Sea Sunday: Stella Maris Appeal
Webmaster • July 9, 2026
Most of us will leave church today and go safely home. We will sit at a table, speak to the people we love, and sleep in our own beds.
For many seafarers, that simply isn’t possible.
They can spend months at sea, often unable to step ashore, with limited contact with home. When something goes wrong, they are far from everything and everyone familiar.
And today, many seafarers are working in even more difficult circumstances.
In recent weeks and months, the world has watched events in and around the Strait of Hormuz, one of the most important shipping routes in the world.
We hear news reports about trade, petrol prices and security. But behind every headline, there are real people on board these ships. People who are wondering when they will get home, whether their ship will be safe, and when they will see the people they love again.
At the start of the crisis, around 20,000 seafarers were trapped in the Strait, caught up in a conflict that was completely outside of their control. Some ships and crews have now been able to evacuate.
But for Stella Maris, this is often when the work really begins.
We know this from our support for seafarers affected by the war in Ukraine. The impact of a crisis does not always appear straight away. Fear, stress, separation from family and financial uncertainty can affect people weeks or even months after the immediate danger has passed.
This is why Stella Maris exists.
Our chaplains and volunteers visit ships, they listen to crews, help them contact home, support them in hospital, pray with them, and stand alongside them when life at sea becomes frightening or lonely.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus speaks of seed being sown generously.
The work of Stella Maris is like that sowing. Each visit, each conversation, each quiet act of care is a seed planted in a life that is often hard, isolated and unseen. You may never meet the people who benefit, but your support helps that seed take root.
Today is Sea Sunday. A chance to remember the seafarers who bring us so much of what we rely on every day. It is also a chance to help Stella Maris be there for them, offering practical, pastoral and spiritual support when they need it most: during the crisis, and long after the headlines have moved on.
26 September, 10am-6.30pm, St Wilfrid’s Church, Burgess Hill, RH15 9EN (Cost: £20). Young Adults (18-35) are invited to a jam-packed day of prayer, formation, friendship, and fun - praying to discover true peace within ourselves, to become peacemakers in the world around us, and to be renewed with an apostolic fire burning brightly within our hearts. Young Adults' Retreat Day (26-Sep-2026) · ChurchSuite Events
There will be two opportunities to attend the Deanery Marriage Preparation Course for those intending to be married in a Catholic Church in 2027 as follows. The first opportunity will be in November 2026, the first four Thursday evenings, 5th, 12th, 19th, 26th starting at 7pm - locations to be finalised in September. The second opportunity will be two consecutive Saturdays in 2027, 30th Jan, 6 th Feb. A morning session 10am-12 noon, and an afternoon session, 1pm-3pm on both days; locations to be finalised in September. Full attendance, at the four sessions that constitute each individual course, is required before permission to marry can be granted. Application forms will be made available in September when the locations have been finalised. Deacon Simon Wright, Worthing Deanery Marriage Preparation Coordinator.
Back in May we celebrated the ascension of Jesus bodily into heaven whereas today we celebrate the assumption of His mother bodily into heaven. The “assumption” is completely different to the “ascension” because one is passive (i.e. one is assumed) and the other is active (i.e. one ascends). But it is the same power that is involved, it is by the power of God that Mary was assumed into heaven, and it is by His own power, the power of God, that Jesus ascended to heaven. Hence Mary’s assumption points directly to the divine power of her Son. So why did God assume Mary into heaven? There are several reasons but for me her Assumption is closely connected with her Immaculate Conception. Mary’s soul was preserved from original sin, hence and her body was spared physical corruption or decay. In addition, it serves as a sign of hope for believers. It foreshadows the ultimate bodily resurrection promised to all followers of Christ at the end of time. Blessings, Deacon Simon
Please save the dates. We will welcome the Relics Tour and Eucharistic Miracles Exhibition of Blessed Carlo Acutis, in the Parish Room at St Peter’s this autumn. More details soon.
Do you have an old mobile phone surplus to your needs? If so, please consider donating it to a parish in Ghana. My close friend Fr. Gregory from Ghana is in the UK supplying holiday cover. He re-purposes mobile phones, giving them to people in remote parts of Ghana so they can make contact in an emergency, (spiritual or physical). Battery condition does not matter but they should have the sim card removed and be reset to factory default which wipes them clean, (I can help with this). I can collect them from St. Peters Shoreham, Christ the King Steyning or The Towers between now and August 30th (please note change of date). Many thanks Deacon Simon
Many thanks to everyone who has donated items to our summer campaign. All the final donations will be delivered this week. We always have a box in the porch, so please continue to donate when you can. You can find their up-to-date wishlist on their Facebook page.
