Summer arrives in Paris!

Beautiful sunshine over the past week following rather wet and dull weather. Did a jog earlier in the week and it is warm! Paris is full of visitors and empty of its regular residents - away on holiday. At St Joseph's Church the number of Masses is reduced during July and August from 5 to 4 to reflect this change in numbers. Many visitors come along at weekends and always good to greet them. A few Passionist visitors as well add to our little religious community. The shop sales are on till the end of July and it is a good time to stock the wardrobe! Olympics open tonight in London - hope it will be a good games. Still no news on appointments to the various communities of the Passionists.
Watch this space!                                                                             A.T.

Summer but not sunshine

I like July in Paris.There are so many tourists enjoying the sights and chatting away. But what weather we are having - this afternoon monsoon rain, thunder and lightning. Still it could be worse. Got my free Paris travel card this morning - age! Also, at long last got the final approval for the new lift/elevator installed some months ago in St Joseph's. What a saga - but all is well that ends well. Have another Passionist Curia meeting in Dublin next week. Wish I had registered for frequent flyer miles! Looking forward to rest of July and hope that the weather improves.                               AT

Summer in Paris 2012

Long silence on this blog - back writing after a hectic month of May. Loved the time I spent at the Eucharistic Congress in Dublin. Got elected as Vice-Provincial of the Passionists at the Chapter in May held in Larne - a bit of a surprise to me and perhaps to some others. Of the five in the Provincial Curia, four were re-elected after serving four years and 'moi' was added as 'new boy on the block'. Apppointments to the various houses will be made by the beginning of September at the latest ~~ I would have liked this completed sooner but I have to be patient! Poor Euro 2012 for RoI and not much better in the Rugby in NZ. St Joseph's Church is in a lower gear now that the summer is here. There are plans already on the parish website www.stjoeparis.org for return to full speed in September. These weeks are a chance to 'catch up' and get work done on the building and facilities. Will be here for month of July and take a few weeks in Ireland during August.                    AT 

A busy month of May in Paris

Month of May a busy time: last weekend there was the Summer Fair at St Joseph's. Went well. Then, on Tuesday, 8 May, the celebration of 25 years in the rebuilt St Joseph' Church. A great event. Today, Marymount School had First Communions at St Joseph's Church. Tomorrow I go to the Provincial Chapter of the Passionists. It is being held in Larne, Co Antrim. The last weekend of May there will be First Communions of the Parish and on Pentecost Sunday there will be Confirmation. A busy but great time with great numbers of people involved. Must pay more attention to this blog!                  AT

Sad News

Was in Belfast on Tuesday for funeral of Fr Casimir Haran who died following a short illness. May he rest in peace. He spent a lot of his life as a missionary in Africa. His family are heartbroken and he leaves a gap among us his brethren. Then, the tragedy of the school chidren dying in the bus crash coming home from a holiday. Their families must be inconsolable at this time. As the local priest commented - there is nothing that can be said, we can only cry and stay together. My thoughts and prayers are with all who lost their life in that terrible crash. Things like these put a lot of other matters into perspective.       A T

Signs of Hope

On Saturday morning last six adults who are preparing for baptism, confirmation and First Communion attended what is called 'Appel Decisif' at Notre-Dame Cathedral, Paris. The ceremony is a decisive moment when each person accepts a purple stole from Cardinal Vingt-Trois, Archbishop of Paris, and signs their name as a pledge to go forward for baptism at the Easter Vigil in their own parish. There are 350 adults preparing for baptism in 95 Paris parishes. I was delighted to be invited to read the Gospel (in English) and to offer a prayer of the faithful during the ceremony. St Joseph's six candidates for baptism have been preparing alongside another four adults who are alredy baptised but have not received the Sacrament of Confirmation. All 10 will receive their sacraments at St Joseph's Church, Ave Hoche, during the Easter Vigil. One of these 10 comes from China, another from Hong Kong, four from North America and one from South America, one from Parkistan, one from Nigeria and one from South Africa.
Already, two applicants to prepare for Baptism at Easter 2013 have enrolled for next year's course. At a difficult time for the church, this is a shoot of hope.                                                         A T

Hope and Healing Conference 18th February 2012

Was honoured to be a participant and speaker at this conference last Saturday. There were over 200 delegates present and it was great to meet so many brave and wonderful people.These people give me hope and from them I learn that healing is possible. Thank you to each one present. Congratulations to the organisers and they deserve great credit for bringing together such an array of people. The Lough Erne Resort as a venue was superb. To think that I started my journey in the Passionists a mile or so away at The Graan Monastery! Conditions were a bit different, especially when getting up at 2 a.m. for night Matins. A T