St. Joseph's, Paris

La Grande Rentree
The annual "return" of the parishioners in early September
was marked and welcomed in the weekly Bulletin by a warm
letter from the Chairperson of our Pastoral Council- Jack
Hackett. He took the opportunity to explain to our faithful -
former and recently arrived - some aspects of parish life and
how they might become involved. This was followed in week
two by a similar welcome and invitation from the pastor,
Thomas. Of particular significance was the huge number
already enrolled for CCD. There is now a waiting list.

Both Tom and Jack also highlighted the renovation of our
premises. The new toilets are now installed - thank God and
His Holy Mother - and have been well christened by our
delighted patrons who have had to use the outside ones for the
past three months, and that was not the most pleasant
experience. Meantime the new heating and cooling systems
are being put in place. It is hoped to create space from eighty
extra seats to relieve the terrible congestion caused by the
Sunday crowds. The "acceuil" area is being redesigned
presently and should be finished shortly. While the plant has
become a building-site, the actual disturbance level has been
hardly noticed. People are responding fairly well to the fund-
raising campaign and are looking forward to the completion of
the work by mid-October, it is hoped.

Recent Events
Those unfortunate enough to have had to remain in Paris
during the midsummer "Canicule" will find it hard to forget the
soaring temperatures - we had ten days of 39/40 degrees.
Nothing for it but to do as little as possible. It was not too
difficult to adjust to being idle, and very wise to sit still in front
of a fan and not move unless absolutely necessary. And the
countless deaths! On one day in Paris last week, there were
fifty six burials of unclaimed corpses. Michael officiated at the
funeral of one of our parishioners in a Church outside Paris
and the lady was buried in a mass grave with forty others until
such time as the backlog was cleared up and a proper grave
could be opened just for her. France will have to re-assess the
present practice whereby everything stops for the mass
holidayexodus throughout August each year. Part of the
problem was the inadequacy of human resources in the health
system in the major holiday period.

- Despite the great heat, Paris managed to host the annual
Finale of the Tour de France in the Champs Elysees and the
World Athletics Championships in the Stade de France

- Our website has been redesigned in the past few months
and is worth a visit - http://www.stjoeparis.org

- In June, on the feast of Corpus Christi, the Philippine
Chaplain - Fr Lorenzo de Lion - celebrated the Sunday
evening mass and reminded the many Philippine attendees
that both he and the chaplaincy exist and are available to
them

- Also in June - Bishop Tony Farquhar, Auxiliary in Down and
Connor, confirmed some adults and lots of children in two
ceremonies. He was a delight to have as a visitor and talked
non-stop with story after story and amusing reminiscences.

- The Summer Fair, in June, was a great success considering
the upheaval caused by the work-site in the entrance area

- We now have a Security Guard at the morning masses each
Sunday. This was very welcomed, especially by our American
faithful.

Forthcoming Attractions
This - in cinema jargon for the man himself to appreciate - is
our big forthcoming attraction. It's the trailer for the big event
of the year - Anthony's Golden Jubilee of Profession!! And what
a celebration is being planned. Sure, he deserves it. There will
be a "special" mass at 12.30 pm on Sunday 21st of September.
It will be followed by a reception in the Blessed Sacrament
Fathers' hall because we have no room in our own. It is
situated in Avenue Friedland, almost just across the road. We
were hoping to hire the Hilton, but we suspect it would not
have been big enough to hold the crowds expected. We wish
Tony "ad multos annos". Keep you posted on how it went.