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Gospel in Art: Solemnity of Saint Joseph

St Joseph and the Christ Child by Guido Reni © Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

Gospel of 19 March 2024 Luke 2:41-51a Every year the parents of Jesus used to go to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover. When he was twelve years old, they went up for the feast as usual. When they were on their way home after the feast, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem without his parents knowing it. They assumed he was with the caravan, and it was only after a day's journey that they... Read More


Text: Fr Fadi Diab at Southwark Cathedral + video

Colette Joyce from Westminster Justice and Peace with Fr Fadi Diab. Image: ICN/JS

Father Fadi Diab, Rector of the Anglican Parish in Ramallah, in the Palestinian West Bank gave the following sermon at Southwark Anglican Cathedral at the 9 and 11am services on Sunday, 17 March 2024. Afterwards he took part in a Q&A session. See a link to a video of the service below. May the words of my mouth, the meditations of our hearts, the actions of our hands, and the conditions of our... Read More


Priest from Holy Land visits London parish

Fr Fadi Diab with some Kentish Town parishioners, Brendan Metcalfe from FHL,  and members of Christians for Palestine. Image: ICN/JS

Father Fadi Diab, Rector of the Anglican Parish in Ramallah, received a warm welcome when he visited the parish of Our Lady Help of Christians in Kentish Town on Saturday. Fr Fadi is currently on a visit to the UK hosted by Friends of the Holy Land. Born and educated in the West Bank, Fr Fadi is a founder of the Youth Connection for Peace Programme, a member of the Palestine-Israeli Theologians Fo... Read More


Gaza: 'Famine is imminent' UN food agency warns

Photo by Mohammed Ibrahim on Unsplash

The UN food agency says "famine is imminent" in northern Gaza, where an estimated 70% of the population faces catastrophic hunger. William Bell, Christian Aid's Head of Middle East Policy and Advocacy, commented: "Children in Gaza are dying of malnutrition and disease with desperate families reportedly eating grass to survive. This is suffering on a scale you couldn't imagine. Our local partners i... Read More

Reflection for Home Office Vigil - 18 March 2024

Not casting stones We come here month after month, to pray for asylum seekers and to mark the deaths of those whom the system has failed. We pray, like the importunate widow, each time, for justice for refugees, for a welcome for these strangers. What more can we be doing that we are not already doing? I thought about today's reading, and the woman who apparently deserved stoning, and Jesus's relu... Read More


Celebrating Southwark Caritas first anniversary

St George's Cathedral Southwark. Image ICN/JS

Archbishop John Wilson presided at a Mass in St George's Cathedral on Saturday, 16 March, to celebrate the first year's work of the diocesan Caritas organisation. He was accompanied by a number of clergy, including three of his auxiliaries (one of them retired) and by Canon Victor Darlington who is the Episcopal Vicar responsible for Caritas Southwark. The new organisation started out with four br... Read More


Annual Clergy Justice & Peace Gathering

Wistaston Hall Retreat Centre

For more than 25 years an informal group of Catholic clergy whose ministry involves them in Justice & Peace issues has met at Wistaston Hall, Crewe, to reflect on how our faith can illuminate our understanding of the contemporary world and how our communities can be a sign of hope in our society. This year, the meeting is from 6pm on Sunday, May 5 to breakfast time on Tuesday, May 7. If you w... Read More


Ursuline Links seeks Director

An exciting opportunity has arisen to join Ursuline Links as the Director to action the strategic direction for the charity's future. The ideal candidate will have a personal faith commitment and previous experience of working to motivate and inspire young people. This role will involve working with the Ursuline schools and other interested groups involved in Catholic youth ministry. Hours - 3... Read More


Gospel in Art: Let the one among you who has not sinned be the first to throw a stone

Party of Life, by Keith Haring (1958-1990), Drawn in 1986 © Keith Haring Foundation

Gospel of 18 March 2024 John 8:1-11 Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At daybreak he appeared in the Temple again; and as all the people came to him, he sat down and began to teach them. The scribes and Pharisees brought a woman along who had been caught committing adultery; and making her stand there in full view of everybody, they said to Jesus, 'Master, this woman was caught in the very act of... Read More


Christian Aid rejects Israel's 'half-baked' plan to force Gaza people on to 'humanitarian islands'

Over a million people live in makeshift shelters on the beach or bombed out buildings. Image NK.

As the civilian death toll in Gaza, from military onslaught, starvation and disease, continues to rise, Israel has announced plans to force the population into 'humanitarian islands'. Over a million people who have already been forced to moved several times, are currently surviving in makeshift shelters, with little water, toilet facilities of food in Rafah, in the southern corner of Gaza. William... Read More


Romero Service: Call for 'Prayerful and Prophetic Resilience' to Injustice

Dr Perrier at St Martin in the Fields.  Image ICN/JS

Red roses and lit candles were placed beside a bust of St Oscar Romero of El Salvador at St Martin in the Fields Church, Trafalgar Square, on Saturday for the annual ecumenical service to commemorate the 44th anniversary of his killing. The theme of the service was, 'Prayerful and Prophetic Resilience in the Face of Injustice - Archbishops Oscar Romero and Denis Hurley.' Organised by the Archbisho... Read More


Text: Dr Raymond Perrier at London St Oscar Romero service

Dr Perrier. Image: ICN/JS

Dr Raymond Perrier, Director of the Denis Hurley Centre in Durban, South Africa, gave the following address during the Ecumenical Service to mark the 44th anniversary of the martyrdom of St Oscar Romero at St Martin in the Fields, Trafalgar Sqhaere, London on Saturday, 16 March 2024. Prayerful and Prophetic Resilience in the Face of Injustice We have, in the figures of St Oscar Romero of El Salva... Read More


(Further) Sunday Reflection with Canon Robin Gibbons 17 March 2024

Leaf from a Beatus Manuscript: Lamb at the foot of the Cross, flanked by two angels. Image public domain.

Year B readings ( Not the Scrutiny which is Year A as my original text ) A partial apology!! An extra reflection, thanks to a kind person who sent a message to say that I was stuck on year A, which is partly true, but only if you are not doing the Scrutinies, for if you are my reflection of Lazarus is still apposite, as it will be for our Byzantine Rite Eastern Catholics who celebrate this event o... Read More


Mass emigration threatening Christian future in Syria

Hope Centre beneficiary Youssef Afesa working in his smithy in Damascus (© Hope Centre/ACN)

Stark warnings have come from respected Church figures that urgent action is desperately needed to prevent the wipe-out of the Christian community in Syria. Father Basilios Gergeos, a priest ministering in Damascus, told Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN): "Ninety percent of Syria's citizens are thinking of emigrating." While members of all faiths are leaving, the exodus threatens to... Read More

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