Weekend

I love Fridays. It is always a busy day. The Bulletin for the parish needs to be printed and put in the church; there is Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament in Marymount School in the afternoon. This evening I am invited to a reception in the Embassy of Ireland for the opening of a conference on "Paris, Capital of Irish Culture". Feeling good having cycled to school a few times and got to the swimming pool twice this week. Settling back into life here in Paris after some doubts over the summer about whether I would be appointed again by my superiors. Other bits and pieces I would like to write about, but I must go now. Thanks to anyone who reads this blog. Let me know what you think: It would be great to hear from you.                                                  A.T.

Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows

15th September is the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows. It is a feast of the church and a day of special prayer and devotion in the Passionist Congregation to which I belong.

There are seven sorrows of Mary:

1. Simeon's Prophecy about the Sword of Sorrow (Luke 2:34-35)
2. The Flight of Mary, Joseph and Jesus into Egypt (Matthew 2:13)
3. The Loss of the Child Jesus in the Temple (Luke 2:43-45)
4. Mary Meets Jesus on the Way to Calvary (Luke 23:26)
5. Jesus dies on the Cross (John 19:25)
6. Mary Receives the Body of Jesus into Her Arms (Matthew 27:57)
7. The Body of Jesus is Placed in the Tomb (John 19:40)

God's blessing on you.                                                                                                 A.T.

September 2016

I feel bad about my neglect of this blog - I see it was in May that I was last in contact by means of the blog. Mea culpa!

I promise to try to do better in the months ahead. In June the Passionists in Ireland held a four yearly meeting (called a Chapter). It was held in a beautiful place near Portlarington, Co. Laois. The meeting lasted from Monday to Friday. This marked the end of my four years as assistant provincial superior (2012-2016). I was glad to offer these years of service to the Passionists. The only downside was that every 4 to 6 weeks, it meant attending a meeting either in Dublin or in Belfast. This usually involved being on the RERA train at 5.15 a.m. and not getting back to St Joseph's until near midnight. Now that is over as a new team of superiors was elected in June this year. I wish them well.

I'm back in St Joseph's, Paris for another four years (D.V.). Therein lies a saga that I will share with you in a future post. Or, if you go to www.stjoeparis.org and click on Reflection 24th Sunday, you can read what I shared last week in the Parish Bulletin. Also, if you go to St Joseph's Church Facebook page you will also find a link to this reflection.

Part of my delight in being back is meeting again the many friends I have made here over the past eight years. Another lovely aspect is that I am still chaplain to Marymount School, Paris in Neuilly-sur-Seine. Today, Wednesday 14 September, the opening Mass was celebrated in the school. Today is the Feast of the Holy Cross and it was wonderful to hear the thoughts of the students during the dialogue homily. They are simply great. 

The weather is wonderful at present - very Irish to comment on the weather! I've become a regular in our wonderful local swimming pool. Because of my age, the kind people in the local 'Maire' (town hall) give me a three month membership for €19. I try to get to the pool at least twice each week. Also, to get to Marymount School I cycle using the city bicycles, Velib. It is a great service and I am carelful to wear my helmet each time.

My weeks home in August were great. Bray is still looking good and I had a lovely weekend in Ballycastle, Co. Antrim. I was also pleased to baptise a baby called Aidan in Belfast in early August. A sad moment was to say goodbye to a great human being who died, Bishop Edward Daly of Derry. It was a privilege to be present at his funeral in St Eugene's Cathedral to pay tribute to such a great peace builder and a great carer in latter years at the Foyle Hospice.

This is a start with the Blog again and if you have a comment to make, I would love to hear from you. Or, if you would like to email me, please do so - ajdtroy@gmail.com

A bientot. A.T.

Summer in Paris

The rain cannot last much longer, I hope! Last weekend, I was in Dublin for the First Communion of a grandnephew and we had a gloriously sunny day on Saturday. Sunday afternoon I got back to Paris and it has not stopped raining! It is very Irish to talk about the weather.

