2nd Sunday of Advent Year B

READINGS
First reading  Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11 Isaiah prophesies that the coming of the Messiah will bring consolation and peace.

Second reading  2 Peter 3:8-14 Like Isaiah, Peter awaits the return of the Lord; what we hope for necessarily affects how we live.

Gospel  Mark 1:1-8 John the Baptist announces the imminent coming of the Lord

MUSIC

The music may be found here.

Especially in our prayers — those who have died recently: Jacques Browne; Jeff Rohen (father of Michele Rohen-Foley; Sir John Mason; Rex Garton; Joseph Carroll;

Those whose anniversaries we keep, and whose memory we honour: Brigid Blake (mother of Denise Blake).

We remember them, and all the faithful departed; may they rest in peace. Amen.

Fr Ed

From Monday 8 December until Wednesday 10 December inclusive there will be no electricity in St Alphonse church, couvent or parish meeting rooms. This is a result of the restructuration work in the couvent, the engineers trying to disentangle the various power supplies to different parts of the plant. Because of this, regrettably, the church will be closed Monday-Wednesday inclusive, and there will be no Masses celebrated. If we can source a gas heater, scheduled parish meetings will be able to take place as planned. Updates will be posted here and announced at weekend Masses. Thank you for your patience.

Fr Ed

We have just received notification that the church, couvent and parish meeting rooms (former scout building) will be without electricity Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday next week, 8-10 December. We could continue to use the meeting room (e.g. for our Meditation meeting, music rehearsals) if we had a gas-cylinder heater (in UK known as Calor-gas, not sure of other local names). If you could lend such a heater to the parish for the few days, I would be very grateful if you would let me know. Thanks,

Fr Ed

Our two recent sales of winter clothes raised over €430 for the mission in Garango. Clothes which remained after the sales have been distributed to various organisations who will distribute them to those in need. Many thanks to Annette, Nicky, Gerri, Marcella and friends for their time and energy in organising these events.

Fr Ed

Homily preached at St Alphonse Saturday 30th November 2014

Several requests have been made over the course of my time in Luxembourg for copies of the weekly homily; this has posed me with a challenge: I do not preach from a printed text. I am willing, however, to trial making a recording of  the weekly homily available on the parish website. If it proves worthwhile (i.e. more than, say, a dozen downloads each week) and profitable (those who download the homily actually find it useful) then I am willing to continue the experiment. Please feel free to offer feedback on the idea. Aware that I might be making a rod for my own back here, I must state at the outset that I am unable to enter into sustained dialogue/debate online about the content of what I preach.

An archive of homilies since September 2014 will be made available if there is sufficient demand.

Fr Ed