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November 1999

Secular Franciscan Order: Holy Spirit Fraternity
Canberra, Australia

COMING EVENTS

November Meeting. The meeting will be at 8pm on Friday 26th November in Marian Hall, Stutchbury Street, Page. Evening Prayer will be said. Pat will give a presentation.

Day of Recollection. will commence at 9:00 am on Saturday, 11 December 1999 at Hélène Anderson's place, 129 Springvale Drive, Weetangera. It will be led by Fr Carl Schafer, OFM. Please bring something to share for lunch. The day will close with Mass at 3:15 pm and afternoon tea.

Social. A social is to be arranged. 21 January 2000 commencing at 5:30pm at Hélène's place is suggested.

Annual Retreat. A reminder that Fr Pat Colbourne OFM Cap will give our retreat at the House of Prayer, Goulburn from Friday 24 March to Sunday 26 March 2000.

REPORTS

October Meeting. At the October meeting Fr Eddie Tomic said Mass for us. Cec Webster presented his thoughts on "Pilgrimage and Pardon". A copy of his notes is attached. He pointed out that in Vatican II there was much that was confirmed and reinforced. Some of these are:

Pope John Paul II, in his bull Incarnationis Mysterium, to all the faithful journeying towards the Third Millenium, decrees that the Great Jubilee will commence on Christmas Eve, 24 December 1999, with the opening of the Holy Door at St Peter's in Rome and will close on the feast of the Epiphany, 6 January 2001.

Among the distinctive signs of the Jubilee are the notion of pilgrimage and the indulgence. The Pope has decreed that "throughout the entire Jubilee all the faithful properly prepared, be able to make abundant use of the gift of indulgence," according to the directives which accompany the Bull.

Details of the specific works to which the Jubilee indulgence is attached are set out in the directives referred to above. (Copies of the Bull and its attachment were distributed to Fraternity members at the meeting.)

Note: In addition to St Christopher's Cathedral, the churches designated by the Archbishop as centres of pilgrimage during the Jubilee year are set out in his letter in the November issue of the Catholic Voice. They include St Benedict's Narrabundah, Saints Peter and Paul Goulburn and St Clement's Redemptorist Monastery Galong.

MESSAGES

Fr Eugene Teglia We recently received a letter from Fr Eugene Teglia OFM from PNG. You may recall his visit to us a few years ago. It was written on 5th October but didn't reach us for nearly a month. He says that he too had a triple bypass operation four years ago. He writes...

Here at Lumi, on St Francis' Day, some thirty SFO members from the two Fraternities of Lumi and Fatima gathered together for a day of recollection in preparation for the Profession of two new candidates.

On the night of the 3rd October they all attended - with the three Franciscan Friars (OFM) and three Franciscan sisters (MFIC) - the beautiful ceremony of The Transitus, when Franciscans all over the world commemorate the blessed Death of our Father Francis. Then, on Monday the 4th, we celebrated the Feast with a Mass, followed by a fraternal meal.

After days of fine weather, torrential rain poured on us during these two festive days. But we were not in the mood to complain! On the contrary, we took it as excuse for thanking the Lord for "Sister Rain" also!...

Only a few days ago I was pleased to receive another issue of the Canberra report from [Martin Morris], who took [Jack's] job in the Fraternity. I will write soon and make acquaintance with him.

In the meantime, give him my best regards and cheers, which I wish to extend to all the others in Canberra, especially my old friend and sister Hélène Anderson.

God bless you all!

Fr Alban Cec reports that he has received a post card from Frs Alban and Lucien from the Franciscan Challenge course run by the Irish Franciscan Province at St Isidore' College, Rome. After five weeks in Rome, there is a week in Assisi. There are 21 members of the Franciscan family on the course, and the lectures are excellent.

Fr Alban also reports that he paid his debt to ancestors in Tipperary, caught up with his sister in London and his niece in Cambridge.

He is in excellent health and climbed the Mount of Olives easily. He found Assisi, Mount La Verna, Subiaco and Monte Cassino beautiful.

Jack Smith It is good to know that Jack is making progress in recovery after his heart bypass surgery and is working through his Cardiac Rehabilitation program.

OTHER MATTERS

Calendars. Franciscan calendars will be available at the next meeting (26 November) at a cost of $5.00 - no credit!

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. 8.00 pm on Monday 6 December 1999 at Pam's place, 139 Kalgoorlie Crescent, Fisher.

Input for the Canberra Franciscan and requests to Jack Smith: phone 61-2-62583824 fax 61-2-62583151 jacksmth@ozemail.com.au