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
29 October 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 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Contents: Gospel
Notices
Reflections for the coming week
Gospel:
Matthew: 22:34-40
When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees they got together and, one of them put a question, ‘Master, which is the greatest commandment of the Law?’ Jesus said, ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second resembles it: you must love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments hang the whole Law, and the Prophets also’.
Gospel Reflection : “Hello Love” – A Bit Familiar?
“Love God and your neighbour.” Hasn’t Jesus made it a bit too simple? Loving God can be like giving to the poor in Africa. He, and they, seem so far away, we can give from a distance, without too much demand.
But, what about God saying “When you love one another – everyone, not just the ones you choose – then you love God?” Well that can be a bit too close for comfort, a challenge for us to be involved.
So, loving your child is loving God. Loving you husband, or wife, or partner, is loving God. Loving a colleague, a client, a boss, a friend, a neighbour, loving someone you cannot stand – that is loving God.
And in the evening of our lives, and the morning of new life, perhaps we will remember with joy those whom we loved and tried to love, and seek forgiveness of God, and of others, for those we hurt.
We Remember In Our Prayers Don Eckley whose Funeral Mass was last week, Emma Hinchcliffe whose Funeral is at Carleton Crematorium on Tuesday, 31st October at 3.30 pm, Stan Rawcliffe whose Funeral Mass is at St. Teresa’s on Friday 3rd November at 12 noon, Veronica Parker whose Funeral Mass is at St.Teresa’s on Thursday, 9th November at 12 noon, and Eileen Malnacs whose Funeral Service is at St. Teresa’s on Thursday 16th November at 12 noon and Margaret Dupont, whose Funeral is at St. Teresa’s on Tuesday 14th November at 2.30 pm. We remember them and their families at this sad time. May they all be in God’s love and peace.
Special Collection : This Weekend, at each Mass, there is the annual collection for the Fund which supports the Sick and Retired Priests of our Diocese. This is necessary, not least because the list of names is getting longer!
A Big Thank You for what was donated in last week’s World Mission Sunday Collection : £201.04 at St. Teresa’s, and £61.50 at St John Southworth. Your prayers and donations will help missionaries across the world share the Gospel and continue their work at the service of the poor and vulnerable. Please continue to pray for Missio, and all those working to offer the love of Jesus, that we remain strong in our witness to Christ’s love for all peoples.
Thank You Too For the amount raised in last weekend’s Table Top Sale – £612 – which includes £102 for our Food Pantry.
This Wednesday, 1st November, Is The Feast of All Saints, Which is a Holyday of Obligation. There is a choice of two Masses here in Cleveleys :
9.30 am at St. Teresa’s, with our School children and staff.
6.30 pm at St. John Southworth.
St.Teresa’s Parish Pastoral Council (PPC) The Chairman of the Council, Eamon Brady, writes : “Our Parish Pastoral Council was one of the casualties of the Covid lockdowns and following experiences. Largely due to the persistence of Bernard, our Parish Deacon, the PPC has reconvened. A number of initiatives are under active consideration, to try and enliven the spiritual and social life of the Parish, in support of, and alongside, Fr. Chris and the whole parish community. Dates of future Council meetings will be announced in the Parish Bulletin, and the Minutes of Meetings will be on the Notice Board at the back of church. Please be involved. Your comments will be welcome.”
St.Teresa’s Parish Christmas Fayre Is On Sunday, 26th November, 10 am – 2 pm. Raffle tickets are now on sale at the weekend Masses. As always, donations, prizes, bottles, cakes etc would be greatly appreciated, as would offers of help for the day. Hopefully, together we will make the Fayre a happy occasion, bringing us a little closer as a community in the run up to Christmas.
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 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
God Is Watching Over Us
Nowadays, thanks to the security camera,
we are often being watched,
watched by a rather cold, dispassionate, electronic eye,
intent only on catching us doing something wrong.
The feeling that someone is watching us
is not a pleasant feeling.
But, the feeling that someone is watching over us
can be a lovely feeling.
God is not watching us.
God is watching over us,
and the conviction that God is watching over us,
can really give us comfort in times of sadness,
strength in times of weakness,
and hope in times of despair.
