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
6 November 2022
http://www.st-teresas-church.co.uk
Email: st.teresas.cleveleys@gmail.com
Lancaster Roman Catholic Diocesan Trustees Registered Charity Number 23433
Sunday : Thirty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
Contents: Gospel
Notices
Reflections for the coming week
Gospel: Luke 20:27-38
Some Sadducees – those who say that there is no resurrection – approached Jesus and they put this question to him, ‘Master, we have it from Moses in writing, that if a man’s married brother dies childless, the man must marry the widow to raise up children for his brother. Well, then, there were seven brothers. The first, having married a wife, died childless. The second and then the third married the widow. And the same with all seven, they died leaving no children. Finally the woman herself died. Now at the resurrection, to which of them will she be wife since she had been married to all seven?’
Jesus replied, “The children of this would take wives and husbands, but those who are judged worthy of a place in the other world and in the resurrection from the dead do not marry because they can no longer die, for they are the same as the angels, and being children of the resurrection they are sons of God. And Moses himself implies that the dead rise again, in the passing about the bush where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. Now he is God, not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all men are in fact alive.’
Gospel Reflection : Gospel Reflection : God of the Living?
In this Sunday’s Gospel Jesus seems to encourage us to think more of the living people around us than the dead : ‘God is the God of the living not the dead.’
But, the Living and the Dead are linked, as we believe the dead are still living, and November is the month when we express those links. We pray with and for our dead, hoping that they may pray for us. We have time to remember, in gratitude, what our loved ones who have gone before us were to us and did for us. In the words of Pope Francis, “Praying for the dead is, above all, a sign of gratitude for the witness they have left us, and the good they have done. It is a thanksgiving to the Lord for them, and for their love and their friendship.”
This faith is rooted in our faith in what we call the ‘communion of saints’, a faith we express at every Mass. Again, Pope Francis reminds us: “The communion of saints indicates that we are all immersed in the life of God and live in his love. Everyone, living and dead, are in communion, that is, we are all united, all part of the great family of God.”
God is the God of the living, lifting our hearts in the hope of his care for us now, and in eternity.
We Remember In Our Prayers Teresa Steele whose Funeral Service is at St Teresa’s on Friday 11th November at 11 am. We remember her and her family, and all those whose anniversaries are at this time. May they be in God’s peace.
We Welcome Into The Family Of The Church Oakley James Brown whose Baptism takes place at St. Teresa’s this Sunday.
Please Remember that the Confirmation Mass With Bishop Paul, for the 13 people from both our parishes, is at St Teresa’s this Friday, 11th November at 6-30 pm (not 7 pm as previously announced). This is an occasion which is supported not just by the candidate’s families but by parishioners from both our parishes too. So, please come along if you can.
The Church Shop In The Outer Porch At St. Teresa’s is open before and after each weekend Mass. Please feel free to go in and look round. Christmas cards are available, as are Confirmation cards and gifts, and 2023 diaries, with the order of Mass printed.
An Evening of Music, Dance and Drama has been arranged, as a tribute to the lateTom Gradwell. Tom founded the Teresian Players, and produced and directed plays, and over 30 annual Pantomimes. He also did so much besides for St. Teresa’s parish community, like organising social occasions, founding, with Gerard Brimelow, the Anchorsholme Singers, and for several years being the Hall Manager of St. Teresa’s Parish Hall. This ‘tribute’ will take place in St. Teresa’s Parish Hall on Saturday, 26th November. Please feel free to bring your own refreshments. For tickets and further information please phone : 01253 829207 or 07866 156333
Our National Youth Sunday Celebration 2022 Is On Sunday 20th November : To our young people – teenagers to 25 year olds – “Come together with other young people from Blackpool, Bispham, Cleveleys, Fleetwood, Thornton and Poulton, to celebrate the Feast of Christ the King, on Sunday, 20th November, 5 pm at English Martyrs Church, Poulton. Mass begins at 5 pm and gives an opportunity to give thanks for the wonderful world we live in, and to remember those who need our prayers and help. By coming together we can find fresh strength to commit ourselves to use the energy, gifts and talents we have, in new ways. English Martyrs Church is 154, High Cross Road, Poulton, FY6 8DA (opposite the Carter and Miller Steakhouse)”
Prayer for the Current COP 27 Climate Summit :
God of blessings, the universe sings of your glory. Deepen our gratitude for all you have made, and awaken in us a renewed commitment to care for the earth and each other. Inspire world leaders at the Summit to listen to those most affected by climate change, and with courage to act urgently and wisely, so that our common home may be healed and restored, and all people, and generations to come, may delight in it. Amen
Daily Reflections for this week
Monday (Cardinal Basil Hume)
I fail to understand how anybody can go through life and think there is nothing after death. Within us is the desire to live; we want to go on. There is an urge to go on living fully and totally. We long to enjoy deep down the peace, the joy and happiness which constantly eludes us. We cannot grasp them now nor keep them. It is for that deep joy and happiness that we were made. One day it will be ours. We are moving through life like pilgrims heading for our final destination. It is healthy to look forward to that destination when we shall find total fulfilment. Do not be fearful of death. It is now a holy thing, made so by him who died that we might live.
