The Messenger

St George the Martyr, Goodwood

December, 2025

Dear Friends

Happy New Year, as the church year begins, with the great season of Advent. Like its twin, Lent, Advent is a pilgrimage of preparation towards a great festival. It is made difficult by coinciding with the most festive time of the non-Christian year, as those around us feast, party and shop intensely. It is a true test of the strength of a peaceful soul, to quietly pursue the pilgrimage amid the clamour.

It may require ear plugs or isolation, but it can be a time of introspection mixed with contemplation of the way God cares for his world. We can review the tragic history of the world, ourselves included. We can likewise consider God’s action to save a world so hopelessly lost in its own failures, with no chance to save itself, and observe the love driving the offer of salvation gifted to us.

Christmas will arrive on schedule, and we will celebrate. Among us, the story of the Incarnation, the coming of Our Lord and taking flesh, will again be told. Angels, shepherds, animals and the Holy Family will be in focus. We live in a cycle of fasts and feasts, all of which both strengthens and gladdens our Faith and indeed our life.

Advent is not just about preparing to welcome God into his world. He has always been present among us and in the whole of his creation. The Incarnation is a special act, taking upon himself flesh and blood, becoming one of us, for the unique purpose of accomplishing our salvation, done once for all, to last all eternity. Through his incarnation, becoming one of us, he reaches for us, and in turn we turn to him, but also realise the the gap, the barrier, that sin places between us.

Because the greatest impact of sin is to alienate us from God, the most important task is to heal that separation. Thus, instead of concentrating on your sin in your introspection, first ask yourself the question, “How can I heal the gap between God and myself?” This is the question that religions often answer by attempting to propitiate God with offerings, ranging from those similar to the Old Testament sacrifices of animals to sacrificial acts of various kinds to gain God’s favour, to establishing rules and then trying to follow them, to prove to God that I am righteous (as self-defined by the rules made up) and, thereby, deserving of God’s approval.

Over thousands of years, none of this has worked. While that doesn’t seem to discourage people from still trying. Some may even decide to ignore God, announce that he does not exist, and continue without him, with the same logic that a three-year old uses, that if he closes his eyes, you are not there in front of him.

Not surprisingly, these options don’t work, either. No wonder the “Holiday” season is the time when depression peaks, as the gap between the reality of our world and the paradise of God widens.

The consequent next question to ask is, “God, how can this gap between you and me be healed?”

The answer is, “The plan is in place, permanently. The enabling acts have been achieved in the life work of Jesus Christ.” What remains is for you and me to accept the healing gift offered.

For some, this happens in a dramatic way, when God breaks through suddenly, and we are confronted quite directly with the gift of salvation. But for most of us, the gift is bestowed in baptism, often administered so early, there is no conscious memory of it. At whatever age, the crucial point is that it is entirely God’s action, and thus totally effective. It need not be ever repeated and cannot be improved on, nor does it depend on how you feel about it.

This Advent, return to that moment of God’s loving action, whether you can remember it or not. Begin your Advent pilgrimage by noting that you are baptised. You cannot remove it. You can deny it, reject it, ignore it, rage about it. There is no rite of debaptising. For those who wish God would go away, this is irritating. But it is of immense comfort and reassurance for us sinners who yearn to come closer to God, to know that we remain God’s children forever despite our sin.

Thus, with your baptism as the foundation, begin your pilgrimage. Know that the presence of God goes with you, “he has already arrived.” Nor are you alone. Christianity is “where two or three are gathered,” if you are hoping for a “me and Jesus” experience, you will be disappointed. The pilgrimage of life is a road travelled together, with God and with your brothers and sisters from around the world, indeed with “angels and archangels and all the company of heaven.”

When the festive day of Christmas then arrives, we rejoice and once again sing with the angels and each other, praising God for that incarnate arrival among us all those centuries ago, but praising him nevertheless anew, as his grace is ever new. We also arrive at the heart of our God, the epicentre of the Body of Christ, who is ever near and ever delighting to hear us express our love and praise, as a father is gladdened to see his children happy and loving.

(My thanks to Bishop Win Mott for a reflection that I have shamelessly mined for this reflection here.)

St Francis’s Day

Turning away from Advent for a moment, and looking back to recent events in the parish, one of the joys of October was the annual blessing of animals: chickens, ferrets and dogs were well represented this year. Somehow, they all come in harmony, and although the chickens were very vocal about the ferrets, we all had a fun day.

From the Register

We had requiem masses in November of two stalwarts of our parish: Joan Pearsons and Emily Harding.

Joan Pearsons died on the 5 November aged 98. She and her late husband Gordon had been at our parish for decades, and she had been a member of the Fellowship Group as well as giving her shrewd advice on investments on the Coulthard Fund. She had been living at the Lodge at Wayville for the last few years.

Emily Harding died on 21 October 2025 after a long battle with Leukemia. She came to the parish in Fr McCall’s time, quickly becoming a server and then going onto be the Sacristan here for years, as well as being synod representative to the diocese, parish councillor, treasurer of the parish, oblate of the Benedictine Abbey of St Michael’s Camperdown, member of our Cell of Our Lady of Walsingham. After her retirement she also completed her Bachelor of Theology and became a lay reader for the parish. She was here almost daily, getting the many considerable preparations done in the Church.

