11 minute read
Quarterly Communication
MARCH COMMUNICATION
For the first time, using the combination of city and regional centres, we now have the largest group
of Freemasons ever to assemble for a Quarterly
Communication in our Jurisdiction.
Importantly, we have been able to achieve this in spite of still being under some very stringent COVID–19 protocols; building managements have had to take quite deliberate precautions identified under our positive Stage One,
Two and Three preparations. I thank all of you for respecting the need for us to take these safeguards in our meetings and meeting places, and I think we can
OUR NEXT
COMMUNICATION
The Grand Lodge Quarterly Communication will be held at the Sydney Masonic Centre on Wednesday 9 June 2021 starting at 7.30pm.
The Communication is open to all members of Grand Lodge, which includes all Master Masons. The Grand Master extends an invitation to all other brethren to attend as observers.
A live video stream of the Communication will be shown at a number of regional Masonic Centres. all appreciate that these protocols will be part of our operating practices for some time to come.
That Freemasonry is meeting at all after such a disruptive past year is amazing, and I take this opportunity to thank all those who have dutifully followed our guidelines and the pathway we offered out of these most difficult of times.
Brethren, the resilience of the Craft is obvious, and as I have continued my involvement with lodges as they have reinvented themselves, and seen just what you have achieved, I have nothing but praise for you all.
The COVID-19 shutdown has offered us other opportunities. The Board of Management has progressed the ongoing program of much-needed building maintenance and upkeep, and by making use of the Grand Treasurer’s innovative Loans and Grants scheme, so well supported by the Finance and Audit Committee, many of you will benefit from the marked improvement in the condition of our masonic meeting places. Your masonic centre’s management committee can now offer far superior options for your lodge work and social activity than was previously on offer.
As I said in my last December Communication address, some of these improvements have involved major reconstruction, and they have certainly echoed the sentiments of all levels of government when they have highlighted how important it is to introduce infrastructure improvements as a means of creating jobs and economic activity across our regions.
To have the steady stream of local tradespeople and masonic supervision working in and around the more than eighty masonic centres we are responsible for gives an enormous boost to many communities. It does instil hope. It creates opportunities – and it certainly presents Freemasonry in a good light. Importantly, any improvements have always been mindful of reducing our carbon footprint; every attempt has been made to improve our air circulation, more efficiently power the facilities with solar technology, and generally allow us to utilise more modern and appropriate structural treatments and cosmetic finishes.
With regard to our Grand Charity, it is obvious that lodges have not been able to promote themselves within their communities in the past year, and it follows that there has not been the opportunity for you to attract support from our Masonicare Interaction Grants. Our deliberate effort toward offering building improvement activity has been a very effective way to continue our community association during this past year, and as lodges ramp up their own enthusiasm, we now look forward to you again promoting Masonicare as an important and very useful tool in keeping contact with local community.
Here in the Sydney Masonic Centre too we have seen some innovative improvements to how conferences and seminars can be conducted. Using the state-of-the-art studio now installed on Level 4, the Sydney Masonic Centre is
leading the way in the video conference sector by using interactive methods across venues both here in this building and between here and other centres throughout the country. Our General Manager, Mr Paul Davison, is the leading light in this field, and he is to be commended for the attention he has brought back to this place since the COVID closures. SMC is now assured of a very bright future.
Similarly, our Grand Treasurer has used the closure period to bring about a complete review of how we conduct our masonic administration in and around the Grand Secretariat, and I draw your attention to your notice paper tonight for further explanation of this. These changes, which will largely eliminate the extensive reporting requirements which have annoyed us all over the years, have been adopted by the Secretariat staff and our Field Officers. For the first time, lodges and lodge officers will have a real time association with the administrative business which is most important to them, and they will minimise the time they previously needed to set aside to complete their business. Also for the first time, each member will have the ability to control their personal profile and access their individual masonic history. Brethren, these changes will benefit us all. It has already allowed us to reduce the DGIW Conference from two days to a single day, and at the first of these new conference programs, our new DGIWs clearly appreciated that their roles will be more automated with far fewer hands-on reporting and administrative tasks.
Importantly, brethren, our individual obligation will again prevail. What this all allows is for us to spend more of our time in legitimate refreshment, the legitimate occupations of life, the claims of civil duty, and the exercise of kindly aid and charity. I commend the excellence of Freemasonry to you.
At this time and for all times, I encourage you to consider the circumstance of others. Please remember to check on each other and lend a hand when a brother or his family are in poor health or indifferent circumstances.
Please pause and remember those who are no longer with us and offer support to their widows and families should they need it, and in this regard, may I ask that you especially remember Dr Yvonne McIntyre, who made a magnificent contribution through her many years of hands-on support to the administration of this Grand Lodge, the Editorial Committee of Freemason magazine, the Freemasons Association, and to the support of our veterans and widows in particular. The plaques on the wall opposite the Roll of Honour will be Yvonne’s lasting memorial in this place.
I ask that you reflect on the great service and contribution made by our past Grand Masters and, on your behalf, I thank them for their ongoing commitment to this Grand Lodge and I wish them the best in health and lifestyle outcomes.
Similarly, I ask that you might reflect on the wonderful service made by many past and present senior Grand Lodge Officers and others near and dear to us.
Brethren, please continue to care for each other, your community and especially your families.
And finally, brethren, we are living through a very interesting part of our history with COVID and other environmental and social world problems challenging our way of life, but one thing will never change – Freemasonry, as a way of life, and with its fundamental principles of brotherly love, relief and truth, will continue to uphold its high ideals and practices, and inspire all men.
