Requiem

It's a busy time here in the parish - with four funerals this week and five next week.

This morning I conducted a very difficult funeral. The deceased was a young man shot dead back in November, a few weeks before his 21st birthday. The Hackney Gazette's version of events can be found here. As you can imagine, the church was packed and the family even invited a special Gospel Choir to sing.

It is always very draining to preside over the obsequies of one who died so young. Emotions were particularly high in the crematorium. Sadly he is one of many such needless casualties in our society, often not covered in the national press. Please say a prayer for him - may he rest in peace.