“When two or three of you meet together in my name, then I will be there with you.”

In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells his disciples that it is really easy to pray to him. When just two or three of us get together to pray – even online! – Jesus is there with us.

Just as we should do our best to make up to our friends and family when we have an argument, we should take every chance to pray to Jesus. Because that effort is worth it and Jesus will answer our prayers.

A way to pray

The universal sign of asking for something is to hold out our open hands, hoping that what we need will be given us. This is something we all do every day without even thinking about it. It is a most appropriate gesture for prayer, where it is a sign of our need of God, our dependence on God, and our expectation that God will hear us and be generous to us.

• Place your hands in your lap, open to receive.
• Think how good God is and how God loves us.
• Think of how Jesus fed people, forgave people, taught people, healed people and loved people.
• Close your eyes and ask God for what you need.
• Imagine God gently placing all good things into your open hands.
• Now say the “Our Father”, with your hands still open, in the same way as we do in Church when we return from the Children’s Liturgy.

The “Hands Open” prayer is an extract from the book “All Together: Creative Prayer with Children” by our own Fr Ed Hone and Roisín Coll: https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Ed-Hone/dp/1847301797

Click here for more information about the Children’s Liturgy online.

Fr HP is re-launching the Bible study group this month. The group will meet once a month and will start Wednesday 23 September 2020. The meeting will be in the Salle Saint Ignace at the Jesuit House, 23 Avenue Gaston Diderich (Belair). More information can be found in the leaflet below.

You do not have to attend every session but please contact the parish office in advance to enrol. The usual Covid-19 restrictions will be observed.

If you are not able to attend Mass in person this weekend, please click on the Mass sheet below for the hymns and notices.

We are reaching capacity with seats available in St Alphonse at the 11.30 Mass. Please arrive in good time for Mass and that helps the welcomers to seat people as efficiently as possible under Covid restrictions. If you arrive and the church is already full you may unfortunately be turned away – there is Mass in French at 12 noon at the cathedral. We are trying to add extra chairs where we can safely.

Alternatively the Sunday evening 18.30 Mass has more space at the moment, so please consider attending that Mass. Thank you for your understanding.

Members of the English-speaking Community come together before Sunday Mass to pray the Rosary as a group. The Garden Room is available for this group from 10.30am on Sunday mornings and from 5.30pm in the evening. Please just turn up if you would like to join in.