So Mote it Be.
June Quiz
Test Your Knowledge with these brain-teasers:
1 What are the three largest oceans in the world?
2 A Lyre bird is depicted on which
Australian coin?
3 What number is represented by the
Roman numerals LXX?
4 The culinary term meringue entered
English from which language? 5 What type of living creature is a guppy? 6 What people are known as the “thin blue line?”
7 Tennis champion Lleyton Hewitt was born and raised in which
Australian capital city? 8 Lee Kuan Yew was a long term leader in which Asian country? 9 A standard deck of playing cards has how many cards in each suit? 10 What fruit was previously known as the Chinese gooseberry? 11 Nairobi is the capital of which
African nation?
12 Which four films did Pierce Brosnan star in as James Bond (Agent 007)? 13 The Australian outback town of
Birdsville is located in which State/
Territory? 14 Which historical figure was told to
“Beware the Ides of March?”
15 What is the longest distance athletics race in the Summer Olympics? 16 Who was the first person to appear on a postage stamp? 17 If you were born on Australia Day, what would be your star sign? 18 What fruit was once known as the
“love apple?” 19 Amber fluid is an Australian nickname for what?
20 What are the first names of the two Abba girl singers?
Check your answers on page 44!
Profile of a
masonic Prince
Freemasons were deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Prince Philip and extended their sincere condolences to Her Majesty the Queen and the royal family.
His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh started his life in Freemasonry in 1952, at the age of 31. He was initiated into
Navy Lodge, No 2612, on 5 December.
On 6 March 1953, HRH Prince Philip was Passed the Second Degree before being Raised to the Sublime Degree of a Master Mason on 4 May 1953. The
United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE) issued his Grand Lodge Certificate on 7 May that same year and he was a member for the rest of his life.
The Duke of Edinburgh was born in
Corfu on 10 June 1921, the only son of
Prince Andrew of Greece and Princess
Alice of Battenberg. He therefore also held the title Prince of Greece and
Denmark.
Prince Philip joined the Royal Navy as a cadet in 1939, following in the footsteps of his grandfather, Prince Louis, who was Admiral of the Fleet and First Sea Lord. He had a long and successful career in the Navy and rose to the rank of Commander.
Prince Philip was also a qualified pilot and was the first member of the
Prince Philip on a 1951 tour of Canada
Photo courtesy of BiblioArchives
Royal Family ever to fly out of Buckingham Palace in a helicopter.
The Duke of Edinburgh was known to drop into meetings at his Freemasons lodge almost unannounced. Navy Lodge has a storied past and an amazing roster of luminaries appear upon its membership roll. The lodge prides itself on being the premier Naval Lodge in the world, with an unparalleled history that includes four monarchs as past members – King Edward VII, King Edward VIII, King George VI and King George II of the Hellenes.
The Duke of Edinburgh was patron or president of some 800 organisations with special interests in scientific and
Philip served aboard HMS Valiant in 1943 during the Battle of the Mediterranean
technological research and development, the encouragement of sport, the welfare of young people, and conservation and the environment.
Freemasons can also count other members of the Royal Family among their number, including HRH the Duke of Kent, who is the longest-serving Grand Master of the UGLE.
As well as members of the Royal Family, Navy Lodge can proudly name three winners of the Victoria Cross among its past and present members; numerous Admirals, Generals, ViceAdmirals and Senior Officers; as well as other notables such as Sir Ernest Shackleton, Robert Scott – known as ‘Scott of the Antarctic’ – and many more.
Elsewhere, there is also a Duke of Edinburgh Lodge, No 1182, Liverpool, which was issued a warrant on 2 July 1867 and was consecrated on 1 August 1867. The lodge was named after Prince Alfred Ernest Albert, who was then Duke of Edinburgh. He was born on 6 August 1844, the second son of Queen Victoria.
In addition, there is a Duke of Edinburgh Lodge in London, No 1259, which was consecrated on 4 May 1869. The lodge was also named after Prince Alfred Ernest Albert, who became Duke of Edinburgh in 1866.
Prince Philip with Queen Elizabeth II during the Trooping the Colour parade on 13 June 2015 in London
...was also a qualified pilot and was the first member of the Royal Family ever to fly out of Buckingham Palace in a helicopter. Condolences to the
Royal Family
Please accept our deepest sympathies on the passing of His Royal Highness, Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh.
We are all greatly saddened by the passing of Prince Philip, and while many of us can claim to have had some personal friendship with the Duke through a working relationship, and some just as an admirer and friend from time to time, we have all been touched at some time by his dignified grace and unbridled commitment to one or other of the causes he has represented.
We have all been touched by his life of dignified service, and this will surely stand as a lasting memory of hope to all of us. His caring, his courage, his inspiration, and particularly his nurturing of our younger generation, will always be an example to us. Above all. his selfless service to Her Majesty the Queen, the Commonwealth, and our aspirations, will long live strong in our hearts.
We acknowledge his extraordinary achievements over so many years with a respectful reverence and awe, and as Brothers, we acknowledge that he has ‘lived respected, and died regretted.’
It would be appreciated if our deepest sympathies could be passed to Her Majesty the Queen, and all the Royal Family, at this most sad and difficult time.
Derek J Robson AM
Grand Master United Grand Lodge of NSW and ACT
The above letter was sent by the Grand Master to the Private Secretary of His Royal Highness, the Duke of Edinburgh on 12 April 2012. See page 27 for the reply.
