12th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Day of prayer for life)

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12th Sunday in Ordinary Time Day of Prayer for life Be still and know that I am God One of the things we have discovered with recent events is how much the UK loves its waters and its fish, which apparently are equally happy to belong to the UK. However, not every nation has had that love for the sea, much less for the creatures that live in there. Important as water is for life, the people of Israel have never felt comfortable in the water. Of course, the sea is only God’s creation and so is everything that lives in it. But its uncontrollable power, its capacity to destroy and kill together with all the “monsters” that live there and the many mysteries it hides, made the Israelites look at the sea, sometimes with great respect, others with fear and horror. In fact, only two kings in their history adventured to the open sea: Solomon and Jehoshaphat. Even in the Gospels we can still see some of that mistrust. What we have in the Gospel this Sunday, therefore, is not just a manifestation of Jesus’s power over the water and the wind – which would already be enough to prove his divinity – but also his superiority over the mysterious evil powers that live in the sea. Sadly, we do not look at the sea with the same awe anymore, so such miracle would seem irrelevant to many. Not everything is lost, though. There is one more layer to the Gospel this Sunday. With the intervention of Jesus, the apostles go from contemplating in fear the power of evil to contemplating in awe the overwhelming power of good. And that is relevant today! Incidentally, this Sunday 20th of June is a day dedicated to life. Today is a day to renew our commitment to the defence of human life and dignity, especially at the most critical moments, that is, its beginning and end. Laws allowing the killing of unborn babies and assisted suicide are major threats to the dignity and the right to life of vulnerable humans. However, the Gospel invites us all not to fall into the temptation of spending our time contemplating the power of evil while we miss opportunities to fight it. Instead, with the grace of God and his inspiration, let us do all the good we can in defence of the most vulnerable, with the confidence and trust that good will ultimately overcome every evil.   Fr Daniel Herrero Peña   For news and prayer list for the sick and our deceased go to the notice board section of our website.  Parish News: Fr Daniel Herrero Pena. After 3 years as assistant priest with us Fr Daniel will take up a new appointment in September. He has been appointed as the assistant priest to Our Lady of Grace, Chiswick and also serving the parishes of Grove Park and Gunnersbury. The Cardinal has appointed the Rev Marco Salvagnini to succeed Fr Daniel as the assistant priest for our parish. Marco will be ordained to the priesthood next Saturday, June 26th. You can watch live the ordination of the new priests at 10.30 am from Westminster Cathedral website. Use the button below.  Ordinations to the Priesthood Remembering Fr Freddie Jackson. The first anniversary of Fr Freddie's death will fall on Saturday the 17th of July. The 6.00pm Mass that evening will be offered for the repose of his soul. Members of his family will be joining us. We had hoped that the social distancing regulations would have been lifted. Unfortunately we still have to limit the number of people who can attend the Mass.     Please, pray from our children and young people, who will be receiving their First Holy Communion and confirmation in the next months of June and July.    Settlement Scheme for European Citizens   EU, EEA and Swiss citizens who were living in the UK by 31st December 2020 have until 30th June 2021 to apply for the Settlement Scheme. Those who do not apply are at risk of losing their rights to live and work here or access important services such as healthcare.  Relevant information can be found on the official government website (https://www.gov.uk/settled-status-eu-citizens-families/applying-for-settled-status), from the European Commission (www.eurights.uk/what-you-need-to-know) or from the charity Settled (https://settled.org.uk/en/). Our Lady of Victories 16 Abingdon Road London W8 6AF 020 7937 4778  kensington1@rcdow.org.uk