THE THIRD ORDER

Australian Province Newsletter Volume 11.2 - October 2011 - Page 1

Australian Province Newsletter,

THE THIRD ORDER

PNG & East Asia

Visit us on the web at www.tssf.org.au

From: Ted WithamMinister Provincial

Dear sisters and brothersIn a few weeks, Colin Fidock and Iwill meet and I will hand over toColin. I wish Colin every blessingas he takes on the role of MinisterProvincial on Advent Sunday. Iknow he will have the same strongsupport from you that I have experienced. It iswonderful to be in a position and know that peoplesupport you. I thank you for all the messages, and forthe times I have met up with you.Blessings of peace, joy and love

Some reflections on being Professed as aTertiary:A wonderful word in the New Testament is‘homologia’ which means ‘profession’. In Hebrews10:23, we are urged to ‘hold fast to the profession ofour hope without wavering, because the One whopromised is faithful.’ Earlier in Hebrews in 4:14,‘Having then a great high priest, who has passedthrough the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us holdtightly to our profession.’This time of the year some of our number come tomake Profession, and others of us renew ourProfession. We note that it is Profession of hope, andthat Jesus, the Son of God, empowers us to make thisProfession.In the three centuries following the death andresurrection of Jesus, there was an extraordinaryprocess for new believers who wanted to make thegreat Profession that they had been filled with theresurrection faith. They underwent a two or three yearpreparation called the catechumenate, which involvedlearning about the faith, attending the Eucharist

up until the Offertory, and being mentored byanother Christian into works of charity. When Eastercame after two or three years, the catechumens madetheir great Profession, their ‘homologia’ during theirbaptism by immersion in a great ceremony. Theywent down into the font naked (or dressed in a loincloth) and were robed in white when they came upout of the waters.

Profession as a Tertiary does not involveimmersion baptism or even near nudity. And ofcourse you have made your great Profession in yourbaptism and confirmation. Profession as a Tertiarydoes not replace baptism, but in it you effectivelyrenew your baptismal promises. Listen to the wordsyou will say:

I, N., give myself to our Lord Jesus Christ, toserve him for the rest of my life in company with mybrothers and sisters in the Third Order of the Societyof Saint Francis, seeking to spread the knowledgeand love of Christ, to promote the spirit of love andharmony as the family of God and to live joyfully alife of simplicity and humble service after theexample of Saint Francis.

A big Profession indeed; a public statementof an earnest and passionate response to a call fromGod.Don’t under-estimate the power of this renewal. Afriend of ours years ago had a charismaticexperience, and he asked his fairly conservativeparish priest if he could be baptised again. The priestanswered, correctly, ‘No.’ And our friend keptasking. The priest could not give any other answer.Then the parish had its first Easter Vigil includingthe renewal of baptismal vows. Our friend wasecstatic, “It’s happened, it’s happened!” he shoutedexcitedly, “I’ve been baptised again.”

Stigmata/Francistide Edition


I hope that your great Profession capturessome of that same excitement.The preparation for your Profession has beensimilar to the catechumenate. You have met for twoor three years with a mentor. The NoviceCounsellor has helped you reflect on thisFranciscan way. She or he invited you to find waysof expressing Franciscan spirituality in prayer andaction.The catechumenate has a number of othercharacteristics worth mentioning. One was that ifcatechumens were martyred before they werebaptised, they were considered to have beenbaptised in their blood. It is my personal belief (notin the statutes at all!) that Novices who die shouldbe considered full Tertiaries, but in any case, thecomparison expresses something that yourProfession says about the claim that Christ ismaking on your life and death and beyond.Catechumens were also kept from the mysteries ofthe Eucharist, until the night of their baptism, whenthey received their First Communion. Then in themonths after Easter they continued their learningabout the Christian faith. Now it was no longercalled the catechumenate, but the mystagogy – theteaching about the mysteries.After your great Profession you continue to meetwith your Novice Counsellor for another 12 monthsto reflect more deeply on what it is to be aFranciscan Christian. This is your mystagogy –although I doubt anyone will actually call it that.There are no secrets to learn, as there were for thecatechumens in the Early Church but it is areminder that the Franciscan Way is not somethingto be learned in a few months or a couple of shortyears. You will continue to discover depths in it asyou walk in it.Rae and I were professed 28 years ago. We wereseeking an expression of community in ourChristian way, and we began as Franciscans byseeking out people. But our mystagogy hasincluded falling in love with Francis and Clare andmany other Franciscan saints. For me in particular,as one who enjoys theology, it has been a joy todiscover the Franciscan intellectual tradition fromBonaventure to Duns Scotus to Ilia Delio.But you will discover different things than I have,maybe new depths in social activism; maybe newcourage for evangelism; maybe new springs forcommunity – they are all there to discoverfollowing the great Profession.So remember how the writer encouraged theHebrews:

