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February Meeting. The meeting will be at 8pm on Friday 26th February in Marian Hall, Stutchbury Street, Page. Loui and Cec will lead us in discussion of a programme for our Ongoing Formation in 1999, the year of God the Father in preparation for the Great Jubilee 2000. Preparation material was advised in our December issue.
Annual Retreat. We are looking forward to your company during our annual retreat from Friday, 19 March 1999 to Sunday, 21 March 1999 at St Joseph's House of Prayer, Taralga Road, Kenmore, Goulburn. A map (9.7kB) is available. As last year, we gather on Friday after the evening meal at about 7:30 and we will leave after the midday meal on Sunday. We plan to say Evening and Morning Prayer together. Cec has asked Fr Pat if he would say Mass for us on Saturday and Sunday; provide two talks on Saturday and one on Sunday and provide opportunities for confession over the week end.
The cost will be $80 and it would be helpful if you could give this to Hélène when you arrive.
April Meeting. For our meeting at 8pm on Friday April 23rd, Fr John Rate msc is no longer available. He is now a member of the MSC's provincial council and is also celebrating a Nuptial Mass in Sydney on Saturday 24th .
Social Function. On Thursday 7 January, Hélène and Jack met Jeremy Turanec sfo, who has migrated to Australia, on his arrival at Mascot Airport. On Saturday 16 January, Hélène and Eric hosted a shared dinner of the Fraternity Council to welcome Jeremy who had come to Canberra for the weekend. Jeremy had some interesting observations on the Secular Franciscan Order in Slovakia, some of which are similar to our experience in Australia too. For example:
Jeremy is living in temporary accommodation; a house attached to the Slovak community’s church in Lidcombe. He hopes to get a flat in Rockdale.
He is working hard at trying to find a job. It is interesting to note that he has found Centrelink very helpful and their facilities for preparing job applications, copying his resume and telephoning potential employers have been very useful. In the meantime, he is working as an Optus "merchandiser" (door-to-door selling) from 10:30am to 8pm each day.
His wife, Maria, and daughter Michaela are scheduled to arrive in Sydney on Thursday 4 March.
Fr Alban. This should really be titled "The life and death adventures of Alban". On his way back to Sydney from our Day of Reflection, Fr Alban dozed off at the wheel and ran off the road. Fr Alban was not seriously injured. He was treated at Goulburn Hospital and allowed to go but the car was damaged.
When driving to Brisbane as a result of his transfer, Fr Alban stayed overnight in the Foster/Tuncurry area. He had a heart attack in the night but didn't tell anyone till morning. He was taken back to Sydney by air ambulance and had bypass surgery at St Vincent's Hospital.
Fr Alban was discharged from St Vincent's Private Hospital on Thursday 18 February.
Pat's Sister. Please rejoice with Pat that her sister Shiela Murphie passed over to eternal life on Christmas Eve. Please keep Pat in your prayers as she feels this great loss.
Prayers. Please remember that we agreed to keep up our prayers for vocations to the SFO!
Levies. Levies of $30 per professed active member were due on 1 January 1999. The Regional Council will collect the $30 and forward $20 to the Oceania National Council, retaining $10 for Regional activities.
Next Council Meeting. 12:30pm Wednesday March 17 at the National Library. Meet in the foyer. Wear something green or the Leprechauns will get you.
Input for the Canberra Franciscan and requests to Jack Smith: phone 61-2-62583824 fax 61-2-62583151 jacksmth@ozemail.com.au