The past few weeks have been wonderful here in Paris. There were children making their First Communion and young people being confirmed at Pentecost. It is great to be part of these wonderful family and community moments. This Saturday, there will be First Communions for Marymount School Paris where I serve as chaplain. 

The night before the Communions, weather permitting, there will be an event called "Burning Faith" for young people who were confirmed this year and in recent years. It can happen that after Confirmation, there is not much on offer in the church community. A wonderful group of parents and young people have been meeting each month for the past few years and have created a great sense of their being a great road ahead for young people in following Jesus. I am in total admiration of them as I sometimes sit in at their sessions.

More to come now that I have started again.         A.T.

Still here!

A kind person mentioned that they had looked at my blog recently. To my shame, the last post there was in March. Later today, I will remedy that. A.T.

March 2016

www.stjoeparis.org

Each week for the past eight years I have produced and published a parish bulletin here in Paris. It is composed of notices for the coming week and a reflection on the Mass Readings for that weekend. I am amazed that a few people from different parts of the world  contact me to comment on something or other that I have written. But, in case I would get carried away with my own literary ability, I am often told by people here that "nobody reads the parish bulletin" (printed edition). I don't mind, as I get great satisfaction in putting together some thoughts for each weekend. If you care to see what I am going on about, www.stjoeparis.org will lead you to the Parish Notices and Reflections on the St Joseph's Parish website. Soon I hope that the parish will have a Facebook page, (I am on Facebook for years), and also that the Masses at St Joseph's can be seen on Youtube shortly. That would mean that parishioners who spent some years in Paris could link in if they wishes to follow Sunday Mass or if a friend was being married here or a funeral Mass was being held. I'll announce when this service is up and running.

In the middle of Lent, one bright light has been the great support for St Joseph's Lenten Project 2016. We are supporting two educational projects in the Middle East for children of the wars going on. One is in Syria where the Jesuits are educating children in Homs so that one day, please God, they will be able to return to their home towns having been separated from family by war. The other is in Iraq where children are being educated in Kirkouk, so that these children will one day be the future of a peaceful and thriving Middle East. There is a real danger that ancient places of Christian worship stretching back centuries will soon be no more. The humanitarian crisis unfolding before our eyes in Europe brings tears to my eyes. The two projects to help children in the Middle East is supported on the Sundays of Lent by means of a special collection taken during the five weekend Masses. So far, I have been able to send €13,500 to 'L'Oeuvre d'Orient' who are the group who put the money to work in these places. This past weekend, we had a young Syrian lawyer who is a parishioner speak at some of the Masses at St Joseph's to tell of his experience since leave Aleppo, Syria in 2012. There are other Syrian parishioners who have come forward to help. Please God, we can make even a little difference for children who are traumatised by this long and fierce war.

On a lighter note, the Six Nations visit to the Stade de France did not leave us feeling great. Still, hope springs eternal! Then, we have the European Soccer to look forward to in June when Ireland - North and South - will be here to compete. It will be a good summer and who knows how far either or both teams will go.                                                                            A.T.

Back after a while!

I'm a disaster as a Blogger! I have such good intentions to write daily. But........

February already here and the beginning of Spring yesterday with the Feast of St Bridget. Not everyone would agree and this year I am having my doubts. Yesterday, on dear Saint Bridget' feast I travelled to a meeting in Belfast. This involved an early flight from Paris to Manchester and on to Belfast. Landing at the City Airport in Belfast was exciting and terrifying at the same time. Fair play to the Pilot for getting the propeller plane landed. Applauding when a plane lands has never really appealed to me - but yesterday deserved an expression of appreciation. Coming back last night was not quite as rough.

Lent is just around the corner. The parish here has the Lenten Retreat on Saturday. There is also the Six Nations Rugby on the horizon. I love the year when Ireland play at the Stade. February 13/14 will be some weekend in Paris.

Once back to the Blog, I will do my best to keep going!                    AT