• Firstly, to make the great Profession in hope,in Christian hope, in the great hope that therealways lies before us more joy, more love,more delight in trusting than we haveexperienced so far; and

• Secondly, that Jesus, the Son of God, our greatHigh Priest is both the energy and thedestination of our Christian life.

Your great Profession is that Jesus will alwaysempower you as you seek to serve him in love,humility and joy.

Retreat – Queensland A-The Table Spread –By: Nell Weir

The Retreat began on Friday evening, 3 June at6 pm with the evening meal. Evening Prayerfollowed, including The Obedience Prayer, readingJohn 20: 19-23, Jesus appears to the Disciples. OurRetreat leader, the Revd. Dr. Helen Granowski,Provincial Chaplain, explained the format for theRetreat. It would be basically a silent retreat, withsharing times at meals.

Saturday morning began with breakfast,followed by morning Prayer, with reading Luke 10:38-42, Jesus visits Martha and Mary.We all shared the Eucharist at 11am with the Gospelreading John 16 in which Jesus explains to theDisciples what is to come, the work of the Holy Spirit,and how sorrow will turn into joy. The Service wasenhanced with music from Taize.After lunch, Revd Helen had time set aside forSpiritual Direction, if needed by participants.At 4 pm we came together for another presentation byRevd Helen based on the story of Zacchaeus in Luke19: 1-10.Each Gospel story was followed by Revd Helenreading a reflection similar to Lectio Divina, bringingthe story alive, to let it sink in and speak personally tous. Each reflection included appropriate hymns.At Evening Prayer Revd Helen anointed Lavinia, whowas mourning the loss of a dear friend.Our Spouses came to share the evening meal with us,and stayed for Compline.

Sunday morning, after breakfast the Eucharistwas celebrated, during which Ivan McCulloch wasnoviced by Revd Helen.

The venue for our Retreat was The House ofPrayer and Spirituality, belonging to the CatholicDiocese of Townsville. It is an “Oasis of Stillness andQuiet in the midst of a busy world”.


Profession at Carcoar (Diocese of Bathurst)

By: Rev. John Gibson

In the context of the Eucharist on the feast of theBirth of John the Baptist [24th June 2011] at StPaul’s Church, Carcoar [Diocese of Bathurst],Frances Hansen from Orange and Clare White fromStuart Town made their profession in the ThirdOrder. Both were noviced together on 16th June2009 and they were delighted to make theirprofession together. Lee Steele presented them to FrJohn Gibson, the Regional Minister for NSW B.The Rev’d Anastasia Webster -Hawes, Rector of theParish of Blayney was the Celebrant of theEucharist and the proceedings of the evening wascarried out in the context of much joy andthankfulness to God.

In his homily Fr John made reference to how StJohn the Baptist calling people to justice as thefoundation for a good and peaceful world and howthis was a message for us to turn our hearts incompassion towards each other. In keeping with ourFranciscan daily readings from days 7 to 9 of eachmonth, this included in the name of Christ breakingdown barriers, reflecting the openness to all whichwas characteristic of Jesus and seeing others asbelonging to God and not as a means of self-fulfilment. As John the Baptist pointed people not tohimself but to Jesus Christ who is our Lord andSaviour, Frances and Clare were encouraged tocontinue to be sign posts pointing to our Lord thosewhom they come into contact with. Fr John askedwhat will sustain and strengthen our resolve? It wasby remembering that we belong to a religious

community at the heart of which is our prayer liferealising how widespread and diverse a family weare. Being able to get to Third Order gatherings arean encouragement and help build us up in the realitythat we are a community. The reality is that theopportunities to get to gatherings varies for each ofus and hence the centrality of the CommunityObedience. Fr John concluded his homily by reading“Francis’ prayer for the day” which was his prayer forFrances and Clare on this day of their profession.

Celebrations continued over supper at the ‘ShalomHouse of Prayer’ and a great time of fellowshipensued.

