I received a  letter from the Archbishop, appealing for Catholic religion teachers:

The letter can be downloaded here:

Archbishop’s letter

If you are interested, you can contact M. Zeiden directly.

Fr Ed

The annual Messe du Peuple de Dieu will take place on Sunday 17th April in the cathedral at 10:30 — all the linguistic communities are invited to celebrate together with the archbishop. Consequently there will be no 11:15 Mass at St Alphonse on this day. The 10:00 Mass in French will be celebrated as usual.

Fr Ed

We have a great team of altar servers (numbering 20 at the moment) who serve regularly with energy and enthusiasm. It is important we rehearse from time to time, and learn more about the meaning behind how we serve at the altar; it’s important to that we work together as a team, helping each other, understanding each other and learning from each other. This is why from time to time we meet to learn and to share. Our next rehearsal is on Saturday 16th April at 11:00 in the church, followed by pizza (parents welcome!).

Please, parents of servers, make every effort to ensure that your children come on Saturday 16th — our team is already good, and together we can become even better!

Fr Ed

When I first arrived in Luxembourg, I was invited to attend a symposium (a grand name for meeting!) for priests serving in English-speaking parishes in Europe. I wasn’t able to attend at the time, but happily accepted the invitation to attend the next symposium to be held in Madrid. I arrived in Madrid not quite sure what to expect, hoping and praying it wouldn’t just be just an academic exchange. I needn’t have worried. Our host, Fr Ron (Madrid) made us most welcome, and helped set the informal, fraternal tone. The convenor and organiser in general, Fr Sjaak (The Hague) was accompanied by Deacon Paul, who minister together; Fr Kevin (Vienna), Fr Urs (Zug, Switzerland), Fr Aidan (Paris) and myself made up the group. Apologies had been received from colleagues who couldn’t attend.

It was very encouraging, informative, and inspirational to hear the stories of other English-speaking Catholic communities in Europe (I have stolen so many ideas!). It quickly emerged that we all share common issues:

• How to maintain our Anglophone identity, yet be welcoming to all who attend our Masses and events
• How to foster and maintain good relations with neighbouring diocesan parishes and with the diocese itself, respecting cultural differences
• How we fulfil our missionary role, reaching out to those who are not members of our community (including tourists)
• How we manage our social outreach (ministry with and to refugees was an important concern here, as was ministry to and with people struggling financially.
• How to achieve good practice regarding, for example, Safeguarding.
• How to ensure support and mutual encouragement for each other

I have come away from this meeting enriched by what I have learned, but even more so by the encounter with my brother priests and deacon who are ministering with faith, commitment and enthusiasm. Our next meeting is scheduled for 2018 in Paris (with Luxembourg as Plan B just in case!)

Fr Ed

Here is the group, with links to parish websites: L-R, Fr Ed, Deacon Paul Falke, Fr Sjaak de Boer, Fr Urs Steiner, Fr Kevin Soars, Fr Aidan Troy, Fr Ron Ochylskin.

You had to be there to see how beautifully the church was decorated during Holy Week and Easter — but the next best thing is this selection of photos taken by Agata Capik, a regular at St Alphonse. They show the Passover Table in front of the altar on Holy Thursday; the Cross, the crucifix for the Veneration of the Cross, and the stripped altar for Good Friday; Baskets to be blessed on Holy Saturday morning; The Resurrection Cross and Easter Garden for the Vigil of Easter and Easter Sunday.