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
18 February 2024
http://www.st-teresas-church.co.uk
Email: st.teresas.cleveleys@gmail.com
Lancaster Roman Catholic Diocesan Trustees Registered Charity Number 23433
Sunday : First Sunday of Lent
Contents: Gospel
Notices
Reflections for the coming week
Gospel : Mark 1:12-15
The Spirit drove Jesus out into the wilderness and he remained there for forty days, and was tempted by Satan. He was with the wild beasts, and the angels looked after him.
After John had been arrested, Jesus went into Galilee. There he proclaimed the Good News from God. ‘The time has come’ he said ‘and the kingdom of God is close at hand. Repent, and believe the Good News.’
Gospel Reflection: No Matter How Our Goodness Is Tempted, We Are Never Alone
Imagine you are in a dark room and you know there is a light switch somewhere but you can’t find it – like confusion in the night when you wake in a new room. Where is it? Lent is a bit like finding the light- switch of our souls.
The real invitation of Lent is to believe the good news, about the three big messages of Jesus :
God Loves you
We are all brothers and sisters
Good will overcome evil
That was Jesus’ life – his words and how he lived. Just watch him Sunday by Sunday in the Gospel, bringing love, compassion and welcome to all sorts of people.
Jesus saw everyone as a child of his Father, and a brother and sister of himself. Watch him healing, consoling, comforting, even challenging people to a better life experience. And, he showed on Calvary that the terrible cruelty, injustice, and evil was not the end.
Lord, let this light switch on for us this Lent.
Stations of The Cross This Sunday (18th February), and each Sunday in Lent, we have the Stations of the Cross, with Benediction, at 3 pm at St. Teresa’s. This is a short Service which is very suitable for our Lenten reflection.
Appeal : For a future Parish project we need to collect lots of plastic milk bottle tops (white only). These can be left at the back of St.Teresa’s Church, or in the church shop, in batches when you have them available. Thank you for your help.
First Holy Communion for St. Teresa’s and St. John Southworth parishes will be celebrated this year on Sunday 12th May, at the 10 am Mass at St. Teresa’s. We will soon be starting our 2024 Reconciliation and First Holy Communion preparation, for Baptised children in Year 4 and above. Some of these children may be in another school besides St. Teresa’s, and they are welcome to join the programme too.
Our first meeting will take place after the 10 am Sunday Mass on 25th February 2024. The meeting will take place in the Parish Hall immediately after the end of Mass. Each meeting in the preparation programme will be after the end of the 10 am Mass
In order for the preparation to convey the full meaning of the Sacrament of the Eucharist, it is necessary for the child and parent or guardian to attend the 10 am Mass each Sunday. Parents and guardians will be expected to work alongside their child, and our catechists, to support their children in their preparation. You are the first and best teachers for your children, and it is through your encouragement, love and care that they will grow in their understanding of God’s love and care.
Please could you let us know if you intend your child to take part in our Preparation Programme this year by contacting Clare Gooden on 07879 811925. If you have to leave a message please remember to leave your own contact number. We look forward to welcoming you and your child at our first meeting on 25 February.
A New ‘Fit For Purpose’ Kitchen Is Needed For Our Parish Hall. To start off our fundraising we are holding a ‘Table Top Sale’ on Saturday, 24th February, 10 am – 1 pm in the Parish Hall. Table Hire is Available for only £10 per table. For further information please contact Sue on 07889 532158.
One of the stalls at the Table Top Sale will be selling plants (indoor and outdoor), and all things linked with gardening. If anyone would like to contribute to this stall, for example potted cuttings etc, please let Sue or Bernard know. You can leave a message on the following mobile 07889 532158.
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.
Daily Reflections for this week
Monday (Thomas Merton)
This, then, is what it means to seek God perfectly: to withdraw from illusion and pleasure, from worldly anxieties and desires, from the works that God does not want, from a glory that is only human display; to keep my mind free from confusion in order that my liberty may always be at the disposal of His will; to entertain silence in my heart and listen for the voice of God; to have a will that is always ready to fold back within itself and draw all the powers of the soul down from its deepest centre, poised in concentration upon the point of my dependence on Him.
