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
8th January 2023
http://www.st-teresas-church.co.uk
Email: st.teresas.cleveleys@gmail.com
Lancaster Roman Catholic Diocesan Trustees Registered Charity Number 23433
Sunday : The Baptism of the Lord
Contents: Gospel
Notices
Gospel Reflection
Gospel: Matthew 3:13-17
Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptised by John. John tried to dissuade him. ‘It is I who need baptism from you,’ he said ‘and yet you come to me!’ But Jesus replied, ‘Leave it like this for the time being; it is fitting that we should, in this way, do all that righteousness demands.’ At this, John gave in to him. As soon as Jesus was baptised he came up from the water, and suddenly the heavens opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming down on him. And a voice spoke from heaven, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved, my favour rests on him.’
Gospel Reflection : Our Baptism and Jesus’ Baptism
Nowadays we tend to see Baptism as welcoming a new person or infant into the Christian community. There was no Christian community for Jesus to be welcomed into when he was baptised by John in the river Jordan. By his baptism, Jesus identified with all who were in need of God’s special outpouring of the Holy Spirit, as foretold by the ancient prophets. The opening of the heavens, the voice, and the Spirit all indicated that Jesus was God’s presence in our world.
His presence offered hope and healing to all who felt overwhelmed and over-burdened – “Come to me all you who labour and are overburdened” said Jesus later (Matthew 11 : 28). We who have been baptised by water and the Holy Spirit have become other Christs. We are God’s presence in the world now. Christ lives in us, or as St. Teresa of Avila said to us: “Christ has no body on earth but yours – no hands, no feet but yours. Yours are the eyes with which he looks out in compassion on the world. Yours are the feet with which he goes about doing good. Yours are the hands with which he blesses….”
Let’s not underestimate the power we have to offer help and hope to others when they are down – a listening ear, a kind word, a welcome mat, a smile, a bit of humour. Maybe we could even go a step further, and offer anyone who asks, a good reason for the faith we try to practice and the hope we have.
We Remember In Our Prayers Scarlett Clegg and Margaret Gladwin whose Funerals were last week, Dennis Greer whose Funeral is at Lytham Park Crematorium, this Monday, 9th January at 2.45 pm, and Michael Taylor whose Funeral is at St. Teresa’s on Tuesday 24th January at 12. 30 pm. We remember them and their families, and all those whose anniversaries are at this time. May they be in God’s peace.
White Flower Appeal : This weekend, 7th/8th January, at both our churches, there is the annual special collection for the work of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC). In common with the Catholic Church, SPUC defends and upholds the sanctity of human life from our beginning to our natural death. SPUC is the UK’s leading pro-life campaigning and educational organisation, and is at the forefront of public campaigns to prevent legalised euthanasia and abortion.
The Annual Service For The Week Of Prayer For Christian Unity, organised by all our local churches, is this year at All Saints Church , North Drive, Cleveleys (near the Golden Eagle), and all are very welcome. This is at 3 pm on Sunday 22nd January. The theme of the Service is “Be – Longing : Praying for Unity Amidst Injustice”, which is this year’s theme on that day for all Christian Churches throughout Britain and Ireland.
Items Which Are Particularly Needed At The Moment For The Food Bank at St. Teresa’s Church : Weetabix, small jars of coffee, tins of carrots or mixed veg, (no more peas please for now!), tins of stewed beef or chicken (no pies please because they have to go in the oven).
A huge thank you to all those who have been generously donating items already, and all those who have volunteered to be on a rota to help when the Food Bank is open. It is very much appreciated.
St. Georges Avenue Food Pantry @ St.Teresa’s Are you, or someone you know, struggling to meet the cost of living? Members of our Community are committed to helping anyone who finds themselves at this point of need. We, at St. Teresa’s, have created a small ‘Food Pantry’ in the church kitchen, which is capable of providing basic foods, for individuals, couples or families. Please do contact us in advance on this dedicated mobile number 07841 610655 to talk about how best we might be able to help you, OR visit us at the back of church between 10.30 am and 12 noon Monday. Tuesday, Thursday or Friday, or Wednesday, 2.30 pm – 4 pm. A volunteer will be able to put together a bag(bags) of food to help see you through the week. Alternatively, we would be happy to deliver a free food parcel to peoples’ doorstep on a weekly basis. The types of food we give out depend partly on what our church members donate. We have plenty of pasta and pasta sauces, cereals, rice, biscuits, tinned goods, i.e. soup, veg, fruit, long-life milk, and a small selection of toiletries, and even pet food.
‘Warm Space’ In St. Teresa’s Hall on Wednesdays 2. pm – 4 pm. All are very welcome to call in, and spend some time with others in a safe, warm environment, where you can enjoy a hot drink and a snack.
