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
24 September 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 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Contents: Gospel
Notices
Reflections for the coming week
Gospel:
Matthew: 20:1-16
Jesus said to his disciples: “The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner going out at daybreak to hire workers for his vineyard. He made an agreement with the workers for one denarius a day, and sent them to his vineyard. Going out at about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the market place and said to them, “You go to my vineyard too and I will give you a fair wage.” So they went. At about the sixth hour and again at the ninth hour, he went out and did the same. Then at about the eleventh hour he went out and found more men standing round, and he said to them, “Why have you been standing here idle all day?” “Because no one has hired us” they answered. He said to them, “You go into my vineyard too.” In the evening the owner of the vineyard said to his bailiff, “Call the workers and pay them their wages, starting with the last arrivals and ending with the first.” So those who were hired at about the eleventh hour came forward and received one denarius each. When the first came, they expected to get more, but grumbled at the landowner. ‘The men who came last’ they said ‘have done only one hour, and you have treated them the same as u though we have done a heavy day’s work in all the heat.’ He answered one of them and said, ‘My friend, I am not being unjust to you; did we not agree one denarius? Take your earnings and go. I choose to pay the last-comer as much as I pay you. Have I no right to do what I like with my own? Why be envious because I am generous?’ Thus the last will be first, and the first, last.
Reflection : I’ll Do It Whose Way?
Don’t we know the words the prophet Isaiah quotes in the First Reading this weekend – “My ways are not your ways” – from all those things which God seems to allow to happen to us, but which we would not choose ourselves, like failure, sickness and bereavement.
But to trust through all this? We might not know that so well, or at least find it almost impossible to put it into practice.
Can I trust when a loved one is so ill, or taken from me? Can I trust when a loving relationship breaks up? Can I trust when the one I trust lets me down?
There are times when all we can say, all we can find hope in, is that on the Cross Jesus heard those same words “Can I?”, and then trusted – that God his Father would never let him down in the end.
We Remember In Our Prayers Rod Yiannaki whose Funeral was last week, Freya Coppen, whose Funeral is at St. Teresa’s on Monday, 25th September at 11 am, and Aubrey Atherton whose Funeral is at Carleton Crematorium on Wednesday 4th October at 2 pm. We remember them, and their families, at this very sad time. May they all be in God’s love and peace.
We Welcome Into The Family of The Church Levi David Philip Rushworth whose Baptism takes place at St. Teresa’s this Sunday.
There IsThe Annual Special Collection for the Bishop’s Administration Fund At Each Mass This Weekend. This is important in our responsibility to support Bishop Paul in what he does for us..
This Sunday, 24th September, From 11 am, Our St. Teresa’s Primary School Are Holding An Autumn Fayre In The School Hall, With Refreshments In The Parish Hall. All are very welcome.
There Is A Day Of Renewal On Saturday 14th October, 10 am – 4 pm, at St. Clare’s Church, Sharoe Green Lane, Fulwood, Preston. PR2 9HH. The day, with the title ‘Hearing the Heart of Mary in Scripture’, starts with Mass at 10 am, and is led by Brother Jonathan of the Friars of Renewal, of St. Pio Friary, Bradford. Please bring a packed lunch. Tea and coffee are available.
There Is A Table top Sale in St. Teresa’s Parish Hall on Saturday October 21st, 11 am to 1.00 pm. Table Hire is availablefor only £10. For more information, please contact Sue on 07889 532158. Any money made is for charity, for the Fylde Coast Pregnancy Crisis Centre. Our Parish Deacon, Bernard, explains :
“A group of us have now successfully opened The Fylde Coast Pregnancy Crisis Centre here, at the Baptist Church on St. Georges Avenue in Cleveleys. Before this Centre opened, the nearest one to the Fylde coast was in Manchester. and there are none in England north of us. Our Centre will provide time, space and support to both women and men within a Christian ethos, and therefore seek to be non-judgemental, impartial, and non-directive, but kind and compassionate.
But What Does A Centre Do?
Clients can self-refer, or be referred by a GP, bereavement midwife, word of mouth etc. We provide support to women and their partners who are experiencing a crisis pregnancy for one or more reasons, and don’t know what to do. We also offer support for any form of baby loss.
Crisis Pregnancy – we will never tell a client what to do, that is we are non-directive and non-judgemental. Women can have a crisis in their pregnancy for a variety of reasons, and one of the most common is when the woman has an unplanned pregnancy in a stable relationship, perhaps with other children – and her partner says ‘It’s either me or the baby’.
Post abortion support – Not every woman will struggle after she has had an abortion, but many do. Often they are left feeling confused, anxious, angry and guilty, and a range of other emotions in between, and yet they can be told that the procedure is nothing to worry about.
Miscarriage and stillbirth – up until recently women have felt that they can’t tell anyone how they feel, especially if they have kept the pregnancy a secret until they are sure all is going well. It has become more acceptable to talk about it recently, but it still has an effect on women. They can feel angry, devastated, sometimes guilty and sometimes ashamed of feeling the way they do. As for stillbirth, all the hope and dreams for their baby’s future are shattered.”
You don’t have to face it alone! At Fylde Coast Pregnancy Crisis Centre they offer FREE, confidential counselling and caring support to help you navigate your journey. Please call or text on 07354 849410, or email office@fyldecoastpregnancycentre.org.uk
The ‘Hub in the Hall’ Meetings take place in St. Teresa’s Church Hall each Wednesday, 2 pm – 4 pm. All are very welcome.
The Church Shop, in the porch at St. Teresa’s, is open before and after each Weekend Mass. You are very welcome to go in and browse.
The Food Pantry At St. Teresa’s Church is open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 10.30 am – 12 noon, and on Wednesdays, 2.30 pm – 4 pm
Daily Reflections for this week
Monday (A New Catechism)
Humanity has never existed except as the race of people into which Jesus was to come or has come. Even in the most barbarous society past or present, man has always been a fellow-man of Jesus, the Son of God. A newly born child has been ushered into a world where redemption is at work. From the very beginning the baby is called into the friendship of Christ. And as for adults, no matter how morally bankrupt a life may be, no matter how much evil there is, no one is excluded from the call of the good God.
Scripture (Matthew 20: 11-16)
When those who had worked all day were paid what they had been promised they took the money but grumbled at the landowner saying “ The men who came last have only done one hour, but you have treated them the same as us, though we have done a heavy day’s work in all the heat.”. The landowner said “My friend, I am not being unjust to you; did we not agree on one denarius? I choose to pay the latecomer as much as I pay you. Why should you be envious because I am generous?”
Tuesday (Julian of Norwich)
The love of God most high for our soul is so wonderful that it passes all knowledge. No created being can know the greatness, the sweetness, the tenderness of the love that our Master has for us. By his help and grace, therefore, let us in spirit stand and gaze, eternally marvelling at the supreme, single-minded, surpassing, incalculable love that God, who is goodness, has for us.
Scripture (Isaiah 55:6-9)
Let the wicked abandon their ways, and the evil ones their thoughts. Let them turn back to Yahweh who will take pity on them, to our God who is rich in forgiveness; for my thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not my ways, declares Yahweh. For the heavens are as high above earth as my ways are above your ways, my thoughts above your thoughts.
Wednesday (Fr. Richard Rohr.)
The greatest act of faith is to believe that God loves you, even in your nakedness, poverty and sinfulness. But human beings think that we have to earn God’s love. We work for it and, by doing good things for God, think we are going to get God’s blessing in return. This is Jesus-and-me religion. It is not New Testament. It ends up being a self-centred morality of self-perfection and discipline.
Scripture (Luke 15:28-32)
When the elder son found that his father was celebrating the return of the younger son, he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to urge him to come in; but he retorted to his father “all these years I have slaved for you and never once disobeyed your orders, yet you never offered me so much as a kid to celebrate with my friends. But this son of yours, when he comes back after squandering all your money, you kill the calf we have been fattening.” The father said “ My son, you are with me always and all I have is yours. But it was only right we should celebrate because your brother here was lost and is found.”
Thursday (Thomas Merton)
Some people are virtuous enough to forget that they are sinners without being wretched enough to remember how much they need the mercy of God. It is possible that some who have led bad lives on earth may be higher in heaven than those who appear to be good in this life. What is the value of a virtuous life, if it be without love and without mercy? Love is the gift of God’s mercy to human sorrow, not the reward of human self-sufficiency.
Scripture (Romans 3:21-24)
God’s saving justice was witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, but now it has been revealed altogether apart from the Law: God’s saving justice given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. No distinction is made: all have sinned and lack God’s glory, and all are justified by the free gift of his grace through being set free in Christ Jesus.
Friday (A Carthusian)
We must recognise the loving Will of God in all that happens. We have only to say Thy will be done and everything we offer to God becomes clothed with his own goodness and majesty. It is the very essence of God himself, who is Love. We do not know how to reach the end of God’s love – it has no end! Always see in him a need to give himself, for that is his very essence – Love, the gioft of self. This, then, is what God wants of us, and we acknowledge this when we say thy will be done. That is also why such a prayer covers the whole range of our failings and
miseries.
Scripture (Psalm 145:6-9,17-19)
They will speak of your awesome power, and I shall recount your greatness. They will remember your great generosity and joyfully acclaim your saving justice. The Lord is tenderness and pity, slow to anger, full of faithful love. The Lord is generous to all, his tenderness embraces all his creatures. Upright in all that he does, the Lord acts only on faithful love. He is close to all who call upon him, all who call on him from the heart. He fulfils the desires of all who fear him, he hears their cry and saves them.
Martin Bennett