Newsletter

Twelfth Sunday of the Year

June 21st, 2026

 

My dear parishioners,

This weekend the Catholic Church in Scotland celebrates ‘Day for Life’; this year’s theme is ‘The Wonder of the Child in the Womb’ and reflects on the humanity of the unborn child and acknowledges with compassion, the deep grief experienced by parents who lose a child before or shortly after birth. The following Pastoral Letter has been prepared by three bishops, representing the Bishops’ Conferences of Scotland, Ireland, England and Wales:

 

Day for Life presents an opportunity to celebrate the dignity of all life from conception to natural end. The theme for 2026 is ‘The Wonder of the Child in the Womb.’ Every year Day for Life falls on Father’s Day and we wish fathers a blessed day; today we remember with gratitude the loving care and direction our parents gave to us, whether they are still with us or have gone to the Lord.

 

Parenthood is a vocation of joys and hopes, griefs and anxieties. On this year’s Day for Life, we acknowledge the particular grief of mothers and fathers who have lost a child before birth or in infancy. Mother’s Day and Father’s Day can be especially difficult for parents who experience the loss of an infant. Such loss often takes its toll upon the mother, and it can leave fathers feeling helpless and unsure of how to support their family, or how to express their own grief,

 

The Church wants to be especially close to parents who have suffered the loss of a child. We try to offer spiritual support through the pastoral care of our priests, and through the comfort of the liturgy. Just as importantly, many parents find consolation in their faith and its assurance that every child, including those who lose their life before they are born or soon after, is created, willed and deeply loved by God from all eternity. We have the Lord’s promise from the Scriptures: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born, I consecrated you.” (Jer 1:5).

 

The Word of God reveals the sacred humanity of the unborn child and perhaps helps us to understand why we feel such profound grief at the loss of a baby. Parents instinctively grasp how precious and unique the child is whom they have lost and whom they may already have called by name.

 

Science is clear that life begins at fertilisation when a new and unique living human being comes into existence. Every technological development in recent decades has given us insight into how life in the womb unfolds for each of us. At conception, our gender, genetic makeup and hair colour are already determined. As early as five weeks, our heart begins to beat. By ten weeks we can move and respond to touch and, beginning two weeks later, we have the capacity to feel pian. By eighteen weeks, our mother can sense our movement in the womb. By twenty-seven weeks we can recognise the voices of our parents. For some decades, parents have been able to observe some of these stages through ultrasound scans during pregnancy. The more we learn about the science, the more we understand the teaching of the Church on the unique value of the unborn child.

 

This understanding, however, is not complete without the recognition that, from the beginning, every human being is not just a body but also an immortal soul, with a unique and eternal connection with God, our Creator. It is because of what science and faith reveal to us that the Church and many people of good will have always held that the unborn child merits the full protection of the law, and why we have always rejected elective abortion.

 

This Day for Life we reflect on the wonder of human life from the moment of fertilisation. We remember how the Lord Jesus Christ himself sanctified and experienced the beginning of life in the world as an unborn child, hidden in the womb of Mary. Mary knew that she was carrying the Son of God – God and man – as soon as he was conceived. John the Baptist leapt in his mother Elizabeth’s womb when Mary greeted her. Our Lady treasured Our Lord in her heart and womb until his birth.

 

We in our turn, commit ourselves to work and pray for our society to cherish the value of every little one, especially those at the earliest stage of human life, and to help our parish communities support all those in our midst who have suffered the loss of a child.

 

Most Reverend John Sherrington

Archbishop of Liverpool, England and Wales

Most Reverend Kevin Doran

Bishop of Elphin and of Achonry, Ireland

Most Reverend John Keenan

Bishop of Paisley, Scotland

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Schedule for the Daily Liturgy:

 

Monday June 22nd: Mass at 10am;

Rosary at 9,40am; Confessions at 6.30pm; Novena at 7pm

 

Tuesday June 23rd Mass at St. Paul’s School at 9.45am

End of term Thanksgiving Mass

 

Wednesday June 24th: Mass at 10am

St. Mary’s Primary; Thanksgiving Mass

 

Thursday June 25th: Requiem for Jim Carter at 12 noon

 

The church’s daily liturgy is a wonderful way to begin the day; you are always welcome to join us for the Rosary and Mass

 

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The Parish Pastoral Council will meet on Wednesday, June 24th at 7pm in the parish meeting room; the PPC is there to serve the parish community and your suggestions, comments and observations are welcome; Please speak to a member of the Council or put a note in the box at the back of the church or email PPC1846@hotmail.com.

 

St. Vincent de Paul Conference in our parish; thank you to those who have offered to serve our parish through the good work of the SVDP: Ronnie Boyd will serve as President, Paula Walker as vice-President, Kevin Irvine as Treasurer, Angela Lynch as Secretary. The next meeting will take place on Tuesday, June 30th at 6.30pm.

 

Next Sunday we celebrate the Solemnity of St. Peter and St. Paul; a special collection for Peter’s Pence, the papal charity, will be taken up.

 

Recently Deceased: Jim Carter, Esther Agnew, Antoinette Girasoli, Michalina Tedescho, Helen Walsh, Jim Bain, Christine Collinder, Linda Anderson, Sally Forte, Lawrence Murphy

 

Special Remembrance: Charlie Daly, William Donnelly, John Francis Moore, Anna McCool, May White, Alec Wilson and deceased relatives, friends and benefactors of our parish.