November 2026

In November we have the annual and important Remembrance Sunday. On this day people from across the parishes stop and remember the fallen of past conflicts. We gather and note the effect of violence and of our ability to be inhuman toward one another.

It is a shame that we, as a world, cannot remember in such a way so as make never again a reality. However, as governments and invested interests shift, we do not need to do so as children of God. The commandments of God do not change. ‘Thou shalt not murder’. This is not an abstract and it applies to how we, as humans, treat one another. Some wish to sentimentalise this and include animals but, as uncomfortable as it maybe, the Holy Scriptures evidence that God is ok with animal sacrifice at times.

Another part of making ‘never again’ a reality is learning to do the hard act of forgiving another, be that a person or ‘other’.  We are all really bad at this as a sense of being right dominates. Mea culpa!

Perhaps a more effective way of marking Remembrance this year, rather than to think of the complicated world stage, will be to think of an individual who has, intentionally or not, wronged us and pledging to forgive them. This may not be immediate; no, it may well be an intention to want to want to forgive them, but that is a start.

Please God, let it be that the Please God, let it be that the Blessed Saints, most particularly Our Lady, continue to pray for us!