Many thanks to Monique and Marcus Oswald for presenting our recent Marriage Preparation course (March 2015). The next course was scheduled for February 2016; however, due to the number of requests we are receiving for Marriage Preparation, we can now offer a one-day course on Saturday 05 September, provisionally scheduled to start at 10:00 and to finish at 16:00.

The course leaders will be Caroline and Kit Dollard, from the diocese of Middlesbrough in England; they have wide experience in catechetical work, working both for the diocese and for Ampleforth Abbey, a Benedictine monastery in the diocese.

I will be contacting couples who have been in touch regarding forthcoming weddings, so if you haven’t had a response yet to your request, you will receive a reply shortly.

Fr Ed

Break with Tradition
The year before last, we broke with tradition, and instead of having our annual outdoor Mass and picnic at Trintange, we accepted the generous invitation of the archbishop and celebrated in his garden. Last year, we moved to the garden of St Alphonse. Again, we had a great celebration. Like the people of Israel in the Old Testament, and never standing still, this year we increased our ambition: having lost part of the garden of St Alphonse (sold off earlier this year) we decided to use the same venue but to have a BBQ after the Mass. Never was a risk better taken! Two weeks before the Mass, only 12 people were subscribed. In the event, over 300 signed up for the BBQ, and over 400 were served: even more came for the Mass, but couldn’t stay for the feast afterwards. This doubled our 2014 record; more importantly, we had a wonderful joyful and reverent celebration of Mass: the music group were on great form, and we suspect (and secretly hope) that the singing at Mass woke up many of our neighbours. Nine altar servers, two readers and four ministers of the Eucharist augmented the team, and many of the First Holy Communion group made their Second Holy Communion (as one of them observed to me).

Illula Orphanage Project
The music group played on after the liturgy and provided entertainment for the rest of the afternoon, raising (between the shop and the collection) €660 towards the building and provisioning of a primary school in Tanzania. Congratulations to Helen and team for this — constantly giving time and energy to help those less financially fortunate than ourselves.

Food and drink a-plenty
Thanks to John, Sonya, Carl, Brian, Buzz, Denise, Calum — and all who worked for the catering department: they were magnificent. The ordering, cooking, serving, re-serving and clearing up were superbly organised and executed. And a word of thanks (and a plug) to Vincent Clarke of Éirelux who donated generously of the delicious produce of Ireland. Éirelux is being formally opened next Saturday, 20 June at 14:00 — all welcome! 40 Rue de Bruyères, Howald, L-1274.

Childrens’ entertainment
Chapeau to Robert who organised skittles, chalk, duck-fishing, tug-of-war, football, bubbles, badminton, hockey and so much more for the children — parents who brought their children were both surprised and delighted that they hardly saw them from the end of Mass until home-time several hours later. In a departure from tradition, due (thankfully) to the absence of water-guns, I did not get absolutely soaked by the children; my social baptism in Luxembourg happened after our Mass and feast in the archbishop’s garden in 2013 when I had to walk home through the city dripping wet (secretly delighted, as the preceding water-fight involving children, parents and myself had been brilliant!).

Finance
We decided to rely on a freewill donation system to cover costs, so as not to put pressure on individuals and families — and our feelings on this were more than rewarded. The collecting bin contained more than enough to cover all costs. We had already decided that the value of this event in social and spiritual terms would more than compensate for any shortfall, but in the event all our goals were surpassed.

Delights
A hot, sunny day (which had defied earlier forecasts); a beautiful liturgy, enhanced by the environment and the sense of occasion; a superb BBQ, well organised, cooked and served; flowing crémant, beer, wine, soft drinks and water; a richesse of activities for children (of all ages); seeing a community working, worshipping and relaxing together; conversations between people who see each other every Sunday, but have never managed to chat before.

Disappointments
I didn’t get soaked!

