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
5 February 2023
http://www.st-teresas-church.co.uk
Email: st.teresas.cleveleys@gmail.com
Lancaster Roman Catholic Diocesan Trustees Registered Charity Number 23433
Sunday : Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Contents: Gospel
Notices
Gospel Reflection
Gospel: Matthew 5:13-16
Jesus said to his disciples: ‘You are the salt of the earth. But of salt becomes tasteless, what can make it salty again? It is good for nothing, and can only be thrown out to be trampled underfoot by men.
‘You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill-top cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp to put it under a tub; they put on the lamp-stand where it shines for everyone in the house. In the same way your light must shine in the sight of men, so that seeing your good works, they may give the praise to your Father in heaven.’
Gospel Reflection : You are the light of the world
The light is what we receive, God’s gift to us at our Baptism. As a sign of this a Baptism Candle is given for the child or adult being Baptised. This is lit from the Paschal (Easter) Candle, which is itself the sign of Christ, the light of the world. This gesture is saying that we get our light from Christ, as the centre of our whole faith is our relationship with Him.
The first Reading today, from the prophet Isaiah, brings out the way we should shine in our world :
Share your bread with the hungry,
and shelter the homeless poor.
Clothe the person you see to be naked,
and turn not from your own kin.
Then will your light shine like the dawn.
If you give your bread to the hungry,
and relief to the oppressed,
your light will rise in the darkness.
Light isn’t just a light for me to see by. The light of Christ is for the sharing : giving a hand at home or for the family, whenever and wherever it is needed; caring for the poor, the migrant, the refugee, working for the good of neighbours, volunteering at home or even abroad. Our lives should reflect the light and love of Christ and shine like a beacon – to bring hope to others.
Jesus talks very often about light – light to the nations, shining in the darkness. He is called the ‘light of the world’. When we share some of that light in ordinary, everyday ways, then our lives improve, and so do the lives of others.
We Remember In Our Prayers Graham Warren whose Funeral is at Carleton Crematorium on Monday, 13th February at 3.30 pm, and Angela Black whose Funeral is at Carleton Crematorium on Tuesday, 21st February at 11.45 am. We remember them and their families, and all those whose anniversaries are at this time. May they be in God’s peace.
We Welcome Into The Family Of The Church Love Harrison, whose Baptism takes place at St. Teresa’s this Sunday.
First Holy Communion This year First Holy Communion, for both St. Teresa’s and St. John Southworth parishes, will be celebrated on Sunday, May 15th at St. Teresa;s church. This is for children aged from Year 4 (in Primary School) and upwards. The first meeting in preparation for this, for the children and their parents/guardians, as are all the meetings, will be at St. Teresa’s church on Sunday 26th February, at the !0.30 am Mass and immediately afterwards. All details about the preparation programme will be given at that meeting.
Please Note : These First Holy Communion arrangements, as always, are also for children who are in other schools besides St. Teresa’s, but who are Baptised and within the age range outlined above.
The S.V.P. have their monthly collection “for those in need” at each Mass next weekend – 11th/12th February.
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.
The Church Shop at St. Teresa’s is situated in the church porch, and is open before and after each Sunday Mass. Amongst other things, cards and gifts are available, and now the latest 2023 Lancaster Diocese Directory, with all the latest information about every aspect of our whole Diocese, including all the support it gives us. Just go in and have a look.
Daily Reflections for this week
Monday (Evelyn Underhill)
The Church is in the world to save the world. It is a tool of God for that purpose; not a comfortable religious club. Every one of its members is required, in one way or another, to co-operate with the Spirit in working for that great end. We are transmitters as well as receivers. Our contemplation and our action, our humble self-opening to God, keeping ourselves sensitive to his music and light, and our generous self-opening to our fellow creatures and their needs, ought to form one life; mediating between God and his world and bringing the saving power of the Eternal into time.
