EVANGELIST AND MARTYR (from 26)
May
1 PHILIP AND JAMES, APOSTLES AND MARTYRS
2 Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, Teacher of the Faith, 373
4 English Saints & Martyrs of the Reformation Era
5 GEORGE, MARTYR, PATRON SAINT, c304 (from 23 April)
8 Julian of Norwich, Mystic, Teacher, c1417
12 EASTER 4
16 Caroline Chisholm, Social Reformer, 1877
19 EASTER 5
20 Alcuin of York, Deacon, Abbot of Tours, 820
21 Helena, Protector of the Holy Places, 330
24 John & Charles Wesley, Priest, Evangelists, Hymn Writers, 1792 & 1788
25 The Venerable Bede, Priest, Monk at Jarrow, Scholar, Historian, 735
26 EASTER 6
28 Lanfranc, Prior of Le Bec, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1089
30 Joan of Arc, Visionary, 1431
30 Josephine Butler, Social Reformer, 1906
30 Apolo Kivebulaya, Priest, Evangelist in Central Africa, 1933
31 THE VISIT OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY TO ELIZABETH
June
1 Justin, Martyr at Rome, c165
1 Laying of Foundation Stone of Rectory 1907
2 ASCENSION (from 30 May)
3 Martyrs of Uganda, 1886 & Janani Luwum, Archbishop of Uganda, 1977
3 John XXIII, bishop of Rome, reformer, 1963
5 Boniface (Wynfrith) of Crediton, Archbishop of Mainz, Apostle of Germany, Martyr, 754
6 Ini Kopuria, Founder of the Melanesian Brotherhood, 1945
8 Thomas Ken, Bishop of Bath and Wells, Non-Juror, Hymn Writer, 1711
9 PENTECOST
11 BARNABAS, APOSTLE AND MARTYR
12 Ember Wednesday
13 Antony of Padua, Priest, Teacher of the Faith, 1231
14 Ember Friday
15 Evelyn Underhill, Spiritual Writer, 1941
15 Ember Saturday
16 TRINITY
18 Bernard Mizeki, Apostle to the MaShona, Martyr, 1896
19 Sundar Singh of India, Sadhu (holy man), Evangelist, Teacher of the Faith, 1929
22 ALBAN, FIRST MARTYR OF BRITAIN, c209
23 CORPUS CHRISTI
24 THE BIRTH OF JOHN THE BAPTIST
27 Cyril, Bishop of Alexandria, Teacher of the Faith, 444
28 SACRED HEART
29 PETER and PAUL, APOSTLES AND MARTYRS
29 Consecration of Augustus Short as first bishop of Adelaide and inauguration of the See of Adelaide 1847
30 PENTECOST 3
St George’s Rectory
34 Angus Street, Goodwood, SA, 5034.
Telephone 08 82729495
Email stgeorges8@bigpond.com
Website http://www.stgeorgesgoodwood.org
Sunday Services
8.00 am Mass
9.30 am Solemn Sung Mass, followed by morning tea
4.00 pm Evensong (BCP)
Weekday Services
Monday Fr Scott’s Day Off
Tuesday 10.00 am Mass, followed by morning tea
Wednesday 7.30 am Matins
8.00 am Mass
Thursday 12 noon Mass
Friday
In Lent 4.30 pm Stations of the Cross
5.15 pm Mass English Missal
Saturday 7.30 am Matins
8.00 am Mass
A monthly requiem is held on the first free Friday of the month, when all whose year’s mind falls in that month and the recently departed are remembered and prayed for.
Confessions are heard by appointment.
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