Daily Reflections for this week
Monday (Carlo Carretto)
Just as human nature fell in an act of disobedience, so salvation came in Christ’s act of obedience. It was not Jesus’ suffering which redeemed humanity so much as his inner attitude of love and obedience to the Father. We must not make the mistake of separating love into human and divine and then concentrating on the latter to the neglect of the former. That would be mistaken zeal. Love cannot be divided. If it is genuine it serves God and the neighbour in the same act. Or better, it sees God in the neighbour and the neighbour in the heart of God.
Scripture (Mt. 24: 34-40)
The Pharisees got together and, to disconcert Jesus, one of them put a question “Master, which is the greatest commandment of the Law?” Jesus said “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind. This is the greatest commandment. The second resembles it: you must love your neighbour as yourself. On these two
commandments hang the whole Law, and the prophets also.”
Tuesday (A Carthusian)
The life of the Spirit and our everyday existence must not be kept apart; on the contrary, they must be brought together as much as possible. The life of the Spirit should penetrate and impregnate and be the very life of our everyday existence. The secret is to know how to bring God into the very rhythm of our existence. Our life should consist quite simply in making and keeping contact with his divine presence within us, which is God giving himself. We ought to keep on saying to him, ‘My God, I believe in your presence in me; that you love me and that you are giving yourself to me; and I want to respond to your love by giving you mine in return.’
Scripture (1John 4:10-12,19-21)
It is not we who loved God, but God loved us and sent his son to expiate our sins. My dear friends, if God loved us so much, we, too, should love each other. No one has ever seen God, but as long as we love each other, God remains in us and his love comes to its perfection in us. Anyone who says “I love God” and hates his brother is a liar, since anyone who does not love the brother whom he can see cannot love God whom he has not seen.
Wednesday (Malcolm Muggeridge)
What is apparent in her appearance and her bearing is that without the special grace vouchsafed her, Mother Teresa might have been a rather hard, grasping person. God has turned these qualities to his own ends. I have never met anyone less sentimental, less scatty, more down to earth. Yet when I left her, I felt as though I was leaving behind me all the beauty, all the joy in the universe. Something of God’s universal love has rubbed off on Mother Teresa. She has lived so closely with her Lord that the same enchantment clings about her that sent the crowds chasing after him in Jerusalem and Galilee.
Scripture (John 15:10-14)
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 the Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my own joy may be in you and your joy may be complete. This is my commandment: love one another as I have loved you.
Thursday (William James.)
You will agree in general that, although you read and believe in the Gospel, you believe in fighting fire with fire, in shooting down usurpers, locking up thieves and freezing out vagabonds and swindlers. And yet you are sure, as I am sure, that were the world confined to these hard-headed, hard-hearted and hard-fisted methods exclusively, were there no prompt to help a brother first and find out afterwards whether he were worthy; no one ready to be duped many a time rather than live always on suspicion; no one glad to treat individuals passionately and impulsively rather than by general rules of prudence, the world would be an infinitely worse place to live than it is now. The saints living in this way may, with their extravagances of human tenderness, be prophetic.
Scripture (Deuteronomy 15:7-8,10-11)
Are there any poor among you? Do not harden your heart or close your hand against them, but be open handed. When you give, you must give with an open heart; for this, God will bless you in all your undertakings. Of course, there will always be poor people in the country, and that is why I am giving you this command: always be open handed with anyone who is in need and poor.
Friday (Hasidic story)
The wife of the Rabbi said to him “Your prayer was lengthy today. Have you succeeded in bringing it about that the rich should be more generous in their gifts to the poor?” The Rabbi replied “Half of my prayer I have accomplished. The poor are willing to accept the gifts.”
Scripture (Exodus 22: 20-25)
The Lord said to Moses, “Tell the children of Israel this, ‘You must not ill-treat strangers or oppress them, for you lived as strangers in Egypt. You must not be harsh with the widow or the orphan; if you are harsh with them, they will surely cry out to me, and be sure I will hear their cry; my anger will be roused If you lend money to any of my people, to anyone poor among you, you must not demand interest from them.
Martin Bennett