F r a n c i sBy: Anne Kotze

Little, brown-clad lark of GodCrouching low on the cold, damp sod.But, springing high with joy, to raiseLiquid songs of love and praise.

Eagle man, high, higher soaringHeld by the breath of God, adoring.Wide-spread wings in full Christ-Light,While earth-bound souls lie tombed innight.

community at the heart of which is our prayer lifeembodied in The Community Obedience and

C H R IS T I SChrist the Good shepherd, seekAll who are lost, all who are weak.Christ, Israel’s fruitful Vine,Around each heart your love entwine.Christ, the Gateway and the door,Give us life for ever more.Christ, the Water flowing free,Refresh us for Eternity.Christ, show us yourself The way,That we may follow you always.Christ, may we see you in the Light,Banish from us the dreadful night.Christ, feed us, Jesus the Bread,That you may raise us from the dead.Christ, Resurrection for all to see,Surround us through Eternity. Amen.

A Celtic type Prayer - From “Power Lines”By: Fr. David Adam of Holy Island fame.


The Shadow-SelfBy: Terry Gatfield

In the last edition of the3rd Order FranciscanNewsletter I wrote an articleabout Benson’s encounter withhis shadow-self during his Santiago de CompostellaPilgrimage. It was somewhat biographical. I have beencalled by one Franciscan Brother to take up the quillagain and extend the concept a little further for thosewho have not thought or read much about the shadow-self.

The idea of the shadow-self has been bestexpressed by the Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalystCarl Jung – usually pronounced with a Y and not a J.He was born in 1875 and died 1961. His father was apoor rural pastor in Switzerland whilst his motheremerged from a wealthier family. Jung is consideredthe first modern psychiatrist to view the human psycheas “by nature religious” and he made it the focus of hisexploration. His contribution to Christian thought andspirituality has been enormous, especially in the areasof understanding the soul, the unconscious, archetypes,dreams and the persona. His extensive work onpersonality paved the way for the famous MBTIpersonality inventory. My thoughts are that there is awonderful harmony with his conceptualisations andFranciscan Spirituality that is far richer and deeper thanany other psychologist of any age. However, this isseldom broadcast. Notwithstanding his fantastic andrich deep repertoire of insights this short article isdirected to the shadow-self.

The shadow-self personifies everything that werefuse to acknowledge about ourselves; it represents atight passage or a narrow door, whose painfulconstriction no one is spared. If and when an individualmakes an attempt to see their shadow, they becomeaware of, and perhaps even ashamed of, those qualitiesand impulses and they often face personal denial.However the shadow-self is often more clearly seen inothers. Examples of the shadows that are often citedare egotism, mental laziness, sloppiness, unrealfantasies, schemes, carelessness, cowardice, inordinatelove of money and possessions.

The shadow-self begins building the day we areborn and will exist until the day we die. It grows eachtime we dwell on negativity. It is our opposite andbecomes an opposition. It will gain power when wedeny its existence, and it may attempt to dominate andcontrol our lives. You cannot approach the shadow-self with the idea of destroying it, as it is an important

part of us and is of value on our journey. By confrontingthe shadow-self we will learn to channel its positiveand helpful energies. On the dark side the shadow-self is often what sabotages our relationships, jobs, anddenies our spirit: it keeps us from realizing our destinyand dreams. It is what we sweep under the rug. It getsburied and repressed into our deep unconscious self.The shadow is what we don’t want to be. It seemshorrible to feed our greatest fears and we dread thatsomeone might discover our dark shameful secrets.This further represses it. Hiding what is inside givesthe shadow-self power because we don’t have thepower to choose. We just react. It shows itself throughprojecting our judgement on others. What we don’town about ourselves we project onto other people.When we don’t own an aspect of our life it has thepotential to become destructive. Some would even saywe are pathological liars when it comes to looking atour internal feelings. Since we can’t find the offendingspirit within, the only way we can see those qualitiesis in others.

It is helpful to consider that other people mirrorback our hidden emotions and feelings. To manifestour full potential we have to claim those parts ofourselves that we have denied, hidden or given awayto others to act out for us. If we keep attracting peoplewith similar qualities or traits in our life it is to showus what aspects we often disown in yourself. This givesus an opportunity to recognize the shadow-self and toreclaim it for the positive.

The pain of our perceived flaws compels usto cover them up. We often over-compensate byacting out the opposite. What we don’t want to faceoften is the drive and motivation to do somethingdifferent. When we see someone doing somethingwe don’t like we get angry with them and judgethem as bad. However, if we really looked andthought about it we might discover that we wouldhave the same reaction. Discovering thiscompassionate empathy for the person releases ourjudgement.