Bishop-elect Stephen shared this message for diocesan parishes on 2 July 2026: Dear friends in the Diocese of Arundel & Brighton, dear brothers and sisters, I’m so happy to be appointed as your new bishop, and I am really looking forward to meeting you and getting to know the Diocese – the priests and deacons, those in consecrated life, all the lay faithful, and so many others. I’m really looking forward to visiting our parishes and schools, and all the other communities that make up our Diocese. I’m just sorry that I can’t get back to be with you at this time because we have our diaconal ordination in Rome this weekend. As you can imagine, the news came as a complete surprise to me. The first thing I did after being told on Tuesday morning was to visit St Peter’s Basilica. I prayed at the tombs of St Peter and St John Paul II for you all and offered Mass for the Diocese. There are many challenges ahead, but I am full of hope. I’ve seen so many times what God can do when people pray and work together, and when they put their trust in him. If we listen to one another, and to the Lord, then he will show us the way forward. You have been very blessed to have Archbishop Richard with you over these years. I keep being told what a wonderful diocese it is and how lucky I am to be going there! Which I certainly am. I want to thank Canon Jonathan Martin as well, for looking after things so well in this interim period. Let’s pray for each other, and for our Diocese. Please pray for me and for my intentions. I put all my trust in the Sacred Heart of Jesus, in his Church, and in his mother Mary. His love is so powerful. There is so much to be grateful for, and so much to do. I pray that we can grow in holiness together, be of service to those around us, and help all people to know the love and mercy of Jesus Christ and the message of the Gospel. With every blessing, Fr Stephen Fr Stephen’s Biography Fr Stephen Wang was born in London in 1966 and grew up in Harpenden, Hertfordshire. He read Theology and Religious Studies at Cambridge University from 1986 to 1989, before undertaking priestly formation at the Venerable English College in Rome from 1992 to 1997. Ordained on 3 January 1998, he worked in parish ministry in Dollis Hill, London, from 1997 to 2001. From 2001 to 2005 he studied for a PhD on the subject of human happiness at Cambridge University, assisting at Fisher House Chaplaincy, based at the University, for two years. He lectured in Philosophy and Theology at Allen Hall seminary in Chelsea from 2005 to 2013 and was Dean of Studies from 2009 to 2013. During this time, he was also a visiting priest at Wormwood Scrubs Prison, White City, and a confessor at Notting Hill Carmel, a cloistered convent of Carmelite nuns located in St Charles Square. From 2013 to 2021, Fr Stephen served as Senior University Chaplain in the Diocese of Westminster and was Catholic Chaplain at The London School of Economics. In 2014, a group of young people led by Fr Stephen developed ‘Sycamore’, a video-based Catholic faith formation programme that explores the Christian faith through short films and guided discussion. Designed to make Christianity more accessible, Sycamore is now used by Catholic parishes, schools, and university chaplaincies across the world. Following three years as Vocations Director for Westminster Diocese, Fr Stephen was appointed Rector of the Venerable English College in 2021, where he served for five years.
The new Parish Leadership Team (PLTe) met recently and developed two potential Vision Statements for our new Parish, from which another was developed, (using a Large Language Model), that amalgamated the two. Here are the three candidate Vision statements. Please read them and pray over them, asking the Holy Spirit to help us discern which of the three is most in tune with the Pastoral Plan and best for the new Parish. Statement 1 Our vision is to be a vibrant, joyful, Christ-centred Catholic parish where all are made welcome, find a place to belong, grow in faith and work together with other faith communities to make a difference through our new parish. Statement 2 Our vision is to be a family of churches and communities where everyone is welcome: • Inspired by God’s message of compassion, love, and inclusion of all with Christ at the centre; • Caring for the vulnerable and those in need; • Building a sense of shared community, growing in faith, and nurturing each other’s talents. Statement 3 (created by amalgamating the above two statements) Our vision is to be a vibrant, joyful, Christ-centred Catholic family of churches and communities where everyone is welcome and finds a place to belong. Inspired by God’s message of love, compassion, and radical inclusion, we grow together in faith, nurture each other’s talents, and care for the vulnerable. Moving forward as a new parish, we seek to collaborate with other faith communities to build a deeply shared community, working together to make a difference for all.
Next weekend ( 1-2 August 2026 ) we welcome Fr Emmanuel Mbeh MHM to give a Red Box Appeal. Thank you to parishioners who already give to Missio, the Pope’s charity for World Mission. Your generous donations either through the Red Box or Direct Debit support the Church around the World where it is young or in need. There will not be a second collection as the appeal is for membership to the Red Box scheme. Please keep the work of Missio and the Mill Hill Missionaries in your prayers. To find out more: www.missio.org.uk .
Despite all the difficulties that people face, there is a hunger for truth, for meaning, for beauty, and it’s leading many of them to Jesus, to the Bible, to the Mass, and to the Church. The real question is this: are we ready to welcome them and to lead them deeper in their journey of faith?