On Ash Wednesday evening, a group of about thirty, made up of parishioners of St Brigid’s and students linked to the Catholic Chaplaincy at Queen’s University, had a zoom meeting with Fr Fouad Nakhla SJ, now based in Damascus, Syria. You may recall that Fr Fouad spent some time with us early last year before lockdown. During our meeting, someone asked if Covid-19 was a problem in Syria. Fr Fouad answered that, yes, it was a big problem, but there are many bigger, and more pressing, problems, as a result not much attention was paid to Covid-19! As he talked to us, we noticed that he was wearing his anorak – he had no heat, and it was snowing outside! Yet, he is more fortunate than the thousands whose homes have been bombed and their lives shattered. Food has been reduced to bread and tea – and buying bread involves a three hour queue each day. Fr Fouad has said, “I feel that I can nearly hold the despair and hopelessness in my hands.” He heads the Jesuit Refugee Service in Syria. JRS supports centres in Damascus, Homs, and Aleppo, striving to provide very basic hygiene care, food, and education, for the many hundreds, of mostly street children, who come to the centres. We are presently investigating various ways in which we can support Fr Fouad’s work, but immediately, we are organising this Easter Raffle to raise funds for him. We are confident of your support.