As you may know from announcements in church over the past couple of weeks, I have been in Ireland at my parents’ home. With my dad, mum’s sister Mary, my sisters and their families, I was privileged to be with my mum for her final hours, her passing, her resting in the house, and her funeral and burial.

Mum’s passing (which none of us were looking forward to, for obvious reasons), was beautiful; we prayed, sang hymns, played music, then prayed some more; when mum breathed her last, we were all holding her. Then we all experienced a feeling of peace—and joy: a feeling which was evident in the days that followed, and which has remained with us.

In my absence, Fr Rodrigo celebrated our Masses and did so much more: sincere thanks to him; deep thanks also to all members of our parish who stepped in for organise, chauffeur, re-arrange events etc whilst I was away. It was a great comfort to me to know that our community can organise itself to such a degree, and that people can be so generous with their time and energy when needed.

I am now happily back in Luxembourg, trying to catch up with everything, and normal service will be resumed as soon as possible!

Thank you for your support and your prayers during this time.

Fr Ed