Each part of us we don’t like should be seenas a gift in appropriate situations. When we embracea quality within ourselves then people with the samequality can no longer align with us with the sameattitude. This frees us to truly experience ourselvesand we are free to experience them. To truly loveself, and to see ourselves as God loves us, we mustget our negative emotions out of the way. If we ownhatred and evil in ourselves we wouldn’t need toproject it onto another person. Compassion heals andreveals our true essence to evolve spirit in action.


I am not fond of quoting high profilepersonalities, or pop psychologists, but Oprah Winfreysaid “Instead of holding on to resentments learn fromthem. Turn wounds into wisdom. See how the woundshave benefited you. Where they lead you. How doesholding onto the wounds keep you from filling yourdreams?”

As Franciscans we come with a very privilegedset of understandings. Franciscans are encouraged toengage in deep soul work through prayer andcontemplation; we belong to a fraternity that takesseriously the scriptures; we have a huge heritage ofBrothers and Sisters that have passed down theirwisdom through the centuries including manycontemporaries such as Rohr, Delio, Crosby andNiemier. Finally, we have a founder that withoutnaming it, understood and identified his shadow-selfand reclaimed it for the glory and purposes of God.

Take time to get to know your shadow-self asJung said ‘it is 95% pure gold’.

Before we close let’s revisit Benson’s story.Benson’s shadow-self was a relentless angry criticaland all consuming monster. He was angry about theinjustices wrought by people, politics, institutions, andespecially, the church. This was his shadow-self.Through the pilgrimage encounter he discoveredtreasure. The realisation of a sense of national andinternational justice, an ear and a heart for truth and anability to see things past the superficial; unearthed inthe positive. Energy was released to see things thatwere immensely complex and simultaneouslyconfusing. Through the injustices and hurts he foundhe could now not only understand but master,communicate and creatively set about reconciliationwithin himself, and himself with the world. The shadowhad become a servant. He had discovered thealchemist’s dream – Gold.

It was just on twenty years ago whenMargaret and I first became the proudowners of the Franciscan Office Book.Mine is now completely worn out, soyesterday I started to use Margaret’scopy. I was overwhelmed with joywhen I found on the inside back cover,written in her own handwriting, thefollowing words:

I HAVE PEACE I AM STRONG I FEEL GREAT I WILL BE FREE

Margaret may have read themsomewhere, or heard them spoken bysomebody. (If any of you know thesource, please let me know). She mayhave even written them herself. Theydo reflect her open robust Franciscanspirituality. “I FEEL GREAT” isMargaret to a “t” (but I don’t knowhow to spell that word).

A Franciscan SurpriseBy: Rt. Rev Robert Butterss

As the “former” communications person forAnglicans globally I say without any hesitation thatthe face, voice and heart of our tradition is seen mostfully in our beloved Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Iunderstand it is his 80th birthday. Can I urge, beg,admonish everyone everywhere to send him agreeting of thanks and praise for all he is, in Christ,for us. May he live forever. PLEASE SPREAD THEWORD EVERYWHERE. He deserves all theattention and thanks we can muster..please...Fr JimFROM SOUTHERN AFRICADear Fr Jim RosenthalBir thday greetings to Ar chbishop Desmond maybe sent to: [email protected]

Archbishop Desmond TutuBirthday Wishes


Pax et bonum – peace and goodBy: Wayne Philpand David McAvenna

“Pax et bonum” – “peace andgood”. That’s exactly what the recentcombined silent retreat by the SouthAustralian chapters of The Communityof Ss. Barnabas and Cecilia (CBSC) andthe Third Order of the Society of SaintFrancis (TSSF) was all about. Peace andgood!

The retreat was held over theweekend of the 9-11 September 2011 at“Camp Willochra” nestled beside MtRemarkable of the Flinders Ranges atMelrose, South Australia (about 3 hrsdrive north of Adelaide). The silent retreat was led byBrother Wayne of the Little Brothers of Francis (LBF),who had travelled from his hermitage at Tabulam(NSW) about 120 km west of Byron Bay. There arepresently only three “Little Brothers” and, because ofthe nature of their Franciscan contemplative rule andalso their individual responsibilities in sustaining theirsmall community, they each usually travel abroad onlytwice a year. So we were most blessed to have BrotherWayne as our spiritual leader and guide.

