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June Meeting. We will meet at 7pm on Friday 25th June in St Matthews church, Page. Note that this is an hour earlier than our usual meeting time. Fr Alan Hartcher ofm (Regional Spiritual Assistant), Fr Vjeko (Eddie) Tomic ofm and Fr Hilton Roberts (Parish Priest) will concelebrate a Votive Mass of Saint Francis during which Elizabeth and Rex will make their professions in accordance with the Ritual. The occasion will be advertised in Belconnen region Parish bulletins and was given publicity by the Catholic Voice. You may care to invite family and friends to this special occasion. Afterwards we propose sharing a bought-in meal of Pizzas in Marian Hall.
July Meeting. On 23 July, Hélène will lead us to consider Aspects of "God is Love". Br Jim Cronly ofm Cap plans to be with us.
May Meeting. Sylvia gave us a very interesting and well-researched talk on God the Father of Mercy. Sylvia's notes on her talk are a reminder to those who were present and of benefit of those who could not be there.
Martin circulated a postcard of Our Lady of the Roses which Hélène had sent us after visiting the Alnmouth Friary, Northumberland UK for afternoon tea and Vespers.
Fr Carl Schafer ofm introduced himself as National Spiritual Assistant to the SFO in Oceania. He was back in Australia after 24 years away. He had 12 years in Rome as the OFM General Assistant to the Secular Franciscan Order and 2 years helping the General Assistant. He has subsequently sent us a letter, telling us more of his background.
In his role as National Spiritual Assistant, he is looking for a permanent Spiritual Assistant to our Fraternity. Because we were founded by the OFMs, they have a responsibility to provide an Assistant. He had visited Fr Eddie, who has been ordained 5 years but has not been in Australia long and is still trying to accommodate the Australian approach. Fr Carl advised that Fr Eddie does not feel he is the man to be our Spiritual Assistant but is very open to the idea of providing a recognisable Franciscan Centre for Canberra.
Fr Carl suggested that we might consider the vision that we, as a Fraternity, could look upon the Croatian Franciscan's church as a Franciscan Centre. We could associate ourselves more closely with their setup and possibly:
Hélène sent us the following message from Austria:
Hi from Innsbruck. Our trip is going very well seeing family and friends, visiting museums, Franciscan monasteries near Lake Garda in Italy and north of Newcastle in England. Eric is very patient. Will be thinking of you all on Friday. Have a good meeting and give my love to all present. Pax et bonum, Helene
Hélène is now back in Australia and expects to be at the Professions on June 25.
She wrote: I read with great interest ... Martin's contribution on the Sacrament of Penance. This brings me to a book I read while overseas: Father Melancholy's Daughter by Gail Goodwin. I found the book engrossing with a lot of food for thought. One is a definition of sin and I quote Sin is a "falling short from your totality. Choosing to live in ways you know interfere with the harmony of the totality".
Fr Eugene Teglia ofm wrote on May 14 from Lumi, Sanduan Province, PNG:
As regards our SFO's life here in PNG, we're still struggling to get it standing on its own feet and ... walk! Even though the Friars have been out here for the last 50 years, it's only in the last few years that some of us have deemed it important to foster the Third Branch of the Franciscan Family, now that the Laity has been giving so much impetus in the Life of the Church. PEACE and ALL GOOD to you, Hélène and all the other members of your Fraternity there in Canberra. Maybe next year, previous to my home leave to Italy, I'll have a chance to see you again, if God wills!
Regional Newsletter. Sandie Tilley, the Regional Minister, is seeking material for the next St Clare Region newsletter. Can you make a contribution?
Jeremy Turanec his wife Maria and daughter Michaela did get to Burrinjuck for the June long weekend. However it was so cold in the huts on the first night, that they could not sleep and next morning Maria felt unwell. They returned immediately to Sydney and we did not get to meet them. They did at least see their first kangaroos and also some parrots.
Twinned Fraternity. The St Francis Fraternity in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada has kindly sent us their May and June newsletters, which will be available for circulation at meetings. You will notice that they are praying for Kathy. Perhaps you could find room for their sick members in your prayers.
Franciscan Books. As he promised, Fr Carl sent us a list of books, which can be obtained through:
Barry Blake sfo,
11/24 Mount Street
Coogee NSW 2034
Tel: (02) 9665 2429
Fax: (02) 9665 2709
Library. Members are asked to donate or loan books with a Franciscan theme to the Fraternity Library. A list of Library holdings will be compiled.
Prayers. Please remember to pray for vocations:
Gracious God, we pray that men and women might respond generously to Your call to ministry in the Church; --- And may You increase our Franciscan community by calling those dedicated to penance and the Gospel life.
Next Council Meeting. 8pm Monday 12 July at Hélène's place.
Input for the Canberra Franciscan and requests to Jack Smith: phone 61-2-62583824 fax 61-2-62583151 jacksmth@ozemail.com.au