May they both rest in peace and rise in glory.

Advent Study

Wondering about the incarnation and Christmas? On Wednesday 17 December at 5:30 pm we’ll have our customary pizza and red in the garden and a Q&A session with Fr Scott and Tim. Curly questions to Tim by the Sunday before, thanks!

New Archbishop

This weekend Synod will meet to elect a new archbishop of Adelaide – please remember this in your prayers. The mass on Saturday will be a votive mass for the synod election (we are asking the inspiration of the Holy Spirit – optimism helps).

Coming Events

There will be two special votive masses on the first Saturdays of the month. On the 6 at 8 am we will have the votive mass for the election of the new archbishop. On the 13 we celebrate St Lucy, the patron saint for those who have eye problems and then on the 20 we have our monthly mass for Our Lady. This is also called the Rorate mass, from the Latin words of the entrance introit, “Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above” and is celebrated by candlelight, to symbolise the coming of the light of Christ in Advent.

Christmas Services – 9 am Christmas Day

A Reminder for our Christmas services. Christmas this year falls on a Thursday. So, we will have the children’s service on Wednesday 24 December at 6 pm, and the Midnight mass will start at 11 pm. On Christmas Day we have only one mass, at 9 am.

New Year’s Eve

We will have our usual mass on New Year’s Eve, Wednesday 31 December, at 5 pm to say farewell to the old year and pray for the year coming. This short mass will only be around 30 minutes, but it is a way to ask God’s blessing on the coming year.

My apologies for no magazine last month, I have had a few health issues that have slowed me down. The next issue of the Messenger, God willing, will be in February next year. So, blessings for you all over the holy days of Christmastide.

God bless,

Fr Scott

Remembrance Day at St George’s – Notes from the Front

Memory and memorial are ever present at St George’s; most prominently in the War Memorial on Goodwood Rd that serves as the Parish’s most prominent witness to the community, and at a more intimate scale in the hundreds of private and communal memorials in the Church to the departed.  We are perhaps unique in South Australia in remembering the fallen of the First World War not only on Remembrance Day but also at daily Mass on each year’s mind and at All Souls.

Who were these young people who offered their lives to the cause of Empire and a nascent Australian nationhood?  Approximately eighty young men enlisted from St George’s and the names of twenty-six who died on active service are recorded on the primary memorial in the Church (one woman is known to have volunteered but it is not known if she enlisted). Details of each volunteer are recorded by the Australian War Memorial, and we have records of their service in our archives.  Many parishes keep similar files; but given the deep, historic Anglo-Catholic nature of St George’s do we hear distinctive voices from the Front that perhaps others do not?

Fr Percy Wise was devoted to ensuring that the St George’s volunteers observed their catholic faith within the Anglican tradition, and each was sent off with the ‘St George’s Book for Australian Soldiers and Sailors on Active Service’ a thoughtful and simple exhortation to remember the intent of the Mass (presumably regardless of the churchmanship of the Anglican padre saying it).  One soldier reported back as follows:

“One boy writes: ‘Our Chaplain always arranges for a Mass before we go into a stunt, and it all seems quite different somehow after Communion.’ Another Altar Server writes: ‘All Soul’s Day was well observed here and a very large number of men turned out at 5:00am for the Requiem Mass, though it was raining very heavily and we had a very hard day the day before. You would be surprised at the effect of the War in England.  It is sounding the death knell of Protestantism. Of course, many of those in high positions still cling to their peculiar ideas about All Souls Day and the Mass and Confession, but the people are turning to the Catholic Faith and are finding the consolation they need therein’.  Another writes: ‘Day by day I am realising more and more the power of the Mass and the help I receive from the prayers of those at dear St George’s, and I cannot describe the great joy and relief before some push of being shriven and receiving Communion and then commending myself to our Blessed Lady and S. George, under whose flag we fight, doing undreamt of things without any of that fear I suppose I have but do not notice.’”

These reports contribute to our understanding of how Catholic practice responded to the deep societal and individual grief arising from the Great War.  Amongst the closed, sterile churches of the Anglican Communion at the time, the Anglo-Catholic parishes – whether in Montreal, London, Durban, Milwaukee or Adelaide – offered healing and solace to the mourning, not only in the form of prayers for the dead but in simple and prayerful actions such as lighting a candle. This led to the zenith of the Anglo-Catholic movement in the succeeding decades and reminds us of the depth of our spirituality and that we at St George’s, while perhaps unique locally, are part of an historic yet contemporary tradition within the worldwide Anglican church.

Timothy Hender, M.Phil (UD), PhD (UD) 2029

Services

Sunday Services

8.00 am     Mass

10.00 am     Solemn Sung Mass

Weekday Services

Monday                        Fr Scott’s Day Off

Tuesday       10.00 am     Mass, morning tea

followed by gardening.