Those attending from TSSF were: Colin Fidock(Provincial Minister Elect), Joan Manners (RegionalMinister SA), Anne Kotze and Roselind Ruwoldt;novices Margaret Holt, David McAvenna and WaynePhilp; and Harry as an enquirer. It was very “good” tobe able to share this weekend together with ourcommunity (albeit only half) of friends and companionson the road to discovering and knowing God in the wakeof Saint Francis. It was also very “good” to be able tospend time and company with our brothers and sistersin Christ within the Community of Ss. Barnabas andCecilia and “good” to be able to renew our vows, asthey did also, before The Ven. Michael Hillier of theDiocese of Willochra.

All in all it was “very good”.And peaceful! As a silent retreat in reflection of

Br Wayne’s Franciscan-minded presentations, it was atime of “peace” as we considered the importance of“not having enough time”, “listening” and “priorities”in our daily lives. Although each of us surely took awaydifferent insights from the retreat, we all learnt that“peace” may be found in direct proportion to: our puttingaside enough time for prayer and study of the HolyScriptures; our listening to what God is saying to us(meaning that we stop talking and instead actively listen

to creation, others and the voice within), andour assigning daily priorities in accord with the “Willof God” (as discerned and revealed) for each of us.There are undoubtedly many other factors that makefor “peace”, but these were a good start.

“Pax et bonum” - “peace and good”. That iswhat we found at Willochra.

A personal reflection:I have endeavoured for a number of years to try andtake a silent retreat once a year. This year I havebeen blessed with two, the most recent being theMelrose retreat mentioned above. I value silence. Ienjoy silence. I enjoy being alone to reflect, prayand simply be. The retreat at Camp Willochraafforded me each of those aspects. What did Ilearn? Good question, but one I don’t like beingasked! However, that said, I made the followingnotes in my journal.

Be aware of the silence – don’t strain. Listen– pay heed to the Gospels in all things – this is whatSt Francis did – he points us to Jesus.

My life is, at times, frenetic – very busy,filled with activity such that I am always lookingfor something to do. I am surrounded with all themodern labour and time-saving devices, and yet mylabour still seems to be extensive (in part, it is thenature of my work) and as for time … well, there’snever enough!!

Brother Wayne encouraged me (us) to “drawthe distinction” between that which is central (toour lives) and that which is peripheral. To build thehouse on rock – the solid foundation, and that rockis Jesus.


The key questions that I asked myself were:Am I straining too hard? Am I listening? To whomam I listening? How am I using my time? What aremy priorities (what is central; what is peripheral)?

I don’t intend to highlight answers to thosequestions. As with past retreats, I find that the thingsI gain generally ‘travel’ with me as thoughts to ponderand consider into the future. But in one sense, thequestions are answers in themselves.

Finally, in taking my retreats, the thing I valuemost is simply the opportunity to spend time in peaceand quiet with the Giver of all good. And for me,coming back to the question, “What did I learn?”, themore important aspect is simply taking opportunityto spend time alone and in silence before the Lordand, hopefully, growing closer to Him as each yearpasses.

Pace e bene – indeed, that is what we found atWillochra.

Being BridgesThird Order Conferenceand General Chapter12 - 15 July 2012Trinity College, Parkville, MelbourneSpeakers:Michael Yore, Director of Mission and Justice,Good Shepherd Australia & NZAndrew McGowan, theological lecturer andWarden of Trinity CollegeMick Pope, lecturer in meteorology with BOM,ISCAST fellow and lay preacherBible Studies with Alan Cadwallader

To assist with numbers, could the deposit of$60 be paid by 1/8/2011 if possible.Deposit directly at any branch of BendigoBank, into BSB 633-000 A/c No 137904835A/c Name TSSF 2012, A/c branch:Castlemaine. Please include your name on bankdeposit form for identification.Alternatively, cheques or money orders (with a/c name) can be sent directly to Bishop JeremyAshton,38 Urquhart St, Castlemaine, Vic 3450. Receiptwill be sent by fax or email._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Application Form:Name/s____________________________________________________Address___________________________________________________Phone ______________________Email______________________________________________________Number of people attending ____Deposit due 1st August 2011 if possible: $60Ist Instalment due 1st October: $1002nd Instalment due 1st February 2012: $1003rd Instalment due 1st June 2012: $100Dates are guidelines only. Total Payment of $360may be made at any time and early paymentwould be most helpful.Toal Living Out cost: $165 (deposit remains $60)Please make cheque/money order out to TSSF2012Cheque/Money Order enclosed: $_________Special dietary requirements or other specialneeds:

