St Teresa & St John Southworth Churches, Cleveleys
Fr Chris Cousens—Phone: 853340
Rev Bernard Ward (Deacon) (Tel: 858346)
Enquiries for St John Southworth: Phone: 853340
14 August 2022
http://www.st-teresas-church.co.uk
Email: st.teresas.cleveleys@gmail.com
Lancaster Roman Catholic Diocesan Trustees Registered Charity Number 23433
Sunday : The Assumption
Contents: Gospel
Notices
Reflections for the coming week
Gospel: Luke 1. 39-56
Mary set out and went as quickly as she could to a town in the hill country of Judah. She went intoZechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth. Now as soon as Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. She gave a loud cry and said, ‘Of all women you are the most blessed, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Why should I be honoured with a visit from the mother of my Lord? For the moment your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leapt for joy. Yes, blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled. ‘And Mary said:
‘My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord
and my spirit exults in God my saviour;
because he has looked upon his lowly handmaid.
Yes, from this day forward all generations will call me blessed,
for the Almighty has done great things for me.
Holy is his name,
and his mercy reaches from age to age for those who fear him.
He has shown the power of his arm,
he has routed the proud of heart.
He has pulled down princes from their thrones and exalted the lowly.
The hungry he has filled with good things, the rich sent empty away.
He has come to the help of lsrael his servant, mindful of his mercy
– according to the promise he made to our ancestors –
of his mercy to Abraham and to his descendants for ever.’
Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months and then went back home.
Gospel Reflection: The Vision of Heaven
Mary’s summertime Feast expands our vision from earth to heaven, from time to eternity, from the human to the divine. As Mary is now in heaven our sure hope is that one day we will share this vision : to see God face to face, to live in the circle of love that never ends, and to be alive in the light of joy that never fades. This is what the human heart longs for; happiness that will last, joy that nobody can take from us – the eternal gifts of God.
All that is human is part of heaven, all that is good, beautiful, all that is true, all that is alive. Love that lasts through life, friendship that does not fade, the good we do and try to do, all will live with us in heaven.
Our hope is to bring to God a life lived in love, and the effort to live in his gospel; to be remembered in kindness and compassion, and for the good we tried to do and the love we tried to share.
This Feast of the Assumption of Mary lifts our eyes beyond foggy cities to the new and eternal city of God. It attunes our ears beyond any strident cry to the peaceful music of the world’s Creator, putting us in touch with the Father of the world, gentle, healing, making whole. This Feast reminds us all of our immense dignity as children of God, a dignity that lasts beyond this life now into the joy and the light of eternity.
We lift our eyes this day and see the dignity of the one who has gone before us : Mary, Mother of Jesus, and our Mother.
We Remember In Our Prayers Brenda (Ricky) Mann whose Funeral was last week, Gillian Fedyniak, whose Funeral Service is at Carleton Crematorium on Thursday, 18th August at 11 am, and Vittorio Scannapieco whose Funeral Service is in the chapel at Poulton New Cemetery on Friday, 9th September at 1 pm. We remember them and their families, and all those whose anniversaries are at this time. May they all be in God’s peace.
SVP Collection : This weekend, at all Masses at St.Teresa’s, there will be a special collection organised by the parish St. Vincent de Paul (SVP) group. Whatever you kindly give will be used to support those in need in our local area, and as we know, perhaps from personal experience, their numbers are now increasing.
The Universe Catholic Weekly, an English online paper, is currently advertising a free introductory offer for four weeks. Please see the poster in the porches of both our churches, and/or phone MIchelle on 0743 661 7650
Hiring St. Teresa’s Parish Hall : It is now possible to hire St. Teresa’s Parish Hall for some event of your own. For availability and advice please contact the Hall manager, Mike Holderness, on 01253 827230 or 07872 680645.
Have You Lost Someone Close In The Past Year? There is now a Drop In Bereavement Support Group which meets on the 2nd Thursday of every month in the foyer of Cleveleys Baptist Church, on St. Georges Avenue, (just near St. Teresa’s Church). Drop in between 1.30 pm and 4 pm and you will receive a warm welcome.
Education Mass at St. Peter’s Cathedral, Lancaster LA1 3BT on Friday, 7th October at 6.30 pm : All parishioners are invited to join Bishop Paul at the annual Diocese of Lancaster Education Mass. This invitation extends in a special way to all those involved in education and faith information – teachers, including those who teach outside the Catholic sector, catechists, youth workers, deacons and priests. The celebration gives us the opportunity to express our thanks and acknowledge the contribution made by all those in the Diocese involved in the work of education and formation in the faith. Together we also ask God’s blessing on the mission of education and formation in our Diocese. Please put the date in your diaries.
Life’s Journey
For each of us life is a journey.
Birth is the beginning of this journey,
and death is not the end but the destination.
It is a journey that takes us from youth to age,
from innocence to awareness,
from foolishness to wisdom,
from weakness to strength and often back again,
from loneliness to friendship,
from pain to compassion,
from fear to faith,
from defeat to victory,
until looking backward or ahead,
we see that victory does not just lie at some high point along the way,
but in having made the journey, stage by stage.
