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
19 March 2023
http://www.st-teresas-church.co.uk
Email: st.teresas.cleveleys@gmail.com
Lancaster Roman Catholic Diocesan Trustees Registered Charity Number 23433
Sunday : Fourth Sunday of Lent
Contents: Gospel
Notices
Gospel Reflection
Gospel: John 9:1-41
As Jesus went along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth, he spat on the ground, made a paste with the spittle, put this over the eyes of the blind man and said to him, ’Go and wash in the Pool of Siloam’ (a name that means ‘sent’). So the blind man went off and washed himself, and came away with his sight restored.
His neighbours and people who earlier had seen him begging said, ‘Isn’t this the man who used to sit and beg?’ Some said, ‘Yes it is the same one.’ Others said, ‘No, he only looks like him.’ The man himself said, ‘I am the man.’
They brought the man who had been blind to the Pharisees. It had been the sabbath day when Jesus made the paste and opened the man’s eyes, so when the Pharisees asked him how he had come to see, he said, ‘He put a paste on my eyes, and I washed, and I can see.’ Then some of the Pharisees said, ‘This man cannot be from God: he does not keep the sabbath.’ Others said, ‘How could a sinner produce signs like this?’ And there was disagreement among them, So they spoke to the blind man again, ‘What have you to say about him yourself, now that he has opened your eyes?’ ‘He is a prophet,’ replied the man.
‘Are you trying to teach us,’ they replied ‘and you a sinner through and through, since you were born!’ And they drove him away.
Jesus heard they had driven him away, and when he found him they said to him, ‘Do you believe in the Son of Man?’ ‘Sir’ the man replied ‘tell me who he is so that I may believe in him.’ Jesus said ‘You are looking at him; he is speaking to you.’ The man said, ‘Lord, I believe’, and worshipped him.
Gospel Reflection : A Kindly Face and a Smile
All I did was let out a roar – “Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me.”.
They told me he had healed people, but only sometimes.
He looked my way, they told me. Of course, I didn’t know that then.
I wondered if he would heal me, and I might see again.
It was great when I could see, but that was some time ago.
There was a moment when he came towards me.
They told me, and I could sense it.
A blind person can often sense a person of peace and goodness near them.
What might he do?
A gentle touch of the eyes, but nothing happened.
I saw nothing, but I did get a real uplift in the heart.
Strange – I felt totally forgiven, totally accepted.
That would have been enough.
Even if I never saw anything again, I would be grateful I met him,
For what he gave me in one short moment.
He took his hand away, and I raised my eyes.
I could see – I saw him then, a kindly face and a smile.
This was the first thing I saw, and even though I would see the world again,
it was the best thing I saw when the blindness was cured!
We Remember In Our Prayers Audrey Waller, Kathy Birch, and Maureen Milne whose Funerals were last week, and Yvonne Rawcliffe whose Funeral Mass is on Monday 27th March at 12.30 pm at St. Teresa’s. We remember them and their families, and all those whose anniversaries are at this time. May they be in God’s peace.
Congratulations To The Children Preparing For Their First Holy Communion In May, Last Thursday they celebrated their First Reconciliation in church. A very big thank you to their parents who were there to support them, along with our Headteacher and school staff and, of course, our First Communion catechists who are kindly organising and leading the children along the way.
Planned Giving/Gift Aid Envelopes: Boxes of envelopes for the coming new tax year are available this weekend at the back of church at each of our Masses – from Steve Laird at St. Teresa’s and Jane Collier at St. John Southworth. If you are a taxpayer this is a very important source of income for our parishes, and we are most grateful to those who contribute in the weekly offertory in this way. Please will anyone who is not already using ‘Gift Aid’ also see Steve or Jane, in order to complete the simple paperwork. If your circumstances have changed, and you are no longer paying tax, please also see them. We need to take you off the Gift Aid scheme, otherwise we are obviously contravening the rules.
Stations of The Cross This Sunday, and every Sunday in Lent, we have the Stations of the Cross Service, with Benediction, at 3 pm at St. Teresa’s. This is a short Service (about thirty-five minutes) which is very suitable for our Lenten reflection.
The Church Shop, in the porch at St. Teresa’s, is open before and after each weekend Mass, and currently has cards and gifts for St. Patrick’s Day, Mother’s Day, Easter and First Holy Communion. The last few remaining Diocesan Directories are also on sale, priced at £5. “We look forward to seeing you”.
‘Warm Space’ In St.Teresa’s Hall on Wednesdays, 2pm – 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 Food Pantry, situated in the kitchen across from the entrance as you come into St. Teresa’s Church, is open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday or Friday, between 10 30 am and 12 noon, and on Wednesdays, 2.30 pm – 4 pm. This free facility may be of help to many of us in these hard times.
The CAFOD Lent Prayer 2023
Plant in us, Lord, seeds of solidarity, so that, rejoicing in your gifts we may cherish your presence in each other and all creation.
Root us, Lord, in compassion and justice. Pour your Spirit down like gentle rain, softening our hearts, washing away division and selfishness.
Cultivate in us, Lord, attentiveness to your call. Give us hope to dream a better world, and strength to play our part to make it a reality.
Grow in us, Lord, your ways of peace and courage, so that in this time of Lent we may bear witness to your love revealed to us in Jesus. Amen.
Daily Reflections for this week
Monday (Fr. Austin Smith, CP)
There can be a terrible arrogance about one’s view of the Church. The arrogance can rest in our endowing it with an unchangeableness which denies the very creativity of God. Because of the religious grouping to which I belong, the Community of the Passion, all my functions in life will dominated by a God, theoretically and practically, mediated in the event of Golgotha. But that event is not mine alone. I would suggest it belongs to a whole world. But in our world, in which the contrast of power and powerlessness has become so apparent, Golgotha has an even deeper relevance. It is a profound reminder summoning us all to a new self-emptying.
Scripture (John 9:32-37)
The man born blind said, ‘Ever since the world began it is unheard of for anyone to open the eyes of a man who was born blind; if this man was not from God, he wouldn’t have been able to do anything.’ The Pharisees replied, ‘Are you trying to teach us, and you a sinner through and through, ever since you were born!’ And they ejected him. Jesus heard they had ejected him, and when he found him he said to him, ‘Do you believe in the Son of Man?’ ‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘tell me who he is so that I may believe in him.’ Jesus said, ‘You have seen him; he is speaking to you.’ The man said, ‘Lord, I believe.
Tuesday (Letters of a Russian Monk)
You write that for twenty five years you have been reading and listening and feeding on God’s word, but it was no use. What use do you want it to have? Or do you want to see yourself faultless and holy in everything? The closer you come to God, the more you see your faults and sinfulness. Be satisfied with seeing inadequacies, for from this, gradually, imperceptibly, comes humility, if only to a small degree. Just as a person dressed in fine clothes jumps aside if mud is splattered on them, so also a humble person flees from human glory.
Scripture (Hosea 13: 4-6,9)
I have been Yahweh your God since your days in Egypt when you knew no God but me, since you had no one else to save you. I cared for you in the desert. I pastured them and they were satisfied; once satisfied their hearts grew proud and therefore they forgot me. Israel, you have destroyed yourself, though in me lies your help.
Wednesday (Meister Eckhart)
The faithful God often lets every prop on which his friends lean be knocked out from under them. Why? It is a great joy for them to be able to do important things such as watching, fasting and the like. In such things they find their joy, their stay and hope. Thus their pious works are their supports, or footings. Our Lord wants his friends to be rid of such notions. This is why he removes every prop, so that he alone may support them. For the more helpless and destitute the mind that turns to God for support can be, the deepest the person penetrates God and the more sensitive they are to God’s most valuable gifts. Man must build on God alone.
Scripture (Psalm 131)
O Lord, my heart is not proud nor haughty my eyes. I have taken no part in great affairs, in wonders beyond my scope. Truly I have set my soul in silence and peace. As a child rests in its mother’s arms, as a little child, so I keep myself. O Israel, hope in the Lord, both now and for ever.
Thursday (Julian of Norwich)
He brought our blessed Lady to my mind. In my mind I saw her as if she breathed – a simple, humble girl, not much more than a child; the age she was when she conceived. God showed me, too, in part, the wisdom and truth of her soul, so that I understood the reverence she felt before God her maker and how she marvelled that he would be born of her – a simple soul that he himself had made. She saw herself as so little and low, so simple and poor compared with God that she was filled with humility. And so from this humble state she was lifted up to grace and all manner of virtues, and stands above all. And it was this that made her say so humbly, ‘Behold God’s handmaid.’
Scripture (2 Cor.12:9-10)
God said to me, ‘My grace is enough for you: your power is at full strength in weakness.’ It is, then, about my weakness that I am happiest of all to boast, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me; and that is why I am glad of weaknesses, insults, persecutions and distress for Christ’s sake. For it is when I am weak that I am strong.
Friday (Caryll Houselander)
No doubt, one who loved all as Christ did would have longed to heal all their sickness, to enlighten all their minds, to transform the world by miracle upon miracle of love, but God did not will that for him. On the contrary, he willed that he should be, humanly speaking, a failure, should be nailed to the cross and suffer there in helplessness. Indeed, the moment in which his love was consummated, in which the crisis of his redeeming power was reached, was when the hands that could heal with a touch were nailed back out of reach.
Scripture (Luke 1:46-52)
And Mary said, ‘My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God, my Saviour. He looks on his servant in her lowliness; henceforth all ages will call me blessed for the Almighty works marvels for me. Holy his name! He puts forth his arm in strength and scatters the proud-hearted. He casts the mighty from their thrones and raises the lowly.
Martin Bennett