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Franciscan & Holy Days To Note

September 17 STIGMATA OF FRANCISOctober 3 TransitusOctober 4 FRANCIS OF ASSISIOctober 11 All Franciscan SaintsNovember 23 Fr Algy SSFNovember 19 Elizabeth of HungaryDecember 1 Requiem for all departed

FranciscansDecember 25 THE NATIVITY OF OUR LORD‘Readings and other material for worship anddevotion are in the Manual - Section F’


Thoughts on Being BridgesBy: Jan Down

Through Christ, ‘God was pleased toreconcile all things to himself, everything in heavenand everything on earth, when he made peace by hisdeath on the cross’. (Col. 1:20) Or in other words,Jesus is the bridge between us and God. So we, notbeing greater than our master, are to be bridges too.

For me, this is the overarching idea for ourThird Order Conference in July 2012. Under thismain theme, there are many kinds of bridges toconsider, such as: between Jews, Christians andMuslims; between Israel and Palestine; between thepresent world of serious ecological and economicchallenges (including climate change anddiminishing oil supplies), and a possible future ofpeace and abundance; between the church andsecular society; and between Indigenous andimmigrant Australians. Some of these themes willbe explored, and others may yet emerge as we furtherdevelop the program. (We will keep you informedas we go.)

When the planning committee had just begunmeeting, Melbourne people were asked to send intheir thoughts and ideas about the theme, and DenisWoodbridge sent us these reflections:

One thought I have about ‘being bridges’comes from my love of the Latin language. Oneof the words used in Latin for ‘priest’ isPONTIFEX (English PONTIFF), whichderives from two words meaning ‘bridge-maker’. In pagan Rome the chief priest wasthe PONTIFEX MAXIMUS or ‘SupremePontiff ’. In the Latin version of the newTestament the word PONTIFEX is used ofCaiaphas, the High Priest, in John 18:24. Sincethe 5th century in the Roman Catholic Churchthe title ‘Supreme Pontiff’ has been used bythe Popes to describe their office, so the Popebecomes the chief ‘bridge-maker’. It isinteresting that this use goes back to theChristian apologist Tertullian (2nd and 3rdcentury) who used the word in a satirical wayto refer to the Bishop of Rome!

The relevance of this for us today is thatit is a central Christian belief that ALLmembers of the Church, not only those whoare ordained clergy, share in the ministry of

Amongst other thoughts sent in there was mentionof the West Gate Bridge, and of the underside of bridges.The West Gate has its history of (unintentional) sacrificein the lives lost when it collapsed during construction.It links east and west. It is a place associated withtragedy for various reasons, yet essential to Melbourne’slife.

The undersides of bridges can be dark, sad places,yet also offer shelter to the homeless.

Francis as a BridgeIn ‘The Third Order Vocation’, the old booklet

that used to be given out to Tertiaries at profession, itreads, ‘Only when we are at peace with God, reconciledto him, are we enabled to be at peace with all people’.What I understand here is that Jesus must be the bridgefor us first, before we can become bridges for others.We are called to ‘make our Lord known and lovedeverywhere; to spread the spirit of love and harmony;and to live simply’. I think that Francis exemplifiedeach of these. He was a bridge between rich and poor. Ithink especially of the story of Francis going to Matteothe nobleman’s house for dinner, where Matteo foundFrancis sitting with the beggars in the courtyard andsharing in the daily dole. In identifying himself withthe poor, in being actually poor himself, Francis madesure that any gulf created by wealth was bridged bylove. He would not allow wealth to hinder anyone fromwalking the bridge to God; most of all, Francis becamea bridge to help people meet Jesus.

I think we can also be bridges within the ThirdOrder. We are a diverse family – spread outgeographically across the country, but also different inmany ways – we are everything from evangelical orpentecostal, to Anglo-Catholic – we are every colourof the rainbow. And a rainbow is like a colourful bridge,full of hope. So perhaps through our diversity we canbe bridges to others and help to make our Lord knownand loved everywhere.

Christ as High Priest. So all of us are therefore‘pontiffs’, or ‘bridge-makers’ and the office ofmaking or being a bridge can be described interms of what a priest does.

