​This Sunday is Sea Sunday, when we remember the many seafarers and fishers on whom we depend so much.  There is a collection after each Mass for the Catholic Charity Stella Maris, formerly known as the “Apostleship of the Sea”, which cares for them.  Stella Maris means “star of the sea”, and it is one of the titles of Our Lady.  Indeed many port cities have churches dedicated to Our Lady, Star of the Sea.  There is an ancient Latin hymn using this title, the “Ave Maris Stella”, and there is also a reference to the title in the popular 19th-century hymn, “Hail, Queen of Heaven, the Ocean Star”.  Sea Sunday is regularly held on the second Sunday in July.

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The coming week is the final week of term for our primary school, Saint Vincent’s.  So this Sunday will be the last occasion for the children’s liturgy until September, as many families will be taking the opportunity to set off on holiday once the school term has finished.  We pray especially for the leavers, who will be starting at a new school in September.

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On Wednesday of this week, a talk will be given in the Social Centre at 7pm, one of the activities of the Young Adults Group.  The title is “The Catholic Doctrine of Creation in the Age of AI”, and it is led by speakers from Family Life International, an organisation that affirms the sanctity of life from conception to natural death and the traditional family as central to God’s plan.

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Our friends at the Good Counsel Network have a message for us, in view of some of the recent decisions in Parliament that go against the sanctity of life. They say this:

Please pray and fast for the end of abortion and euthanasia on Thursday 24th July, the Vigil of the Feast of St James … These days seem quite dark, what with Parliament voting to partly decriminalise abortion and voting to legalise euthanasia. Please invite others to join us in praying and fasting for life, you can do so with this link, https://www.facebook.com/events/1419157822872567

There is also a pilgrimage that they would like to draw to your attention:

The 15th Annual GK Chesterton Pilgrimage will take place on Saturday 26th July 2025. As always there are several ways you can join in, either in prayer, or by joining us in walking a short section of the pilgrimage or even in walking the whole 27 miles! To be involved you can:
1. Sponsor Nathanael as he raises funds for Good Counsel’s life-saving work; https://www.gofundme.com/f/helping-mothers-and-babies-with-the-gk-chesterton-pilgrimage 
2.  Send prayer intentions for us to pray for along the way, we will not make the intentions public; catholicgkcsociety@yahoo.co.uk 

You can find other details of the walk and the Mass here, https://www.facebook.com/events/1675870979701803.

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It is very much the season for pilgrimage.  In addition to the annual GK Chesterton Pilgrimage, there is the diocesan pilgrimage to Lourdes at the end of July.  We pray for all those taking part, but at the same time we hope that many of you will still be in London for our parish patronal feast of Saint James on 25 July.  Of course, the shrine of Saint James in northern Spain, at Santiago de Compostela, is a great centre of pilgrimage and has been for centuries.  That is why so many pilgrims choose to make the “camino”, the pilgrimage to Santiago. 

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The symbol for this pilgrimage is the shell, which you find in a great many places around St James’s Church.  On a practical level, the shell is very useful for pilgrims to scoop up water and to serve as a plate, but it has other significance too.  There are many legends associated with St James that feature scallop shells.  It is also said that the radiating lines found on a shell indicate the diverse routes that lead to the shrine at Santiago.

 

Our parish feast is a wonderful occasion to give thanks for the many blessings that we receive through Saint James’s Church.  Do come if you can.  The 7pm Mass that day will be celebrated by the former Bishop of Lancaster, Bishop Michael Campbell, who is an Augustinian, like Pope Leo.  The preacher will be Bishop David Waller, from the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham.  He is our neighbour, as he is based at the church on Warwick Street, the headquarters of the Ordinariate.

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The feast of Saint James is an important occasion on which to celebrate our historic links with Spain, since our parish began as the Spanish Embassy Chapel almost three hundred years ago.  As well as numerous shells, there are quite a few crowns visible in our church, and the reference is usually to the Spanish crown, in view of our historic links with the kingdom of Spain.  Indeed this is the reason why Saint James was adopted as the patron of our parish.  

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So we pray to Saint James to intercede for us, and particularly for our Spanish parishioners and for those who bear his name.  Saint James was one of the twelve Apostles, particularly close to Our Lord.  Indeed, he was one of the “inner circle” of the Apostles, privileged to be present at the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor and at the Garden of Gethsemane.  He was also the first of the Twelve Apostles to shed his blood for Christ, as we read in Chapter 12 of the Acts of the Apostles.  Saint James, pray for us!