Here is the schedule for the Masses and services in English this week. Please note additional services Wednesday evening and Saturday morning (all at St Alphonse unless otherwise specified)

Wednesday 01 April
Mass of Chrism 18:30 (Cathedral)

Holy Week Holy Thursday (2nd April)
Mass of the Lord’s Supper with Washing of Feet 20:30 in St Alphonse

Good Friday (3rd April)
Solemn Celebration of the Passion of the Lord 15:00.
Celebration of the Burial of the Lord  20:30 (at St Alphonse, and shared with the Anglican community)

Holy Saturday (4th April)
Morning Prayer with Blessing of Easter baskets 10:00
Easter Vigil of the Resurrection of the Lord with the Blessing of the Easter Fire, St Alphonse at 21:00 (nb. there is no Mass at 19:00)

Easter Sunday (5th April)
Mass of  Easter 11:15, St Alphonse.

Easter Monday (6th April) Mass in English & French 10:00

The Holy Week services are the Church’s best-kept secret!
Leaflet with times and a brief reflection here: Holy Week 2015.

Fr Ed

Dog needed! Bjorn, the homeless man who is often around St Alphonse, is looking for a dog. He is looking for a larger dog (rather than one of the miniature types) so that he can care for it, and it can look after him. Any ideas around this, please let me know.

Thanks,

Fr Ed

Judith Golooba of our parish has issued an appeal for mosquito nets to help prevent malaria in Malawi. Judith’s message (below) contains a link to a moving video presented by British actor Peter Capaldi, as part of the ‘Red Nose’ charity fundraising appeal. We are invited to help provide mosquito nets directly, or via donations. I commend this good cause to your generous attention. Judith can be reached by email or by phone: 691 242396.

Thank you.

Fr Ed

Judith writes:

Can you help?
I recently received an email from my father, Jack Mapanje, the Malawian poet, with this youtube link : http://youtu.be/OgsBbVbpi4g (It was a program broadcast on British television for Red Nose Day 2015)

The video is so touching and the story of Thembani so moving that I felt I had to share it with you! After watching the clip, I felt devastated for doing nothing about it.

Wouldn’t it be great if some of the Malawians who cannot afford mosquito nets in townships and villages were equipped with one, thereby preventing further unnecessary deaths? In this day and age a child should not be allowed to die of malaria!

So, this is what I have decided to do. I am going to buy as many mosquito nets as I possibly can, initially about 600 nets. I think it is a task, which is achievable; but I realize that I cannot do it alone; I need your help; can you help?

I have done some research and have realized that Amazon sell mosquito nets! (What does Amazon not sell). The prices vary. The cheapest I found was 8.99 GBP. If you were to order a mosquito net via Amazon, you could then have it delivered straight to me. (I will send you my postal address and telephone number upon request).

I will then personally travel to Malawi in the summer to deliver the mosquito nets. I will begin with some two hundred nets for selected townships and villages in the northern region, two hundred nets in the central region and two hundred nets in the south. I have contacted several friends in Malawi with whom I will actually deliver the nets to ensure that they reach the right destinations.

This is also the cheapest way to get them over there, as having about six hundred mosquito nets shipped would cost so much and would not guarantee that they would end up in the right hands! I would need transport money to travel to the north, south and central regions to deliver the nets. I realize that targeting selected villages and townships is not adequate; it is only the beginning of the provision of the help; but it is better than doing nothing; can you help please?

I plan to travel in July; so all mosquito nets need to be received by end of June.

Please pass on this email to as many people as you can. You too can help save lives in Malawi. Please do not hesitate to contact me should you have any further questions.

Many thanks in advance for the help you will provide.

Judith Golooba

This coming Sunday (29th March) we begin Holy Week with the celebration of Palm Sunday, commemorating the Lord’s entry into Jerusalem. Palms will be blessed and distributed at both Masses (Saturday 19:00 and Sunday 11:15), with an indoor procession beginning at Our Lady’s altar at the back of the church.

On Saturday night/Sunday morning, the clocks go forward 1 hour here in Luxembourg: if you forget to put your clock or watch forward, you will arrive at church an hour late — and miss most of the Mass. Spring Forward!

Fr Ed

On 16th March we had our Feast Day Mass celebrating St Patrick. Thanks are due to so many people who made the evening memorable: the choir, singing the O’Riada Mass and hymns in Irish; the musicians who provided accompaniment and moments of meditation; the dancer, who danced before the Lord at the Presentation of the Gifts; the Irish ambassador, who read (in Irish) at the Mass; Fr Eamonn, who narrated the life of St Patrick; our Eucharistic Ministers; and last, but certainly not least, those who prepared the wonderful feast of eatables and drinkables after the Mass.

It was notable that there were numerous people at the Mass who had never celebrated St Patrick before, and who were thrilled at discovering more about this great apostle of the faith — people from different countries and continents. It was indeed satisfying to see so many people attending, appreciating the efforts made in Patrick’s honour. We are already looking forward to the celebration next year.

Fr Ed