St. Joseph's, Avenue Hoche, Paris

Le Grand Depart.

It is usual at this time of the year to start off the Paris report with the caption "La Grande Rentree". More about that in a moment. While the big return is, in fact, happening, our more immediate attention is on "Le Grand Depart" last week of Thomas as he left for Boston. The farewell was on Sunday, 22nd. August - and it was big. Thomas celebrated the 12 noon mass and gave a moving homily, copies of which were requested from numerous people. An abbreviated version of the homily is appended at end of this input and is printed with Tom's permission. The mass was mobbed. Unfortunately, some of the "doors" in the hall would not work properly and the lovely reception was proving to be just far too crushed for the many people who wanted to say goodbye.

At the end of the mass there were brief words of appreciation from Bruno Lechaptois (Pastoral Council Chairperson), a written appreciation from Fr. Anthony (on holidays) and some excellent, well-chosen remarks from Michael. It was then the big moment for Gloria Gargenara to present Tom with a special gift from the parish. Hardly a dry eye to be seen! Tom set off on Friday, 27th. We wish him well on his Sabbatical and thank him for his generosity while here. He did not spare himself. Meantime - at time of writing - we are Pastorless!

La Grande Rentree.

It is interesting to observe how Paris - not just the parish - empties each year during August and the big return of people occurs at the end of the month. During August, the city is like a ghost town in contrast to the rest of the year and this year is no exception. The summer mass schedule has now ended and next Sunday we're back to "normal" times. But even at this point, the numbers have suddenly increased and multiplied.

It is a time of welcoming new arrivals and helping them adjust to a strange environment. This really does enable them to create a home from home. So we witness again a massive enrolment for CCD classes in the next two weeks, On Sunday 19th. September there will be a parish picnic and information day. This takes place in the garden and is another attempt to make people aware of their parish and what's going on.

And what is going on?

Let me quote a paragraph from the parish brochure. Apart from the obvious ministries to be found in every parish today, some kind of explanation of a parish vision and mentality is offered in it.

The question is posed: " How can we make sure that St. Joseph's grows and develops as a vibrant Christian community? Our parish confronted this question - and others - during a novel experiment in March 2004. Meeting over two weekends, the Future Search Forum brought together 68 parishioners from different cultures, interests and ages to ask where we wanted St. Joseph's to go. Some Common Futures were discovered and suggest the question as to where people can find themselves in them. Some Common Futures will change the life of this parish. Others will change the lives of its parishioners. All of them will contribute to a better future for this special Christian community comprising over 43 nationalities in Paris. Seven Common Futures were listed.

1) Space management - to ensure we have enough space for a growing parish , especially CCD classes.
2) Ongoing development - to maintain and develop religious training for young and old.
3) Compassion and co-operation - to widen our contacts outside of St. Joseph's, both in outreach work and in co-operating more with the French Church.
4) Strengthened administration - to reduce the priests' workload, probably by hiring a fulltime administrator.
5) A fuller welcome - to go beyond just saying "Hello" to newcomers and offering mentors to help them settle in.
6) Dynamic lay leadership - to ensure a more stable structure for lay activities.
7) Innovative fundraising - to plan and implement new ways to raise funds to help pay for added costs of the new administrative structure."

Guardian Group
This is a small team of parishioners who took part in the Future Search Forum and want to keep its spirit alive. They work with the Pastoral Council and the common futures Teams to bring about the goals the forum identified. They will meet again on September 8th.

Pastoral Council Retreat and Planning Day
This is scheduled for Saturday, 11th. September at a convent outside Paris. At time of writing, their hope is that the new Pastor might be able to attend it even if he has not yet "moved in".

Parish Pilgrimage
About thirty pilgrims headed off from here with Tom and Anthony to visit Assisi, Loreto, Isola etc. From all reports, they seemed to enjoy it immensely and find it spiritually uplifting.

Confirmation
We had the enjoyable presence of Archbishop Maurice Couve de Murville (retired of Birmingham) as the Celebrant of Confirmation for some adults and lots of children.

Irish connections
Fr. Declan Hurley - attached to the Irish Cultural Centre - came to lunch and reciprocated the invitation. We have not yet found the time, We're so busy!!!

Summer Fair
Took place in June. Anthony and Michael could not be present as they were on way to the Chapter. Despite their absence, it was a rip-roarin' success.

Visitors
It is always nice to welcome our steady flow of visitors who come to see Paris - and us, sometimes, too.

The Servant of God, Archbishop Fulton Sheen
The Director of the cause of Fulton Sheen for Britain and Ireland - Mr. Martin Shaw - spoke at all the masses here on a Sunday in July. The people seemed very interested and were encouraged to spend a daily Eucharistic Holy Hour - something that Fulton Sheen had practised every day of his priestly life from 1919 - 1979.

Au Revoir.