April Picnic. Our next social function will be a picnic at Uriarra Crossing about midday on Sunday 19 April. From Belconnen take the Coppins Crossing Road and at its T-Junction with the Uriarra Road turn right. Follow Uriarra Road for about 10 km and then turn left on a bitumen road down to the car park. If you reach a low-level one-lane bridge over the Murrumbidgee River you’ve missed the turn and need to cross the bridge turn round and go back a few hundred metres to the find the turn-off. We’ll be somewhere in the picnic grounds under the massive Casuarina trees. From elsewhere in Canberra take the Cotter Road to the start of Uriarra Road then go down almost the whole length of the Uriarra Road and turn left onto a bitumen road to the picnic grounds. The place is shady on a hot day and out of the wind on a cooler day.

This is a bring-your-own-everything-material-you-need picnic. Wonderful companionship will be provided. It would be good if you could bring any games, footballs, frisbees etcetera.

April Meeting. The April meeting will be at 8pm on Friday 24^th at Marian Hall, Stutchbury Street, Page. Loui has kindly agreed to lead us in consideration of "The Holy Spirit in Franciscan Life". The article "Gift of the Spirit that brings us to the Father", foreshadowing the 20^th anniversary of the new Rule, contained in the February ‘Canberra Franciscan’ may be useful pre-reading.

May Meeting. Pam will lead us in consideration of "The New Evangelization".

February Meeting. Jim Cronly ofm Cap and Helen Corry sfo from Western Australia joined us. Helen had been at the National Chapter and was visiting a daughter in Canberra, one of her nine children. It was a very busy meeting.

Pam opened the meeting, having us consider a quotation from Peter Calvay, hermit, which had spoken deeply to her:

What do you think is the recipe for escaping from the moral morass we're in? Love, not our love, but God's. If we could somehow place ourselves in the way of God's love, put ourselves under the influence of his creative power, then we might he radically and permanently changed not superficially but from our innermost parts. The New Testament says this time and again. The story of Jesus is a unique and world-shaking example of what happens to a man who dares to expose himself totally to God's love. It is the story of how He is gradually possessed and the effect that this has on His life and on the life of others.

The more I steep myself in Scripture and in traditions the more clearly I see the message. Not "How do we love God?" but "How do we welcome God’s love into our lives?" How do we best position ourselves to be recipients of that love? Jesus didn't come primarily to detail the way to live, but to give us the power to do it.

Kathy and Helen reported to us on the National Elective Chapter.

Tony challenged each of us to consider what we mean by "Fraternity"; based on his own experience of 18 months ‘in the wilderness’. Frank, Elizabeth and Marta all shared deeply with us on this central issue. It was very appropriate and helpful that Tony raised this issue at the start of a penitential season. Jack and Rex pointed out that we seem to share most openly over a meal and Frank suggested that we might open a meeting by sharing a meal at the Page "Vietnam Village Inn". Br Jim reminded us that we will be known by our fruits; reading us the story of Christ cursing the unfruitful fig tree.

Br Jim gave us a presentation on the ‘Lectio Divina’ method of meditating on the Gospel and gave us a leaflet as a reminder. He suggested that we try to use this method at least once a week during Lent.

Cec managed to cram into the remaining time his very thoroughly prepared presentation on "The Year of the Holy Spirit". He pointed out that "Tertio millennio adventiente" is in the ablative absolute, a clarion call.

Cec drew our attention to five of Pope John Paul’s encyclicals and the person referred to: