At the AGM held on Sunday after Mass, Maria Calderon Nocera, our Chairperson for the past 4 years, resigned from her position for personal reasons. On behalf of us all a great thank you to Maria for her dedication in successfully leading the Council these past 4 years. Not only did she have to introduce Father Sibi to the functioning of our community, but also had the challenge of guiding us through the pandemic. Thanks Maria for all your efforts.

We are also sad to say goodbye to Betty Sam Mathew who is our liaison to Heiliggeist Parish of whom we are a part. Betty will vacate her position on our Council but will remain on the HG Council and provide us with any information relevant for our community until the end of her term in June 2023. Thanks Betty, and as always, we keep the communication channels open.

Welcome to Mandy Ward who has joined the Council in the role of Treasurer. Mandy is already an active member of our community serving as a Lector as well as RE Teacher. Joe Paola, who served as Treasurer for the past 10 years, agreed to take on the role as Chairperson for the Council.

Christian Doeringer (Secretary), Monika Kelly (Religious Education), Pat Falcigno (Communications) Nora Lienhard, and Laura Mckeaveney (Social team) all remain in their roles.

Last but not least, Father Sibi will remain in Switzerland to continue his studies allowing him to continue guiding us spiritually in his role as Community Priest.

We look forward to serving you in the year ahead.

You most probably wonder why we are asking you to be spontaneous…..

In 1995 the ESRCCB Council was established to formalize structures as members of the community at the time took on more and more responsibilities.

Notwithstanding the impact of the pandemic during the past 2 years our community has thrived since its inception.

We are a community of between 150 and 250 families
~50 children have been baptized in our community.
~ 400 children have received their First Holy Communion in our community
~ 300 young adults have received the Sacrament of Confirmation in our community.

In 2005 the community produced and staged the musical Joseph and his Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat raising over CHF6’000-00 for an Indian charity.

We have performed the Christmas Cantatas “Let the Whole World Sing” and “The Canticle of Christmas” to raise funds for charity.

Annual Retreats/Workshops during Lent and Advent

Not to forget the many social activities which take place on a regular basis……

All of the above was achieved with volunteers. Our community only functions due to all the volunteers who offer their time to keep our community spirit alive and thriving. And at the AGM we will again be asking for volunteers to continue the important work which has been achieved by and through volunteers these past 27 years.

Spontaneous derives from the Latin word “sponte” meaning voluntarily….. so our request to you is to be spontaneous and join us at this year’s Annual General Meeting….

Volunteering is not only required for Council positions but an offering of your time to assist in planning events, teaching our youth and organizing meetings and generally helping the community.

We look forward to seeing many of you at the AGM after Mass on Sunday 15 May, and if not to volunteer, then at least to thank those that are able to volunteer for their continued efforts in keeping our community functioning.

Cheese and wine will be served after the AGM.

Dates to remember:

• Ash Wednesday Mass: March 2 at 9:30am & 6:00 pm at Heiliggeist (The Mass is in German)
• Confession: March 27th, April 3 & 10st 16:30 – 17.15
• Adoration: Daily at St. Anton 7:00 – 19:00
• Sundays of Lent: March 6th ;13th; 20th ; 27th; Apr 3rd
• Palm Sunday: April 10th
• Easter Sunday: April 17th
• Mother’s Day: May 8th
• Religious Education: March 20th; April 24th; May 22nd
• AGM: Sunday May 15th 18:30, in the Hall after Mass

Lenten Message from Father Sibi

Wilderness

Jesus’ forty days of fasting in the wilderness after his baptism has been observed throughout the Church as the prime emphasis of Lent. It was where he fasted, encountered temptations while praying and being alone with God. What is wilderness? Wilderness is basically land that is mostly wild and rarely inhabited or unfit for permanent human settlement. But it is not altogether dry or barren, during the wet rainy season, it provides seasonal pastures for flocks. In the Bible, several wilderness lands are identified by name and related to cities, persons, and events. Hagar wandered in the land of Beersheba – Genesis 21: 14. The Israelites went through several wilderness lands on their way to the Promised Land. David escaping Saul hid in three wilderness lands, Ziph (1 Sam. 23: 14-15), in the wilderness of Moan (Vv. 24-25) and in the wilderness of En-gedi (24: 1). And in the NT Gospels, Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness of Judea after his baptism (Is. 40:3; Matt. 3: 1-3; Mark 1: 2-4; Lk. 3: 1-6; John 1: 23).

In the wilderness the people of Israel found both refuge and protection from the Egyptians (Ex. 16: 1ff). They went through about nine wilderness lands before entering the Promised Land. They feared they could die of hunger in the wilderness (Ex.16:3), but right there, God fed them with manna from heaven. The wilderness is both great and terrible (Deut. 1:19). But though terrible, lifeless, empty, mountainous, and dusty, the wilderness is where God was expected to return (Is. 40:3). It remains a place of ambiguity in the Bible, holding both danger and salvation.

The season of Lent in various respects is like a wilderness. Though Lent may feel like a threat to our life because we don’t usually want to expose the deep secrets of our lives, even in confession, it is our prerequisite for salvation. In being reduced to humility and remorse, Lent helps us to let go of the impasses of life that continually holds us captive. We are challenged to be courageous in facing our own vulnerabilities that we usually shy away from. It invites us to be inward discovering of ourselves against the goodness and holiness of God. It calls us to learn about ourselves, who God calls us to be and who we want to be through our response.

I invite you all to begin a journey through the wilderness during this Lent, and thus let us prepare ourselves for meeting the risen Lord.
Father Sibi

Music Coordinator

“No longer strangers to each other, no longer strangers in God’s house”: these appropriate words from last Sunday’s opening hymn celebrated our return to “regular” Mass. This new hymn was chosen by Rose Lee, who we would like to introduce to you as our Music Coordinator now selecting the music for our weekly Mass. Expect some new hymns to be introduced as she shares hymns from her home parish in Hong Kong – and if you do have a favorite hymn from “back home” feel free to provide the details to the Choir – we are open to learning.

Confession

The sacrament of reconciliation offers the opportunity to reflect on our own lives and to let go of what burdens us, in a confidential atmosphere. Father Sibi is available for Confession on Sunday, March 27th April 3rd & 10th from 16.30 until 17.15 in the downstairs chapel.

Lent Extra

Lent provides the opportunity to stand back, reflect and prepare for Easter as Jesus did when he spent the 40 days and nights in the desert. To support you during this period of reflection you can pick up, if not already done, a copy of Lent Extra: your journey towards Easter, available at the back of the church.

Lenten Intentions

You are invited to submit your Lenten intentions, especially for those who are suffering or bearing difficult burdens to: info@esrccb.org. These intentions will be offered during Mass on March 27th.

Lenten collections as part of the Bishop’s Appeal
Lent is traditionally a time when we think of others and how we can best support those less fortunate and in need. Our community has a spirit of generosity, and we ask you to consider donating to the following appeals during Easter:

• 3rd and 10th April: Fastenaktion;
• 17th April: Christians in the Holy Land.

Women in Faith

The next WIF meeting will take place in person at a volunteer’s house after the Easter holidays. Scheduled dates: April 29th, May 20th, June 17th, Aug. 19, Sep. 16th(retreat), Oct. 21st and Nov. 18th. Around September 16th an overnight retreat is planned. The venue and topic will be communicated later. Please send an email to info@esrccb.org if you’d like to find out more.

Men in Faith

Currently in recess but will resume after Easter.

Religious Education

Our Religious Education classes are back to physical classes, with our students supporting Mass once per month.
RE classes take place on Sunday March 20th April 24th and May 22nd at the designated venues.
The whole community is invited to the celebrations which are followed by a social gathering after the Mass:
Our young people will receive their sacraments on the following dates:

• First Reconciliation : 15th May 2022 (followed by the AGM)
• First Holy Communion : 19th June 2022 (followed by Social)
• Confirmation : 12th June 2022 at 5pm, Bishop Felix will celebrate the Mass that is followed by a social.

We ask for your continued prayers for our First Reconciliation, First Holy Communion and Confirmation candidates.

Nursery and Word of God programs

The Nursery for babies and toddlers is in the Pre-sacristy room. The WoG program offers religious education for children aged 3-6 in the hall. Both can be offered weekly during Mass. Please email us if you’d like to help get these programs started up again.

Communication

Community registration – Please encourage friends and family to register in our community so that they can be notified of our activities directly by email. Register directly through our homepage: www.ESRCCB.org

Review of Annual Financial Statements

We are obliged to have 2 persons reviewing our financial records on an annual basis. We already have one person who volunteered and would be grateful for a second volunteer. It requires an hour or 2 of your time. Contact our treasurer Joe Paola info@esrccb.org, if you are interested in volunteering.

Collections at Mass

COVID accelerated the reduction of using cash as a preferred payment method in our daily life. As such many of us do not carry cash in our wallets, but rather use electronic means to make payments. To offer you the opportunity to electronically contribute to our Mass Collections we have introduced a QR Code which you scan with your banking app to contribute directly to our bank account. In this way, we hope to facilitate financial contributions to our community to help cover our operating expenses.

Volunteering in our community

We are a community of volunteers, and so are continually in need of additional help and support. We would like to ask you to volunteer and support the continuity of our community. It need only be a few hours a year, but every little bit helps. Some of the roles described below can be carried out by our young people and provide them with a safe place to learn new skills, e.g., being part of the choir, or developing their presentation skills as a lector at Mass.

Our Volunteer Needs:

• Altar servers – to serve at Sunday Mass.
• Minister of the Word (Lector) – to read at Sunday Mass
• Hospitality ministers – to welcome persons attending Mass, hand-out Hymn Books and collect them after Mass
• Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion – to support distribution of Communion at Sunday Mass
• Choir members – to sing in the choir at Sunday Mass
• Teachers – to teach Religious Education classes
• Council member – to ensure the community and all it offers runs smoothly (Chairperson, Treasurer, Secretary, Adult Faith coordinator, Liturgy coordinator, Religious Education teacher, Social coordinators, Heiliggeist Liaison, Communication, Youth Group leader)

If you would like to volunteer, email us: info@esrccb.org.
A special thank you to our dedicated team of volunteers without whom our community would not function.

Link to our ESRCCB Calendar should you wish to link our activities directly into your personal calendar https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/1/r?cid=ZXNyY2NiQGdtYWlsLmNvbQ