Dear Friends,
I am headed to the Emerald Isle for a few days next week so we will not have Mass here except for the Requiem Mass on Monday at noon for Felix Montoya Martin RIP.
Assisted Suicide Bill—please write to your MP about this. The link is: https://righttolife.org.uk/ASthreat The introduction of the Bill comes at a time when many elderly people are heading into winter with their Winter Fuel Payment cut by the Government. Palliative care services are in crisis with over 100,000 people dying each year without receiving the palliative care they desperately need. Our wider health and social care system is in a state of crisis, with Labour’s own Health Secretary describing the NHS as “broken”. Will assisted suicide become a way to cut costs? Will there be a move to shorten lives rather than invest in health and social care provision or to support the hospice movement properly. You can read more about the Hospice movement and recent considerations at: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cdp-2024-0069/#:~:text=Most%20hospices%20were%20established%20from,the%20NHS%20and%20central%20Government. To read more about the debate and what exactly is being proposed in the bill, you can look at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-47158287
For the next two Wednesdays—23rd and 30th October we will pray the Rosary here at 09h45 if you would like to come. For those of you who cannot attend in person this will of course by live-streamed so you can follow online. Remember the address is: churchservices.tv/Hampstead. Also available in person and online is our Faith-Sharing Group which will meet this Sunday at 16h00 in the Parish Room. The topic is the bible and the common good. As the booklet states: “In a time of division and instability we are encouraged to build alliances of goodwill..” There will be a total of six sessions. If you can only make even one of them, we would love to have you. If you cannot attend in person, please use the Zoom details: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89219632464?pwd=DrdJjsz5kxahIdNhUX0IgZ7HX62gWP.1
Meeting ID: 892 1963 2464
Passcode: 295369
God bless, Monsignor Phelim