Approximate date for Advent Newsletter will be30th November - 7th DecemberThank you to all who have contributed articlesfor the Newsletter.Pax et BonumGloria Malouf-Marsh(Newsletter Editor)email:[email protected]


Mysteries of the Internet – TSSF styleBy: David White

Firstly, a collection of TSSF websites:The Australian Province: tssf.org.auThe African Province tssf.org.zaThe Province of the Americas tssf.orgThe European Province tssf.org.ukNew Zealand Province franciscanthirdorder.godzone.net.nzThe European website has a large amount of resource material, including their formation materials.Similarly, the Province of the Americas has a number of online resources, including links to the onlineoffice, Community Obedience and Franciscan publications. There is an additional secure area for ThirdOrder documents, which needs a password. If you would like any documents from this area, I can sendcopies to you. These include the Statutes, Constitution, Principles, and a Burial Office for DepartedTertiaries. Many of these, of course, are in our own Manual.Within the province, we are increasingly using email for much of our communications. The savings incost, paper and energy make this a very Franciscan way of communicating when it is available.To assist in managing the email resources, we have set up email aliases and mailing lists. Email aliasesredirect email sent to them to the real email address of the recipient. These email addresses areespecially useful on printed documents as the documents will not need to be reprinted when the officebearers change. By having official email mailing lists, this saves you keeping mailing lists on yourcomputer, as these can easily get out of date.

The email aliases set up are:Provincial Minister [email protected] Chaplain [email protected] Secretary [email protected] Treasurer [email protected] Editor [email protected]

Regional Ministers Prayer CoordinatorsQLD A [email protected] [email protected] B [email protected] [email protected] A [email protected] [email protected] B [email protected] [email protected]/Tas [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

If you are one of these office bearers, you may wish to set up your email application to include an emailaccount for these alias addresses. That way, you can send out emails, like I do, using the title of myoffice rather than directly using my own email address. It is immediately clear to the recipient that theemail is from the Third Order.

Other addressWebsite/Other Admin [email protected]

[email protected]@tssf.org.au


Sunday Transitus of St Clare 10 August2008 (From Franciscan Readings(A reading from the Versified Life of St Clare)When Clare asked that all her sins be forgivenby him, the Pope replied, “Would that I neededsuch forgiveness.” After he had absolved her,he left her. Her hands folded towards the Lord,Clare spoke to her sisters and said, “My littlechildren, praise God, whose kindness grantedme these gifts in his goodness.” The mournfuldeparture of their mother brought them to tears– neither hunger itself nor lack of sleep relievestheir sorrow. Not night’s rest, not the delight ofdaily repast, their tears are their drink, and grieftheir food. Mourning brings down the night andday follows with an intensity of sorrow.

The Third Order mailing lists are moderated lists. This means that they are restricted so that only a fewpeople can post emails via these lists. Those who can post to the lists are typically the ProvincialMinister, the Provincial Secretary and the Regional Minister and Prayer Coordinator for the respectiveregion. Anyone else can post to the lists, but the emails are sent to the list moderator (currently theProvincial Secretary) for approval. Similarly, any emails sent out using the email lists have the name ofthe email list in the subject of the email, e.g. [tssfwa]To avoid duplication of email addresses (and possible errors), members email addresses are stored inthe email list for their region. The regional email list addresses are:

QLD A [email protected] B [email protected] A [email protected] B [email protected]/Tas [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

The regional email lists are rolled up into the provincial email list, [email protected]. This listincludes links to the regional lists above, and to the remaining overseas members.One reason for usingthese email lists is that it protects your email address, limiting the opportunity for viruses to collect itand so spread spam.There are three other email lists currently set up:

[email protected] includes all Chapter members, who can all send emailsto the rest of chapter

[email protected] includes contacts in each of the Third Order Provinces,SSF and CSF and the Bishop Protector

[email protected] can be used to send prayer requests to all the otherprayer coordinators.

Email, of course, is a tool for communication. However, it has limitations. When we talk withsomeone, less than 30% of the communication is the words. Email can only communicate the words,not the emotions, tone of voice and body language. In addition, only 50% of our members have accessto email, so we need to ensure that important information is passed on in a timely manner to thosewithout email.I hope that this information about how we are using email helps you communicate with those you needto, and helps clarify some of the mysteries of email.

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Woman of the beatitudes,truly poor in spirit: help usto use the things of thisworld with detachment andquiet trust, always awareof the loving tender face ofGod, our Creator andFather, turned towards us.

Documents

THE THIRD ORDER