Wednesday    8.00 am     Mass

Thursday     12.00 noon  Mass

Friday           8.00 am     Mass

Saturday        8.00 am     Mass

The first Friday of the month is usually kept as a requiem for the departed of the parish. On the other Fridays the Book of Common Prayer according to the English Missal is used. The first Saturday of the month is kept as a votive to Mary, Our Lady of Walsingham.

December

1       ANDREW, APOSTLE AND MARTYR (from 31)

2       Frances Perry, Founder of Royal Women’s Hospital, Melbourne, 1892

2       Channing Moore Williams, Anglican Missionary Bishop to China and Japan, 1910

3       Francis Xavier, Apostle of the Indies, missionary, 1552

4       John of Damascus, Monk, Teacher of the Faith, c749

4       Nicholas Ferrar, Deacon, Founder of the Little Gidding Community, 1637

6       Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, c326

7       ADVENT 2

8       The Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary

8       Richard Baxter, Pastor and Spiritual Writer, 1691

13       LUCY, MARTYR AT SYRACUSE, 304

13       Samuel Johnson, Moralist, 1784

14       ADVENT 3

17       O Sapientia

17       Eglantine Jebb, Social Reformer, Founder of “Save the Children”, 1928

21       ADVENT 4

22       THOMAS, APOSTLE AND MARTYR (from 21)

25       THE BIRTH OF OUR LORD; CHRISTMAS DAY

26       STEPHEN, DEACON AND FIRST MARTYR

27       JOHN, APOSTLE AND EVANGELIST

28       HOLY INNOCENTS

29       THOMAS BECKET, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY, MARTYR, 1170

30       Josephine Butler, Social Reformer, 1905

31       John Wyclif, Reformer, 1384

January

1       THE NAMING AND CIRCUMCISION OF JESUS: Solemnity of MARY, MOTHER OF GOD

2       Basil of Caesarea and Gregory of Nazianzus, Bishops, Teachers of the Faith, 379 & 389

2       Eliza Hassall, CMS Missionary in the Middle East, 1917

2       Seraphim, Monk of Sarov, Spiritual Guide, 1833

2       Vedanayagam Samuel Azariah, Bishop in South India, Evangelist, 1945

4       THE EPIPHANY OF OUR LORD (from 6)

10       William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1645

11       THE BAPTISM OF CHRIST

12       Aelred of Hexham, Abbot of Rievaulx, 1167

12       Benedict Biscop, Abbot of Wearmouth, Scholar, 689

12       Dedication of 1^st Church, 1882

13       Hilary of Poitiers, Teacher of the Faith, 367

13       Kentigern [Mungo], Missionary Bishop in Strathclyde and Cumbria, 603

14       Sava, first Archbishop of the Serbian Church, 1235

17       Antony of Egypt, Hermit, Abbot, 356

17       Charles Gore, Bishop, Teacher, Founder of the Community of the Resurrection, 1932

18       CONFESSION OF PETER

19       Wulfstan, Bishop of Worchester, 1095

20       Richard Rolle of Hampole, Spiritual Writer, 1349

21       AGNES, CHILD-MARTYR OF ROME, 304

21       Mt Lamington Memorial Day (1951)

22       Vincent of Saragossa, Deacon, First Martyr of Spain, 304

24       Companions of Paul, including Timothy, Titus and Silas

24       Francis de Sales, Bishop of Geneva, Teacher of the Faith, 1622

25       CONVERSION OF PAUL

26       Australia Day

27       John Chrysostom, Bishop of Constantinople, Teacher, 407

28       Thomas Aquinas, Priest, Teacher, 1274

30       Charles, King and Martyr, 1649

30       Laying of Foundation Stone of Oratory 1915

February

1       THE PRESENTATION OF CHRIST IN THE TEMPLE (Candlemas) (from 1^st)

3       First Anglican Service in Australia, 1788

3       Anskar, Archbishop of Hamburg, Missionary in Denmark & Sweden, 865

3       Blaise, martyr, Bishop of Sebastea, Armenia, c316

5       Paul Miki and the Martyrs of Japan, 1597

8       SEXAGESIMA

10       Scholastica, sister of Benedict, Abbess of Plombariola, c543

14       Cyril and Methodius, Missionaries to the Slavs, 869 & 885

15       QUINQUAGESIMA

17       Shrove Tuesday – The Holy Face of Jesus

18       ASH WEDNESDAY

20       William Grant Broughton, first Bishop of Australia, 1853

23       Polycarp of Smyrna, Bishop of Smyrna, c155

24       MATTHIAS, APOSTLE AND MARTYR

22       LENT 1

25       Ember Wednesday

27       Ember Friday

27       George Herbert, Priest, Poet, 1633

28       Ember Saturday 

Address for correspondence

The Parish of St George the Martyr,

The Rectory

34 Angus Street

Goodwood, SA, 5034

 

[1] Harding, Emily. News from the Front, The Messenger September 2015.

[2] St George’s Book for Australian Soldiers and Sailors on Active Service by A Priest (Church of England) and a Returned Soldier (AIF).  STG File: B-3-0.

[3] Anonymous Enlistees from St George’s quoted in: PWCW. Messenger. No. 109 (January 1917).

[4] Pickering, Anglo-Catholicism. 46-47.