Scripture (Colossians 1:9-12)
That is why, ever since the day he told us, we have never failed to
remember you in our prayers, and ask that through perfect wisdom and spiritual understanding you should reach the fullest knowledge of his will and so be able to lead a life worthy of the Lord, a life acceptable to him in all its aspects, bearing fruit in every kind of good work and growing in knowledge of God, fortified, in accordance with his glorious strength, with all power always to persevere and endure, giving thanks with joy to the Father who has made you able to share the lot of God’s holy people and with them to inherit the light.
Tuesday (C.S.Lewis)
If conversion to Christianity makes no improvements in a person’s outward actions, then I think we must suspect that the ‘conversion’ was largely imaginary. Fine feelings, new insights, greater interest in ‘religion’ mean nothing unless they make our actual behaviour better. Christ told us to judge by results. A tree is known by its fruits. When we Christians behave badly, or fail to behave well, we are making Christianity unbelievable to the outside world. Our careless lives set the world talking and we give them grounds for talking in a way that throws doubt on the truth of Christianity itself.
Scripture (Matthew 5:13-16)
You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, what can make it salty again? It is good for nothing, and can only be thrown out to be trampled under people’s feet. You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill-top cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp to put it under a tub; they put it on a lamp-stand where it shines for everyone in the house. In the same way, your light must shine in people’s sight, so that, seeing your good works, they may give praise to your Father in heaven.
Wednesday (Dietrich Bonhoeffer)
Jesus said to his followers ‘You are the light in your whole existence, provided you remain faithful to your own calling. And since you are that light, you can no longer remain hidden.’ The followers are a visible community; their discipleship visible in action lifts them out of the world. A community of Jesus which seeks to hide itself has ceased to follow him. The bushel it may be hidden under may perhaps be a deliberate conformity to the world; it may be that it claims to prefer modest invisibility to Pharisaic ostentation, which in practice means conformity to the world. When that happens, the church loses its extraordinary visibility.
Scripture (2 Corinthians 4: 5-7)
It is not ourselves that we are proclaiming, but Christ Jesus as the Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 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.
Thursday (Oscar Romero)
(When it looked like he would be unable to broadcast) God’s best microphone is Christ, and Christ’s best microphone is the church, and the church is all of you. Let each one of you, in your own job, in your own vocation – nun, married person, bishop priest, high school or university student, day labourer, wage earner, market woman – each one of you in your own place live the faith intensely and feel that in your surroundings you are a true microphone of God our Lord.
Scripture (John 15:4-5, 8-10, 12)
Remain in me, as I in you. As a branch cannot bear fruit all by itself, unless it remains part of the vine, neither can you unless you remain in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me with me in them, bears fruit in plenty; for cut off from me, you can do nothing. It is to the glory of my Father that you should bear much fruit and be my disciples. I have loved you, just as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. This is my commandment: love one another as I have loved you.
Friday (Dorothy Day)
What we would like to do is change the world – make it a little simpler for people to feed, clothe and shelter themselves as God intended them to do. And to a certain extent, by crying out unceasingly for the rights of the worthy and the unworthy poor, we can to a certain extent change the world; we can work for the oasis, the little cell of joy and peace in a harried world. We confess to being fools and wish that we were more so. We face the situation that there is nothing we can do for people except to love them. Dear God, please enlarge our hearts to love our neighbour, to love our enemy as well as our friend.
Scripture (Isaiah 58:7-10)
Is not this the fast which is pleasing to the Lord: sharing your food with the hungry and sheltering the homeless poor; if you see someone lacking clothes, to clothe him and not to turn away from your kin? Then your light will blaze out like the dawn and your wound be quickly healed over. Saving justice for you will go ahead and the Lord’s glory from behind. Then you will cry for help and the Lord will answer; you will call and he will say, ‘I am here.’ If you do away with the yoke, the clenched fist and the malicious words, if you deprive yourself for the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, your light will rise in the darkness.
Martin Bennett