OUR LADY QUEEN OF PEACE

Thank you to everyone who welcomed Fr Peter Walters last weekend. He spoke movingly about his work in Medellín, Colombia, with Let The Children Live!, a charity that supports vulnerable children from the streets and shanty-towns. These children are often overlooked and at risk of being drawn into gangs. The charity offers them hope and the chance of ‘life in all its fullness’. Find out how to donate at www.letthechildrenlive.org .

The Catechists would like to thank all those who helped in any way to make this a special year for our First Communion children. Father Graham for the Masses at St Peter's and Christ the King. The parents for their support throughout the preparation, the children who behaved so reverently and the families for their generous gifts to the catechists.

This has been an extraordinary week. The visit of Fr Peter and Rueben from Let the Children Live was a very moving experience. The coming together of our First Holy Communion children was very joyful. We celebrated a very beautiful Requiem Mass on Tuesday for Patricia. The school Mass at St Peter's was really lovely. We also have the consecutive days of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, ending with this Sunday and the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul. We can hardly catch our breath. Parish life is intertwined with feasts that overflow from Easter. Yet all this happens in parallel with a world that is in turmoil. War and rumours of war are everywhere and God's rule is thrown into the dispatches bin.  There will always be, until the end of time, the conflicting kingdoms of heaven and earth that will oppose one another while they coexist. It was the same for Saints Peter and Paul. In the midst of the formation of saints there was fear, betrayal, persecution and conflict. Yet the keys of the kingdom of heaven were given to Peter and to his successors. The authority to forgive, unbind and set free in the name of Jesus. To echo the words of the psalmist, "From all my terrors the Lord set me free". In this world we will have trouble but Jesus says, "Courage the victory is mine!" With my prayer for you all. God bless you, Fr Graham

www.mothersprayers.org Calling all Mothers, (Including spiritual mothers, godmothers and grandmothers) Come and pray for our children. Mothers prayers group starting Friday July 4, 10 -11 am in the Parish Room at St Peter’s. On the first Friday of the month thereafter (except August). You are all welcome to join us for tea/coffee and prayers. See poster and flyers in the church porch

We celebrate and thank God for giving us the gift of Himself in Holy Communion, the true body and blood of Christ. How appropriate that we also welcome Fr Peter from Let the Children Live to our parish this weekend. Fr Peter lives and works among the forgotten children in the shanty towns of Medellín in Colombia. We also welcome together our First Holy Communion children in thanksgiving that they have received the "Bread of Life." Jesus asks the apostles to give the crowd of 5000 plus something to eat themselves. It seems impossible but it is God who feeds the multitude through their offering. It is God who feeds the children of Medellín through the charity's offering. It is God who gives Himself to us, His children, in Holy Communion to nourish and sustain us. It all seems impossible. But the small offering of ourselves is transformed into something miraculous. Never think that God cannot change something ordinary into something extra-ordinary. Bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ. We feed and rely on Him and we come to know the purpose of our life. Our purpose is to know God, love Him and serve Him in this world and the next. We discover this face to face when we encounter the reality of the living Jesus in the Mass - in the Blessed Sacrament, in Holy Communion. Our first response should be one of adoration (CCC 2628). We adore Him for who He is: God. We see His face and we adore Him in preparation for heaven. With my prayer for you everyday.  God bless you Fr Graham

For over 140 years, Arundel Cathedral has celebrated the feast of Corpus Christi with a magnificent festival of flowers, featuring a world famous Carpet of Flowers in the central aisle of the Cathedral and a procession of the Blessed Sacrament from the Cathedral to the courtyard of Arundel Castle, where Benediction is given. The design of this year’s carpet has the communion host and chalice, the objects of veneration at the feast of Corpus Christi, at the centre. The letters ‘A&B’, and the number ‘60’, below, celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton, established in 1965. Prior to that Arundel had been part of the Diocese of Southwark. The letter ‘F’ is in memory of the late Pope Francis, with the papal keys below, followed by the letter ‘L’ in honour or out newly elected Pope Leo XIV. At each end of the carpet are the words ‘Jubilee Year’. Every 25 years the Catholic Church holds a jubilee year, with a specific theme. This year the theme is ‘Pilgrims of Hope’, intended to be a time of hope and renewal. Individual arrangements of flowers are displayed in the baptistery at the entrance, and around the main altar and side altars, together with a display of liturgical vestments and altarware.  Thanks to our parishioner, Pauline Zahoui, for the photos below. Pauline was part of the team creating the carpet, and has kindly brought some of the leftover stems and placed them in vases below the tabernacle at St Peter’s, linking us to Arundel Cathedral.

Saturday 5th July , 12pm-4.15pm,Church of Our Lady of Consolation & St Francis, West Grinstead, RH13 8LT. With Mass, personal consecration to Our Lady, Rosary, Adoration, Chaplet, Benediction and opportunities for Reconciliation. Bring a packed lunch. For details, contact Jayne by email .

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, The celebration of Corpus Christi that takes place at our cathedral each year is a wonderful occasion. The celebration of the sacrifice of the Mass, the procession of the Blessed Sacrament and the Carpet of Flowers, laid in honour of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, is a high point in the life of the cathedral and diocese. It is a clear reminder to us all of the central place of the Eucharist in our lives. The absolute love of the Lord – seen in the feeding of the five thousand that is the gospel reading this week – is there for us every time we celebrate Mass. As St Paul reminds us in the Second Reading this Sunday, the sacrifice of Calvary is made present and the Lord feeds us with His very Self, for He is the Bread of Life. We find life every time we join in this celebration, together with our brothers and sisters. It is this life that sustains our every action – indeed, every moment of our lives. The Mass, the Eucharist, is a proclamation of our faith in the One who died and rose from the dead for us; it is the food for our journey and the source of all our action. We leave the celebration, as the dismissal at the end of Mass reminds us, to “announce the Gospel of the Lord.” Without our closeness to Christ in the Eucharist, this proclamation would be less effective. The sustenance of the Bread of Life Himself makes life and mission possible for us. In the Eucharist, we are in the Divine Presence, we are in the presence of Christ, who is a “priest for ever” as Psalm 109 reminds us. May this encounter with the person of Christ Himself – truly present in the Eucharist – be the wellspring of our every breath, our every moment, our every action, that all we do may proclaim to the world the wonder of all the Lord has done for us. With every blessing,  + Richard

To Gus, Aria, Jayden, Daisy, Emilia, Alesha, Anna and Mila, who have all received their First Holy Communion over the last few weeks. All are welcome to the Parish Room at St Peter’s after the 9.00am mass this Sunday for a celebration.  There will be cake!