Dear Friends,
This weekend is Remembrance Sunday. The 11h30 Mass on Sunday will be a Requiem Mass for all who died in the service of this country. We will pray with the nation at the end of the 10h00 Mass for the silence, last post and reveille. We will do the same at the beginning of 11h30. Perhaps now more than at any other time over the past 80 years we all need to reflect on what was sacrificed by so many so that we may enjoy the stability, protections and freedoms we typically take for granted. These are hard won and sadly all too easily lost if we are not vigilant.
An example of this protection and freedom relates to the Church’s teaching on the dignity and sanctity of human life. We are made in Imago Dei. We believe that human life is sacred from the moment of conception until the moment of natural death. This is threatened by the proposed Assisted Suicide Bill recently introduced by MP Kim Leadbeater. We are delighted to announce that Karen and Santana have assembled a learned panel to debate: ‘Is the Assisted Suicide Bill about Compassion, Giving Choice and Dignity?’ It takes place Farm Street Church, 114 Mount Street, W1K 3AH on Sunday, 24 November 2024, starting at 15h00.
The panel members are:
Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson DBE DL Multi gold medal winning paralympic athlete and advocate for disability rights
Dr Matthew Doré Consultant Palliative Care Physician
Professor Julian Hughes Former Consultant Old Age Psychiatrist
Professor David Jones Professor of Bioethics
If you cannot attend in person, you can livestream by visiting www.farmstreet.org.uk/livestream
You need to register with Eventbrite to attend in person. You can follow the link here or the links in the attached leaflet.
Our Sacramental programmes resume this weekend after the half-term break. Parents please ensure your children have their books and pens/pencils.
God bless,
Monsignor Phelim