The move
It is one year ago this weekend that our parish community moved to St Alphonse, after over 30 years in our previous home. It’s an opportunity to pause and reflect, to celebrate the life of our parish and give thanks to God. We came to St Alphonse a year ago on a temporary basis, until the archbishop could find us a new church-base. Of course, we already held our Saturday vigil Mass here, and joined the other linguistic communities for the Messes Intercommunautaires of the Paroisse Européenne, so we weren’t arriving somewhere completely unknown. It quickly became clear that St Alphonse was more than adequate for our immediate needs, and offers many opportunities for growth to us.

What did we lose? In our previous home, we had the familiarity of many years. We had various (but not too many) opportunities for parking; we had the ‘crying chapel’ at the back of the church; we didn’t have to take any responsibility for the maintenance of the church building; we paid €50 per week to use the building, but again had little say in how our liturgical space was arranged.

Issues
This also meant we could do little to adapt the church space to our needs; We had concerns about the safety of the building (eg. the huge crack in the floor in the side entrance) which we could do nothing to remedy;  using the church outside our normal hours was difficult, and required negotiation; we always were visitors in someone else’s building.

St Alphonse
We came to St Alphonse on a temporary basis. Providentially, and entirely unrelated to our needs, the 11am Mass at St Alphonse had just been cancelled, leaving a slot free for us. We were able simply to announce a change of venue, and a slight change in our time of meeting. Equally, the choir of St Alphonse, after many, many years of service, dissolved itself, freeing up the choir room that we have found so useful for our catechesis. For the moment, we have limited access to parking, limited space for catechesis (Children’s liturgy, First Holy Communion, Marriage Preparation etc) and we have to negotiate what we can do with the church in terms of making it suitable for our large congregations.

The Blessings
We are now centre-ville, and profit by this by the fact we are accessible via the many bus routes; we profit also from the fact that we now have a considerable number of tourists who come to Mass because they happen to be passing the church when the bells announce our Masses, or because their hotels are nearby. In addition, St Alphonse has a very long and venerable tradition of serving the different language communities of Luxembourg. As the home of the the Paroisse Européenne, the church has long served the French, German and English-speaking communities. It has, for over 150 years, served the Luxembourgish-speaking community, with Confessions and Masses; and it has been the administrative base for the Dutch-speaking community. Few, if any, churches in the Grand Duchy can boast such an inclusive, culturally respective tradition.  Every day, the porterie (welcome room) at St Alphonse is staffed by Luxembourgish women and men, and the majority of confessions demanded during the week are in the Luxembourgish language. Our church is open 7 days a week, from 07h00 until 19h00, and many visitors simply drop in out of interest. It is impressive that there are always people praying within, lighting candles and donating flowers.

The challenges
Whilst being our natural home, we face several significant challenges in making our parish community home in St Alphonse. In terms of the church building, we need a space for parents and children, a safe space where parents can see the celebration of Mass, without having to worry that the activities of their children are disturbing others; we need accessible toilets, which are available all the time the church is open; we need more space for meeting, and for catechesis: whilst it is good to have coffee and tea after Mass each week, it would be even better if we had devoted space for this. Our parking facilities are not great, and are likely to be diminished in the near future. This is something, again, we must talk about. Our church is in urgent need of redecoration, and re-ordering, to meet current needs. But at least it is now our church, and we have a direct say in what we want from it, and what we can contribute to it.

The couvent/Redemptorist house
Beginning in September this year, the couvent is undergoing a major refurbishment which is likely to last 18-24 months. The refurbishment is part of a re-investment in the Redemptorist presence in Luxembourg: our General Government has identified Luxembourg as a strategically important location, and our ministry here is important and relevant in a way which meets our criteria for presence: we have a ministry to migrants; to those who wish to pray during the day; to daily and weekly Mass-goers; to the poorest, who are simply looking to talk or to receive practical aid of some sort; and finally, a ministry by which people passing by are welcomed into our church, find something of interest, and stay a while and sense something of what we are about. Part of the Redemptorist investment in St Alphonse is the commitment by the Redemptorists to send more active priests to assist in the ministry here. This is anticipated to take place after the refurbishment of the couvent.

Reminders
Our community, like any Christian community, is about people, not primarily about buildings or locations. We lived for months without guarantee for our security in any particular church: this was a useful period, causing us to reflect on where we are as a community, and where we would like to be; we have been challenged to look towards a strategy towards our future: where we might ideally be, better to serve our mission; and we have been faced with the urgent need to organise ourselves further to face our new reality. All our challenges are good: we are a growing parish, with the concomitant growing pains; we have so much to offer the wider church, especially in our archdiocese of Luxembourg, and we are better placed than ever to work with the local church, to pray with our fellow Christians, and to proclaim God’s reign to all peoples (and once again to ourselves).

Thanks
Thanks are due to so many people for the efforts that have brought us through this past year, and no naming of names would adequately cover the necessary remerciements… Catechists: those who have helped with the formation of children and young adults for the sacraments of Confirmation and First Holy Communion; those who planned and prepared couples for Catholic marriage; those who have, week by week, taken charge of the Children’s Liturgy during Sunday Mass; those who have contributed in practical ways (often overlooked): the teams who prepare the tea and coffee each Sunday; those who organise Mass cards, hymn books and Sunday leaflets each week; those who help set up the altar and Offertory table  (in the limited time we have available between the French Mass and our own) and who help clear up afterwards; the collection-counters who perform a vital, even though it be not very glamorous, task for our community. And a huge thanks to our Parish Council, who work behind the scenes constantly, to guide our parish community. Thanks too, to our altar servers, who are present faithfully week after week, to the collection-takers, who seem to get younger week-by-week, and to everyone who contributes in whatever way to the life of our community.

On a personal note, I also need to thank wise people who gently offer me advice and counsel, and nudge me when I stray. Their contribution cannot be underestimated. Whenever a mistake is avoided, or worked around, it is due to this invisible body of advisors!

I for one, and I know the entire parish is with me in this, am so proud of where we have come from, where we are, and of what we are achieving and can still achieve for the Kingdom of God.

So, one year on, thanks be to God, to our Mother of Perpetual Help, and to our entire parish!

Fr Ed