From Father Gift

Eucharist is ‘icing on the cake’

It has been an eventful start to Term 2 at St George’s Anglican Grammar School, especially Week 2. We had the Interhouse Cross Country Carnival, the Interhouse Performing Arts Festival, the Pilgrimage of Hope led by Bishop Hans and, in Chapel, we celebrated our patron saint, St George, with two services for Junior and Senior School. 

A Eucharist service is always a special occasion and St George’s Day was the icing on the cake. We celebrated grandly, proudly wearing our special 10 year anniversary pins and everyone feasted on a St George’s iced bun after the service. 

In the chapel talk, students learned about how the Christian Bible has influenced the stories of dragons, serpents and even the horror movies that we now watch on television and in theatres. The term “dragon” appears 21 times in the Bible, among the fascinating stories being that of the dragon Leviathan in the Book of Job 41:19-21, and the Red Dragon in Revelation 12 that the Archangel Michael hurled down to earth from heaven for his rebelliousness. 

Students now understand that the dragon in the Book of Revelation simply meant the evil Roman Emperor who persecuted and sometimes killed those who refused to worship him. Among the victims of the evil Emperor were Jesus’ disciples such as Paul, Peter, James and John. A few years later, George became another victim on 23 April, 303 AD. 

The story of George eventually developed into the myth of St George killing the dragon. The story celebrates bravery and standing up for what is right. Therefore, every week in chapel, we pray that we may have the bravery of St George to stand up for what is right.

Fr Gift Makwasha

School Chaplain