Surprises
After Mass, a man introduced himself as the bishop of a diocese in the West of Ireland; he had been in France to celebrate the wedding of his nephew, and happened upon our Mass (and was very congratulatory). As we were speaking, a second man introduced himself — he was a priest from Florida, equally pleased to have been present. If I’d known my fellow priests had been there, I might have been a little more self-conscious at homily time (and not forgotten what I’d intended to say!).
A second surprise: Calum Heffernan revealed himself as a rock star, with his first public solo performance. In years to come, we will be able to say that we were there!

Photos of the Mass and BBQ below. Send more in if you have them!

Á la prochaine, Fr Ed

Before Mass…

During…

After…

And beyond!

And more pics!

The day finally arrived! The church is still radiant with the glow of our celebration of the First Holy Communion of 28 of our young people at the 11:15 Mass on 7th June. The children had been preparing for months, along with the catechetical team and the parent-volunteers — not only in their Sunday morning classes, but in the Masses where we focused especially on them.

An occasion such as this is significant on a number of levels: the children being further initiated into the life, the communion, of the Church; parents guiding their children in the ways of faith and church life; the parish community both supporting our catechetical efforts, and in turn being encouraged by witnessing each new generation of children being immersed more deeply in the Church; and last, but not least, the witness that is given to family and friends who come along, some perhaps not having much church contact themselves, but seeing a vibrant, believing community in worship and in social celebration.

The scale of organisation, administration and general involvement in a process and celebration of this kind is enormous: this dawned on me as I was filing FHC emails, and counted over 400 of them (mainly, of course, group emails into which we were all copied). But each single message represents someone working and spending time on this vital part of our Catholic community life. There are so many people to thank: some we thanked by name on the day, and many others we included and include in a general, huge, ‘Thank You’.

The sun smiled down on us: after the beautiful sunny weather the previous Sunday for our Confirmation Mass, we hardly dared hope for sunshine the following week, and had contingency plans for the crémant reception afterwards. As it turned out, the weather couldn’t have been better. The photographers were able to do their work, and the rest of us were able to enjoy the sun and the shade in the garden of St Alphonse.

We can see from the photos below, once glance at the inside of the church showed a church en fête, and we have had many comments from visitors remarking on the doves, the banner, the eucharistic decorations and the childrens’ posters. Our joy showed itself in how the church was decorated, and this in turn was picked up by so many outside our community. There was one wry question from someone who came to an earlier Mass on 7th June that I chose to take as a compliment on our behalf. A man said to his wife, ‘What are the English doing this week?’ Apart from grouping all our nationalities into one, he was noting that we are not standing still, we’re not afraid to innovate, make our mark and to express our faith, the same faith we all share.

And speaking of not standing still, we will shortly be announcing the date of our First Holy Communion celebration next year, along with the dates of the Preparation classes, so that parents will have plenty of time to make any necessary schedule arrangements.

Thank you once again to all. And thanks be to God!

Fr Ed

And now a gallery of some of the official photos of the day. I lost track of who’s included, so if you’re not, let me know and I’ll add you

I’ll shortly be posting an account of yesterday’s Outdoor Mass and BBQ (14th June) and would be grateful for any photos you can send me of the event. I’ll say no more about it at this stage!

Thanks,

Fr Ed

Final preparations are being made for our annual outdoor Mass which this year, once again, is in the garden at St Alphonse at 11:15.

A week ago the weather forecast for tomorrow (14th June) was dire: heavy rain storms all day. Happily (and thank you to all who have been praying), the forecast looks great: 26º and sunny. There are lots of awnings to provide shelter from the lovely, welcome and warm rays of the sun.

To date, 300 people have signed up for the BBQ. With the gospel of the feeding of the 5,000 in mind, we will have enough loaves and fishes (and sausages and burgers) for many more. 

There is no fixed charge, but you are invited to make a donation towards costs.

For many years, this Mass has proved to be a memorable occasion: Mass outdoors; our community meeting socially and spiritually; so many groups working together to make it all happen; and last, but certainly not least, it is one of our significant ‘showcase’ events where many visitors experience something vibrant and new, and leave feeling encouraged and strengthened in faith.

Come, pray, enjoy, give thanks — and eat!

Fr Ed