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
17 December 2023
http://www.st-teresas-church.co.uk
Email: st.teresas.cleveleys@gmail.com
Lancaster Roman Catholic Diocesan Trustees Registered Charity Number 23433
Sunday : 3rd Sunday of Advent
Contents: Gospel
Notices
Reflections for the coming week
Gospel: John: 1:6-8
A man came, sent by God.
His name was John.
He came as a witness,
As a witness to speak for the light,
So that everyone might believe through him.
He was not the light,
Only a witness to speak for the light.
This is how John appeared as a witness. When the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, ‘Who are you?’ He not only declared, but he declared quite openly, ‘I am not the Christ.’ ‘Well then,’ they asked ‘are you Elijah?’ ‘I am not’ he said. ‘Are you the prophet?’ He answered, ‘No.’ So they said to him, ‘Who are you? We must take hack an answer to those who sent us. What have you to say about yourself?’ So John said, ‘I am, as Isaiah prophesied:
A voice that cries in the wilderness:
Make a straight way for the Lord.’
Now these men had been sent by the Pharisees, and they put this further question to him, ‘Why are you baptising if you are not the Christ, and not Elijah, and not the prophet?’ John replied, ‘I baptise with water; but there stands among you – unknown to you – the one who is coming after me; and I am not fit to undo his sandal strap.’ This happened at Bethany, on the far side of the Jordan where John was baptising.
Gospel Reflection : How Much Longer?
“How much longer?” is the question of a child on a long car journey, of every parent in the Christmas line queuing to get into the shop, of everyone waiting for closed doors in the Covid regulations to be opened.
Today, on this third Sunday of Advent, we rejoice. The wait is almost over. Our third candle on the Advent wreath reminds us, as the brighter sky before the dawn reminds us, that the day is near.
The seeds we have planted this past year, our expectant faith and hopeful trust, our increased works of charity for others, will bear fruit.
Perhaps our prayer today should be specially for those of us who still find the wait too long.
We Remember In Our Prayers: Dorothea Hargreaves whose Funeral was last week, Janet Lavin whose Funeral is at St. Teresa’s on Thursday, 28th January, at 12 noon, and Barry Kershaw whose Funeral is at St. Teresa’s on Friday, 5th January 2024, at 10 am and Paul Smith whose Funeral has yet to be arranged. We remember them and their families, and all those whose anniversaries are at this time. May they all be in God’s peace.
A Very Big Thank You : The members of St. Teresa’s St. Vincent de Paul Society (SVP) “would like to give a heartwarming thanks for the very, very generous contributions made to their collections at the three Masses on the weekend of 9/10th December, which amounted to £290.60, and goes directly to help those in need, This was augmented by a very generous private donation which was given separately. Thank you all so much.”
ST GEORGE’S AVE FOOD PANTRY @ ST. TERESA’S:- We are now 12months old!! Sue and Bernard want to say ‘ONE BIG THANK YOU’ not only to the fantastic volunteers, without whom the ‘Pantry’ would not be able to operate, but to Our Parish Community who so generously donate both food provisions and monies to enable us to reach out in some small way to those, living in and around Cleveleys, who find themselves struggling to manage or cope with everyday living. If you or someone you know needs a helping hand from time to time, then we are here for you.
Please note our Christmas and New Year opening times, which are:-
St George’s Food Pantry at St Teresa’s will open on
Saturday, 23 December 2023 from 10.30am – 12.noon.
Closed: Monday, 25 December, Christmas Day and Tuesday, 26 December, Boxing Day, but please note we will be open on Wednesday morning, 27 December at 10.30 am and normal times for Thursday/Friday, 10.30 am – 12 noon. Closed Monday, 1 January, New Years Day.
Normal opening times for TUESDAY/THURSDAY/FRIDAY 10.30am – 12NOON WEDNESDAY 2.30pm –4.00pm. RAFFLE PRIZE DRAW for the FOOD PANTRY raised a whopping £192.00 just from the last two weekends’
The Raffle for the Five Prizes Organised at the Back of Church At the Masses the past two weekends, raised a very useful £192 for the Food Bank. The tickets were sold at £1 for a strip of numbers. The winning numbers are : Pink tickets : 916-920; 651-655 and 676-680. Yellow tickets : 291-295, and 266-270. The prizes can be picked up at the back of church this weekend.
A Warm Wednesday Afternoon Welcome If you are on your own after Christmas, on Wednesday 27th December, why not join us for a festive afternoon, 12 noon – 3.00 pm, in St. Teresa’s Parish Hall. Come and pull a ‘cracker’ and meet some old or new friends, with food and a ‘natter’ to while away the afternoon. If you would like to be there, let us know, purely for catering numbers. Call Sue or Bernard 07889 532158 / 07515 347256.
