Congratulations to Julia Lang, baptised in St Alphonse on Saturday 6 April, and to her parents Karen and Frédéric Lang. We are delighted to welcome Julia into the Church of God.

The recent Marriage Preparation course has just been completed at the home of Monique and Marcus Oswald. Nine couples attended, and reflected on the various aspects of marriage: relationship, sacrament, financial management, bringing up children, the social value of marriage, marriage and sexuality, troubleshooting relationships — and much more. The team comprised of Monique and Marcus, along with Josephine and Marvin Agustin, and Fr Ed. There were many positive comments afterwards from various of the nine couples who attended. Many thanks to the team for their hard work, generosity with their time and commitment to the vital task of Marriage Preparation.

Please pray for the couples who are preparing to marry:

Darina McGarry & Simon Dennis
Justyna Maczyszyn & Alex Vilchez
Cristina Dan & Alberto Saugar
Siobhán McCarthy & Eóin Mac Domhnaill
Jennifer Maher and Koen van Huynegem
Leonie Carroll & Marc de Crouy Chanel
Aisling Mcinerney & David Micallef
Hanna Swietochowska & Pierre-Yves Lefebre
Jennifer De Barro & Omar Fenech

We wish them every blessing for their married life together.

Confirmation preparation classes resumed on Wednesday 10 April. The first post-Easter meeting was hosted by Archbishop Hollerich at his own house. The evening began with a reflective prayer service in the Archbishop’s chapel, and then continued with the Archbishop talking about his life, his Jesuit vocation and his work in Luxembourg, and about Confirmation. He then threw the floor open to questions (‘You can ask me anything!’) and there followed enlightening answers about his life as a Jesuit, his 20 years in Japan and other matters. The evening ended with sushi and pizza. Many thanks to the candidates, to the Catechists (whose hard work continues, week-in, week-out) and not least to the Archbishop for his welcome, generosity with his time, and openness to the group. Photos of the event can be found on Cheryl Kouba’s FaceBook page.

Thanks: We are still in the warm glow of Eastertide, celebrating the Lord’s resurrection from the dead. Our Easter services were beautiful, reflecting the faith and hard work and dedication of so many people: musicians, readers, Eucharistic Ministers, refreshment providers and others who contributed in a practical way. Sincere thanks to all for your efforts over Holy Week and Easter, and throughout the year.

Good Friday: A new celebration was introduced this year on the evening of Good Friday: The Burial of the Lord. We were delighted to share this simple, reflective service with Rev. Chris Lyon and members of the Anglican community. We would hope to make this a regular feature of our shared life together. The choir of the Anglican community led the music and contributed greatly. Many thanks, again, to all.

Visiting priests: Whilst I was away on my post-Easter break, P. Patrick Hubert celebrated a Baptism at St Alphonse on my behalf (see separate post) and also the Saturday evening Vigil Mass. The 11am Mass at Hollerich was celebrated by P. Erny Gillen, the Vicaire Général. Many thanks to both for kindly stepping in.

On a personal note: many thanks to the many who have shown me kindness (and patience!), too many to number. It is a real blessing to be able to serve in our parish alongside so many good people.

Fr Ed

The third conference in the series ‘Quelle âme pour l’Europe ?’ is being held on 18 April at the Centre Jean XXIII. The description runs:

Où va l’Europe ? A-t-elle encore un grand projet,
au-delà des égoïsmes nationaux ? A-t-elle
une vision quant à sa cohérence interne, ses
relations avec le reste du monde, sa solidarité
avec les pays en développement ? A-t-elle une
âme ? Pour clôturer ce cycle 2013, nous posons
la question à un politique, Européen
chevronné, connaisseur des coulisses du
pouvoir.’

Full details may be found on the flyer Conférences-2012-2013-Dépliant.