Assistant Priest's News - 10 May 2026
- 5 days ago
- 4 min read
Sixth Sunday of Easter
I was tidying my home this week when George Herbert’s little book of poetry tumbled out from the book shelf – the well‑thumbed one that has survived dinner parties, some Scrabble battles, and the occasional spilled glass of wine. As I flipped through its familiar pages, one poem stopped me again: Love (III). Those opening lines – “Love bade me welcome; yet my soul drew back, guilty of dust and sin” – still land with the same quiet force it always has.
George Herbert has long been one of my heroes. Born in 1593 to a distinguished Welsh family, he was a brilliant scholar at Cambridge, a gifted orator, and for a time a rising star in public life. Yet he walked away from political ambition to become a humble country priest in the tiny parish of Bemerton. His poetry – collected in The Temple – is a tapestry of spiritual longing, self‑doubt, devotion, and staggering honesty. He wrote not as a man who had mastered holiness, but as one who kept stumbling toward it with open arms.
In a passing glance, I caught my own reflection in the mirror and thought: if the great George Herbert has self-doubts, what about me? Trivial me? My eyes drifted to the stoles hanging on the wall – those faithful companions of countless services. They always seem a bit lopsided on me, slightly crooked or crumpled, never quite as perfect as I imagine they should be. And yet, despite all that, my soul burns for the living God. A day celebrating in his courts is better than a thousand elsewhere.
The tension between longing and unworthiness plays its tug‑of‑war in my mind. Herbert named that ache so honestly: the soul that wants to draw back, the heart that feels too dusty, too sinful, too small to be welcomed by Love Himself. And as I lingered over his poem, John 14:15-21 rose quietly to meet me, like a hand extended across the centuries. Jesus saying:
21 They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.’
Somehow Herbert’s trembling humility and Jesus’ steady reassurance sit together on the same vine. One names the ache; the other answers it. One confesses the crookedness of our self-image, our souls, our efforts; the other promises His Presence, His Peace, His Power, Protection, His providence – The Paraclete.
And in that precipice – between our unworthiness and God’s unwavering Promises – Jesus beckons us to come, sit, eat and stay a little longer...
Music
SUNDAY 10 MAY CHORAL EUCHARIST @ 10 AM
Prelude: Pari intervallo - Arvo Pärt (*1935)
Hymns: Processional –All my hope on God is founded
Gradual – Lord Jesus Christ, you have come to us
Thanksgiving – O worship the King
Post Communion – Oh Jesus, I have promised
Setting: St. Andrew’s Mass – Timothy Mallis (b.1996)
Psalm: 66.7-18 (NPCW)
Anthem: Peace I leave with you – Andrew Goodwin
Motet: Spirit of God, unseen as the wind – Scottish traditional, arr. David Hill
Postlude: Fugue in F major BWV 540 - J.S. Bach (1685-1750)
CHORAL EVENSONG @ 6 PM
Prelude: Liebster Jesu, wir sind hier BWV 731- J.S. Bach (1685-1750)
Hymns: Processional – Come down, O love divine
Dismissal – Hail the day that sees him rise
Responses: Stalnaker
Psalm: 66.1-8 (RSCM)
Canticles: Dyson in C minor
Anthem: O taste and see – Ralph Vaughn Williams (1872-1958)
Postlude: Prelude and Fugue in G major BWV 541 - J.S. Bach (1685-1750)
Thank You
Jill and Robert Timms would like to thank our many friends at St Andrew's for their moving expressions of support to us as we come to terms with the recent death of our dear son Chris. The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the Name of the Lord.
Concerts at St Andrew's
Phoebe Daisy Paine presents an afternoon recital of some of opera's most exciting coloratura roles, including music from "Les Contes d'Hoffman", "Die Zauberflöte", "Giulio Cesare" and "Romeo et Juliette." She will also be premiering music from her original work "The Yellow Wallpaper", a project she was recently awarded a composition mentorship for with Fluxus Opera. Joining Phoebe are special guests pianist Isaac Mouskovias, mezzo Maria Woolford, tenor Alastair Cooper-Golec and baritone Darcy Carroll. It is an afternoon of operatic acrobatics not to be missed.
Glen Eira City Choir joins with Bendigo Chorale along with guest soloists to present Mozart's Requiem and other works by Mozart.
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The Interlude Series welcomes the award-winning, Melbourne-based Partridge String Quartet for a compelling afternoon of chamber music. The program features the Victorian premiere of a newly commissioned work by Sydney composer Holly Harrison, presented ahead of the quartet’s national tour with Musica Viva. The program will also include Claude Debussy’s luminous String Quartet in G minor. This special performance offers audiences a rare opportunity to experience the new work’s debut in Victoria, paired with one of the most celebrated works in the chamber repertoire.
CROSSING THE BAR
Tuesday 23 June 2026 at 7:00pm
The Australian Boys Choral Institute is thrilled to present The Gesualdo Six (UK) as part of their 2026 Australian Tour. Collaborating with the outstanding young singers of the ABCI, modern and ancient classics from the ensemble's repertoire feature alongside exciting contemporary choral works for massed voices. This is the exclusive Melbourne performance by the Gesualdo Six this year - don't miss it! More information here.
Rosters
Mthr Xeverie
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