Good Advice For Us All, Coming Out Of The Christmas Season And Beginning A New Year
If, as with Herod, we fill our lives with things, and again with things;
If we consider ourselves so important that we must fill every moment of our
lives with activity,
When will we have the time :
To make the long, slow journey across the burning desert, as did the Maji,
or sit and watch the stars, as did the shepherds,
or brood over the coming of the child, as did Mary?
For each of us :
There is a desert to travel,
A star to discover,
And a being within ourselves to bring to birth.
(From an Iranian Christmas Card)
Daily Reflections for this week
Monday (Dietrich Bonhoeffer)
An image needs a living object, and a copy can only be formed from a model. Either man forms himself on the god of his own invention, or the true and living God moulds the human form into his image. There must be a complete transformation, but how is it to be affected? Since fallen man cannot rediscover and assimilate the form of God, the only way is for God to take the form of man and come to him. The Son of God who dwelt in the form of God the Father, lay aside that form. He has become like us so that we should be like him. And in the incarnation, the whole human race recovers the dignity of the image of God. In his own person, Christ restored the image of God in all that bears a human form.
Scripture (Matthew 2:1-2,7-12)
After Jesus had been born, suddenly some wise men came to Jerusalem from the east asking ‘Where is the infant king of the Jews?’ Having listened to what king Herod had to say, they set out. And suddenly the star they had seen rising went forward and halted over the place where the child was. The sight of the star filled them with delight, and going into the house they saw the child with his mother Mary, and falling to their knees they did him homage. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
Tuesday (2nd Vatican Council, ‘Revelation’)
Then, after speaking in many places and varied ways through the prophets, God last of all in these days has spoken to us by his son. For he sent his son, the Eternal Word, who enlightens all, so that he might dwell among us and tell us the innermost realities about God. Jesus Christ, therefore, speaks the words of God and completes the work of salvation which his Father gave him to do. To see Jesus is to see his Father.
Scripture (Hebrews 1:1-3)
At many moments in the past and by many means, God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets; but in our time, the final days, he has spoken to us in the person of his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things and through whom he made the ages. He is the reflection of God’s glory and bears the impress of God’s own being, sustaining all things by his powerful command; and now that he has purged sins away, he has taken his seat at the right hand of the divine Majesty on high.
Wednesday (Pope Leo the Great)
In the person of Jesus Christ, humility was embraced by majesty, weakness by strength, mortality by eternity. And in order to pay the debt of our condition, the invulnerable nature was united to a passing nature. The ‘self-emptying’ by which he who is invisible rendered himself visible and the Creator and Lord of all chose to be mortal, was a condescension of pity, not a loss of power. So he who made the human race while remaining ‘in the form of God’ was the same one who was made human ‘in the form of a servant’. Just as the ‘form of God’ does not take away the ‘form of a servant’, so the ‘form of a servant’ does not detract from the ‘form of God’.
Scripture (Colossians 1:13-16,18-19)
It is he who has rescued us from the ruling force of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of the Son that he loves, and in him we enjoy our freedom, the forgiveness of sin. He is the image of the unseen God, the first-born of all creation, for in him were created all things in heaven and on earth: everything visible and everything invisible, thrones, ruling forces, sovereignties, powers – all things were created through him and for him. He is the beginning, the first- born from the dead, so that he should be supreme in every way; because God wanted all fullness to be found in him and through him to reconcile all things to him.
Thursday (Martin Luther King)
There is so much frustration in the world because we have relied on gods rather than God. We have worshipped the god of pleasure, only to discover that thrills play out and sensations are short lived. We have bowed before the god of money only to learn that in a world of possible depressions, money is a rather uncertain deity. These transitory gods are not able to save or bring happiness to the human heart. Only God is able. It is faith in him that we must rediscover.
Scripture (2Cor. 4:3-6)
If our gospel seems to be veiled at all, it is so to those on their way to destruction, the unbelievers whose minds have been blinded by the god of this world, so that they cannot see shining the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. It is not ourselves that we are proclaiming, but Christ Jesus as the Lord. It is God who said ‘ Let light shine out of darkness,’ that has shone into our hearts to enlighten them with the
knowledge of God’s glory, the glory on the face of Christ.
Friday (C.S.Lewis)
It is always shocking to meet life where we thought we were alone. An ‘impersonal God’ – well and good. A subjective God of beauty, truth and goodness, inside our own heads, better still. A formless life-force surging through us, a vast power which we can tap—best of all. But God himself, alive, pulling at the other end of the cord—that is another matter. There comes a point when people who have been dabbling in religion (‘Man’s search for God!’) suddenly draw back. Supposing we really found him? We never meant it to come to that! Worse still, supposing he found us?
Scripture (Eph. 3:8-12)
I, who am the least of all God’s holy people, have been entrusted with this special grace, of proclaiming to the gentiles the unfathomable treasure of Christ and of throwing light on the inner workings of the mystery kept hidden through all the ages in God, the Creator of everything. The purpose of this was, that now, through the Church, the principalities and ruling forces should learn how many-sided god’s wisdom is, according to the plan which he had formed from all eternity in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Martin Bennett