Scripture (Psalm 16:5-11)
My birthright, my cup is the Lord; you, you alone, hold my lot secure. The measuring line marks out delightful places for me, for me the heritage is superb indeed. I will bless the Lord who is my counsellor, even at night my inmost self-instructs me. I keep the Lord before me always, for with him at my right hand, nothing can shake me. So my heart rejoices, my soul delights, my body too will rest secure, for you will not abandon me to Sheol. You will teach me the path of life, unbounded joy in your presence, at your right hand delight for ever.
Tuesday (Oscar Romero)
Who will put a prophet’s eloquence into my words to shake from inertia all those who kneel before the riches of the earth, who would like money, power, political life to be their everlasting Gods? All that is going to end. There will remain only the satisfaction of having been a person faithful to God’s will. One must learn to manage the relative and transitory things of earth according to his will, not make them absolutes. There is only one absolute: he who awaits us in the heaven. That will not pass away.
Scripture (1 Corinthians 15: 50-53,55)
What is perishable cannot inherit what is imperishable. Now I am going to tell you a mystery: not all of us are going to fall asleep, but we are all going to be changed instantly when the last trumpet sounds. Then the dead shall be raised imperishable and we shall be changed, because this mortal nature of ours must put on immortality. Then will the words of scripture come true: ‘Death where is your victory? Death where is your sting?’
Wednesday (St. Edith Stein)
What we believe we understand about our own soul is, after all, only a fleeting reflection of what will remain God’s secret until the day all will be made manifest. My great joy consists in the hope of that future clarity. Faith in the secret history must always strengthen us when what we actually perceive (about ourselves or about others) might discourage us.
Scripture (Luke 20:35-38)
Jesus said to the Sadducees – those who argue that there is no resurrection – ‘Those who are judged worthy of a place in the other world and in the resurrection from the dead do not marry because they can no longer die, for they are the same as the angels, and being children of the resurrection they are children of God. And Moses himself implied that the dead rise again, in the passage about the bush where he calls the Lord “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” Now he is God, not of the dead but of the living; for to him everyone is alive.’
Thursday (Carlo Carretto)
What a life we make for ourselves! Why are we so reluctant to believe? Why are we so afraid of trusting in God? There seem to me to be two main reasons. Firstly, we have lost our spiritual infancy. To believe, to be rich in hope, we must be small – Jesus tells us that unless we change and become like children we shall never enter the Kingdom of Heaven – instead we have grown up, become sophisticated, learnt to judge God by the standards of our own essential weakness. If we can make ourselves small again we shall be able to believe and hope, and our lives will become simple, unswerving, full. Secondly, we spend too much time looking backwards. Ezekiel reproached the Israelites for hankering after the slavery of Egypt: we, too, prefer to stay where we are; we are not quite sure God is to be trusted.
Scripture (Philippians 3:8-14)
Because of the supreme advantage of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, I count everything else as loss. For him I have accepted the loss of all other things, and look on them all as filth if I can only gain Christ and be given a place in him, with an uprightness from God, based on faith, that I may come to know him and the power of his resurrection. I can only say that forgetting all that lies behind me, and straining forward to what lies in front, I am racing towards the finishing-point to win the prize of God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus.
Friday (Meister Eckhart)
In this life there are two kinds of certainty concerning the life which is eternal: one is when God tells us of it through special revelation, although this happens only to a few. The other kind is better and more beneficial and falls frequently to those whose love for and intimacy with their God is so great that they trust him completely and are so sure of him that they can no longer have any doubts. However devoted you are to him, you may be sure that he is immeasurably more devoted to you and has incomparably more faith in you. Of this we can be certain.
Scripture (John 6:48-54)
Jesus said, ‘I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate manna in the desert and they are dead; but this is the bread which comes down from heaven, so that a person may eat it and not die. I am the living bread which has come down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live for eve. In truth I tell you, if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Anyone who does eat my flesh and drink my blood has eternal life, and I shall raise them up on the last day.
Martin Bennett