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The English-Speaking Catholic Church of Paris |
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Ministered by
The Passionists since 1863 |
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50 Avenue Hoche Paris 75008 France
Tel : 33 (0)1 42 27 28 56 Official web-site: www.stjoeparis.org
Email : info@stjoeparis.org |
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| LENT 2007 |
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Parish Bulletin Previous bulletins |
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11th February, 2007
PARISH/HOME PRAYER DAY Although I haven’t done it yet in 2007, I do like, purely for health reasons, you understand, to get out for the occasional game of golf. But to the die-hards in the sport I’m not really a true golfer – I freely admit that I’m one of the “fair-weather” kind. I had hoped I might get out these last few days, but of course our first taste of snow came! Why would God do that to me? Today I learnt that it’s all St. Scholastica’s fault (10 th Feb. is her feast-day). Saint Scholastica was the twin sister of Saint Benedict who founded the Scholastica, having a presentiment that it would be their last opportunity to see each other alive, asked him to spend the evening in conversation. Benedict refused because he did not wish to break his own rule by spending a night away from Monte Cassino. Thereupon, Scholastica cried openly, laid her head upon the table, and prayed that God would intercede for her. As she did so, a sudden storm arose. The violent rain and hail came in such a torrential downpour that Benedict and his companions were unable to depart. "May Almighty God forgive you, sister" said Benedict, "for what you have done." "I asked a favour of you," Scholastica replied simply, "and you refused it. I asked it of God, and He has granted it!" (So whichever one of you is praying to St. Scholastica for bad weather on my potential golfing days – please cut it out!!) Apart from confirming that the women will always get around the men in the end, the story is an illustration of the power of prayer, a power that we would like to foster to an even greater degree in our Parish. Lent is just around the corner. We would like to be able to arrange far more events in church during Lent in preparation for the celebration of the Paschal Mystery at Holy Week and Easter. Let’s face it, with so many of our parishioners living so far away, and over such a vast area, week-day church-based events are not very viable. So, if people cannot come to the church, maybe the church can come to the people! This year we would like to propose a special Lenten prayer evening on Wednesday, 14 th March. The idea is, that volunteer parishioners would host an evening in their general region – eg. Paris south-east, western suburbs, etc. The prayer and reflection would be followed by a light potluck supper. We would provide guidance on how to conduct the meeting, and the participants would provide the potluck meal. We need to have an idea of the level of interest in this prayer project as well as volunteers in each of the areas to act as hosts. Kindly contact Regan, orillac@aol.com, or ph. 06 13 21 92 65 if you are interested in hosting a prayer and reflection meeting in your home, or if you are simply interested in attending. Our hope and prayer is that this initiative would maybe be the inspiration for similar events in the future, and as well as promoting local area prayer events, would also foster contact among parishioners in their neighbourhoods. And if some of you could pray for better golfing weather, that wouldn’t go amiss either! NOTICES
Lourdes Collection: We welcome Fr. Peter Clucas to our parish this week-end. He will be speaking at all the Masses about his work with young people in caring for the sick and elderly on their pilgrimage to Lourdes. A special second collection will be taken up at all the masses. Fr. Peter’s website for the work of the young people is www.oblateyouthservice.com and he can be contacted at peter@oblateyouthservice.com . Meeting of Lectors: Regular meetings for the lectors of the parish will begin on Thursday, Feb. 15 th at 8 P.M. The meeting will provide the opportunity for prayer, to share your insights about the Scriptures and to continue to develop the skills necessary to fulfil this important ministry in the Church. All lectors are encouraged to attend. Meeting of Eucharistic Ministers : Monday, Feb. 12 th, there will be a meeting for all Special Ministers of the Eucharist. It will begin at 8:00 P.M and will include prayer, and opportunity to discuss the role of the Eucharistic Minister, with input on the Liturgy, focusing on Ash Wednesday, please make plans to attend this important meeting. Youth Assembly: St. Patrick’s Province of the Passionist Congregation is organising a Youth Assembly on the week-end of 6 th – 8 th July. It is open to all young people, between the ages of 18 and 35 who attend our churches in Ireland, Scotland and Paris. It will be taking place just outside Dublin. While it will be partially concerned with preparations for World Youth Day in Sydney next year, it is open to people who may not necessarily be intending to go to Sydney. For further information please contact Fr. Pat, or leave your contact details in the Parish office. Parish Retreat: We are happy to say that with the amount of positive response, we will definitely be organising a Parish Retreat Day on Saturday, March 24 th. Further details will follow later. Hall Monitors needed during the 9.30-10.30 and 11-12.00 CCD classes. We have a shortage of volunteers for this very important job. No experience necessary. All you need to do is be present in the CCD corridor (chair provided). Please contact John Brook at 01-30-53-04-33 or john.brook@wanadoo.fr ACWO: Ash Wednesday 21 st February , Lenten Soup Lunch after 12:00 Mass. All are welcome! Voluntary donations will go to the support of Trinity Soup Kitchen. Contact: Jackie 06.86.84.56.30 Gospel Group (3 - 4 yr olds) during the 11am mass. This is not simply a child-minding service, but is a way of introducing children to the faith. It is open to any 3 or 4-year-old children and is available for free. A new program, suited to their age has recently been introduced.. Volunteers Needed: As usual, quite a few people left our Parish over the Christmas/New Year period to return to their native lands or take up assignments elsewhere. And, as usual, we find ourselves short of participants in various ministries. At the moment our greatest needs seem to be for Eucharistic Ministers and Altar Servers. Altar Servers should be between the ages of approximately 8 and sixteen, male or female. Eucharistic Ministers, male or female should be between the ages of 16 and mind-your-own-business. If you would like to serve your parish in either of these capacities, then please contact one of the priests for further information. RCIA, (Tuesday), Bible Study, (Wednesday morning), Marriage Course (Wednesday evening): The usual meetings will be held this week. Mission Lunch Soup Kitchen: Volunteers Needed . Volunteers please note the change. Due to the February, school holiday, St.Joseph's will not be running the mission lunch on the 26th. We will, however, run the 1st Friday in March, which is March 2nd. New volunteers are needed, please contact Loraine for further information. 01 34 80 11 10, or lorainesd@wanadoo.fr Thanks to the extra volunteers who turned up for the January Lunch. New Prayer Group: Next meeting on March 10th, from 4:30-6pm, a new prayer group is starting and will meet on a monthly basis on the 2nd Saturday of each month. We will meet in one of the meeting rooms downstairs, next to the church. It’s open to English speaking men and women, who are willing to listen and share their ideas about the teachings of Jesus. There will be a 3-part format: 1. Some sharing; 2. discussion of Sunday's gospel reading; 3. a topic being presented by one of the group members. If you have any questions, please contact Janet Sitzmann at 06.13.13.48.56 or you can email me at jsitzmann@hotmail.com . I look forward to seeing you there. No registration is required.
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