Sunday Morning Mass Times At St. Teresa’s : St. Teresa’s Parish Pastoral Council has been giving considerable thought to the number of Sunday Masses we have at St.Teresa’s Church, aware of the changing circumstances we have in all our parishes, including the decrease in the number of priests, and the increase in ages of those priests who remain. It is therefore proposed that there should be one Sunday morning Mass, and that at 10 am. There will still be the Saturday evening Mass at 6. 30 pm, and the Sunday evening Mass at St. John Southworth Church at 5 pm. The Council is also aware that this will upset the long-established routine of Sunday morning parishioners, but sincerely hopes that you will feel able to accept and support this change as being both a necessary and important change for the Parish. It is suggested that the starting date of the new Sunday morning Mass time of 10 am, replacing the 9 am and 10.30 am Masses, will be in the new year, Sunday 14th January 2024.
Christmas Mass Times :
St Teresa’s : Sunday 24th December (Christmas Eve) 6.30 pm
Monday 25th December (Christmas Day) 9 am and 10.30 am
St. John Southworth : Monday, 25th December (Christmas Day) 10 am
(There is no 5pm Mass on Sunday 24th December)
Please note : The Weekend Mass Times next weekend at St. Teresa’s remain at the usual times : Saturday 23rd, 6.30 pm, Sunday 24th 9 am and 10.30 am.(the 6.30 pm that night is the first Mass of Christmas.)
The Church Shop, in the church porch at St. Teresa’s, is open before and after each Mass this weekend.
Daily Reflections for this week
Monday (“Letters from a Russian monk” Fr. John)
You write that you are much occupied with every day cares, and prayer goes badly. You must recognise that you are living in the world. How could you live without cares? You read the Scriptures but do not understand the power of their teaching. For even the Hoy Fathers did not live without cares and they sometimes felt very weak. It is not necessary to fear weakness. If a person recognises their weakness and repents, the Lord in his mercy will not remember their weakness and sins.
Scripture (Ps. 85:1-2,6-11)
Yahweh, you are gracious to your land, you take away the guilt of your people, you blot out all their sin. I will hear what the Lord God has to say, a voice that speaks of peace for his people if only they renounce their folly. His saving help is near for those who fear him, his glory will dwell in our land. Mercy and faithfulness have met, justice and peace have embraced. Justice shall march before him and peace shall follow his steps.
Tuesday (C.S.Lewis)
Now what sort of ‘hole’ has man got himself into? He had tried to set up on his own, to behave as if he belonged to himself. In other words, fallen man is not simply an imperfect creature who needs improvement: he is a rebel who must lay down his arms. This process of surrender is what Christians call repentance. Now repentance is no fun at all. It is something much harder than simply eating humble pie. It means unlearning all the self-conceit and self-will that we have been training ourselves into for thousands of years.
Scripture (Mark 1:4-8)
And so it was that John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. All Judaea and all the people of Jerusalem made their way to him, and as they were baptised by him in the river Jordan they confessed their sins. In the course of his preaching he said, ‘Someone is following me , someone who is more
powerful than I am, and I am not fit to undo the strap of his sandals. I have baptised you with water, but he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit.
Wednesday (St. John of the Cross)
Mary Magdalene, in spite of her past, paid no heed to the crowds of people, prominent as well as unknown, at the banquet. She did not consider the propriety of weeping and shedding tears in the presence of our Lord’s guests. Her only concern was to reach him for whom her soul was already wounded and on fire, without any delay and without waiting for another, more appropriate time.
Scripture (Philippians 3:12-16)
I have not yet reached my goal, but I am still pursuing it in an attempt to take hold of the prize for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not reckon myself as having taken hold of it; I can only say that forgetting all that lies behind me, and straining forward to what lies in front, I am racing towards the finishing point to win the prize of God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus. So this is the way in which all of us who are mature should be thinking. Let us go forward from the point which we have attained.
Thursday (Charles de Foucauld)
When thinking about the happiness of God, a deep peace floods the soul, transitory things are nothing. We are walking towards God, contemplating His immense happiness and rejoicing for ever in the thought of the infinite, perfect, unchangeable happiness of this God we love; we are happy with the happiness of the Beloved, and the thought of His unchangeable peace calms the soul. The sight of my own nothingness does not weigh me down: it helps me forget myself and think only of Him who is all in all.
Scripture (Isaiah 40:1-5)
“Console my people, console them” says your God. “Speak to the heart of Jerusalem and cry to her that her period of service is ended, that her guilt has been atoned for.” A voice cries “Prepare in the wilderness a way for the Lord. Make a straight highway for our God across the desert. Let every
valley be filled in, every mountain and hill be levelled. Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed and all mankind will see it together; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
Friday (A New Catechism)
When we are filled with the joy of fulfilment, the experience opens up wider perspectives. It seems that it has overtones—the conviction that this is not just an accident. At such moments it seems as though something in us answered “Yes” when we asked the meaning of life. “Yes, there is a meaning. Our longings are meant to be fulfilled. We are safe and sure, founded on something boundless for our hearts.”
Scripture (2 Cor. 1:18-22)
As surely as God is trustworthy, what we say to you is not both Yes and No. The Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was proclaimed to you by us, was never Yes and No: his nature is all Yes. For in him is found the Yes to all God’s promises and therefore it is through him that we answer “Amen” to give praise to God. It is God who gives us a sure place in Christ and has both anointed us and marked us with his seal, giving us as pledge the Spirit in our hearts.
Martin Bennett