(Adapted from an old Hebrew Prayer)
Daily Reflections for this week
Monday (Homily,Benedict XVI ))
The Mother of God is so deeply integrated into Christ’s Mystery that at the end of her earthly life she already participates with her whole self in her Son’s Resurrection. We can then ask ourselves: what are the roots of this victory over death wonderfully anticipated in Mary? Its roots are in the faith of the Virgin of Nazareth, as the Gospel testifies (Lk 1: 39-56): a faith that is obedience to the word of God and total abandonment to the divine action and initiative. Dear friends, let us not limit ourselves to admiring Mary in her destiny of glory, as a person very remote from us. No! We are called to look at all that the Lord, in his love, wanted to do for us too, for our final destiny: to live through faith in a perfect communion of love with him and hence to live truly.
Scripture (Luke 1:46-55)
Mary said, “My soul glorifies the Lord, my spirit exults in God my
saviour, because he has looked on his servant in her lowliness. Yes, form this, all generations will call me blessed, for the Almighty has done great things for me. Holy is his name. His mercy reaches from age to age for those who fear him. He has shown the power of his arm, he has routed the proud of heart. The hungry he has filled with good things, the rich sent empty away. He has come to the help of Israel his servant, mindful of his mercy to Abraham and his descendants for ever.”
Tuesday (Fr. Richard Rohr)
Mary symbolizes the people of God, the Church, the symbol of humanity in need of God. She summed up the meaning of their Christianity in her person, in her “yes”. She is the symbol of God’s final victory in humanity. In her Assumption we know that all of our humanity is free, redeemable and of immeasurable dignity. It happened in her in an accelerated and perfect fashion so we could look at her and say, yes. She is one of us and she is what we will be. We now know that the resurrection Jesus has promised will also be given to us in spirit and in body. This is what Marian celebrations are all about.
Scripture (Romans 6:3-11)
You have been taught that when we were baptized in Christ Jesus, we were baptized into his death; in other words, when we were baptized, we went into the tomb with him and joined him in death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the Father’s glory, we too live a new life. If in union with Christ we have imitated his death, we shall also imitate him in his resurrection. We must realize that our former selves have been crucified with him to destroy this sinful body and to free us from slavery to sin. Christ, as we know,having been raised from the dead will never die again. Death has no power over him any more.
Wednesday (Caryll Houselander)
I think the most moving fact in the whole history of mankind is that wherever the Holy Spirit has desired to renew the face of the earth he has chosen to do so through communion with some humble little human creature. This is something which could happen to everyone now, but it could not have happened to anyone but for the fiat of the peasant girl in Nazareth whom the whole world calls Our Lady. In the virginal emptiness of Mary of Nazareth, Christ was conceived. The whole world trembled on her consent. She was asked to surrender her littleness to the Infinite Love, and as a result to become the Mother of Christ. She was not asked to do anything herself, but to let something be done to her. She was not asked to renounce anything, but to receive an incredible gift.
Scripture (Luke 1:32-38)
The angel Gabriel said to Mary, ‘Rejoice, you who enjoy God’s favour! The Lord is with you.’ She was deeply disturbed by these words, but the angel said, ‘Do not be afraid, you have won God’s favour. Look! You are to conceive and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.’ Mary said, ‘,’But how can this come about, since I am a virgin.’ The angel answered, ‘The Holy spirit will come upon you.’ Mary said, ‘I am the handmaid of the Lord, let what you have said be done to me,’
Thursday (Evelyn Underhill)
Most people work so hard developing their correspondence with the visible world that their power of corresponding with the invisible is left in a rudimentary state. But when, for one reason or another, we begin to wake up a little bit, to lift the nose from the ground and notice that spiritual light and that spiritual atmosphere as real constituents of our human world, the whole situation is changed. Our horizon is widened, our experience is enormously enriched. We now get an entirely new idea of what humans are for, and what they can achieve. Here the creative action of God on a human creature enters on a new phase; for the word creation does not mean a product neatly finished off: it is the activity of an artist possessed by the vision of perfection.
Scripture (Ephesians 1:3-10)
Blessed be God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all the spiritual blessings of heaven in Christ. He chose us in Christ before the world was made to be holy and faultless before him in love, marking us iut for himself beforehand to be adopted children, through Jesus Christ, in who, through his blood, we gain our freedom. Such is the richness of the grace lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight. He has let us know the mystery of his purpose which he determined beforehand in Christ.
Friday (Julian of Norwich)
He showed himself often as a king, but chiefly in man’s soul. Here he has made his resting place and glorious city, a throne from which he shall never rise, nor ever leave. As truly as we shall live eternally in God’s joy so we have been loved and known in God’s foreknowledge and purpose before time began. Truly there can be no greater joy than that he who is the highest and most powerful, the noblest and most worthy, is also the lowest
and most humble, the homeliest and most courteous; and truly indeed will this marvellousjoy be shown us when we meet him.
Scripture (1 Cor. 15:20-26)
Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of all who have fallen asleep. Death came through one man and in the same way the resurrection of the dead has come through one man. Just as all men die in Adam, so all men will be brought to life in Christ; but all in their proper order: Christ as the first-fruits, and then, after the coming of Christ, those who belong to him. After that will come the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, having done away with every sovereignty, authority and power, for
he must be king until he has put all his enemies under his feet and the last of the enemies to be destroyed is death.
Martin Bennett