Scripture (Mark 1:12-15)
After his Baptism, the Spirit drove Jesus out into the wilderness and he remained there for forty days, and was tempted by Satan. He was with the wild beasts, and the angels looked after him.After John had been arrested, Jesus went into Galilee. There he proclaimed the Good News from God. “The time has come” he said “and the kingdom of God is close at hand. Repent, and believe the Good News.
Tuesday (Bede Griffiths)
For the first time I felt an overwhelming need to repent. I did not clearly understand what repentance was, nor was I aware of any particular sin of which I had to repent. My religion was based on my own reason and my own will. Now I was being summoned to surrender this independence. Something had risen in the depths of my own reason which I was powerless to control. I was being called to surrender the very citadel of myself. I had to surrender myself into the hands of a power which was above my reason, which would not allow me to argue, but commanded me to obey.
Scripture (Psalm 119 1-2,10-11,15-16)
How blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the Law of Yahweh! Blessed are those who seek his instructions with all their hearts. With all my heart I seek you, in my heart I treasure your promises, to avoid sinning against you. In the way of your instructions lies my joy, a joy beyond all wealth. I will ponder your precepts and fix my gaze on your paths. I find my delight in your will, I do not forget your words.
Wednesday (Thomas a Kempis)
The true, inward lover of Jesus and the Truth, who is free from inordinate desires, can turn freely to God, rise above self and joyfully rest in God. Those who knows things at their true worth, and not as they are said or reputed to be, are truly wise, for their knowledge comes from God and not from man. They who walk by an inner light, and are not unduly influenced by outward things are hindered and distracted by such things only so far as they allow themselves to be concerned by them.
Scripture (Eph 4:17– 22)
So I say this to you and attest to you in the Lord, do not go on living the empty-headed life of those who, intellectually, are in the dark and are estranged from the life of God because of the ignorance of closed minds. Now that is hardly the way you have learnt Christ, unless you have failed to hear him properly when you were taught what the truth is in Jesus. You were to put aside your old self, which belongs to your old way of life and is
corrupted by following illusory desires. Your mind was to be renewed in spirit, so that you could put on the New Man that has been created on God’s principles, in the uprightness and holiness of the truth.
Thursday (Henri Nouwen)
It takes courage to move away from the safe place into the unknown, even when we know that the safe place offers false safety and the unknown promises us a saving intimacy with God. We realise quite well that giving up the familiar and reaching out to him who transcends all our mental grasping and clinging makes us vulnerable. It is a sign of spiritual maturity that we can give up our illusory self-control and stretch out our hands to God.
Scripture (2 Cor. 5:12-21)
So for anyone who is in Christ, there is a new creation: the old order is gone and a new being is there to see. It is all God’s work; he reconciled us to himself through Christ and he gave us the ministry of reconciliation. I mean, God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not holding anyone’s faults against them but entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. For our sake he made the sinless one a victim of sin, so that in him we might become the uprightness of God.
Friday (A Carthusian)
The essence of our relations with God here below is faith: faith in his love, which is his being and his life. There is no other remedy for our passing ills than God’s eternal love for us. At bottom, all our sufferings derive from the fact that we want joy and possessions that are altogether too narrow and fleeting for the greatness of our hearts. Nothing unites so much as sacrifice. It offers up as a holocaust all narrowness in us. At the same time it makes us greater, and so makes room for God who is so great, and who loves us with all the immensity of his infinite love.
Scripture (2 Cor. 5:12-21)
So for anyone who is in Christ, there is a new creation: the old order is gone and a new being is there to see. It is all God’s work; he reconciled us to himself through Christ and he gave us the ministry of reconciliation. I mean, God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not holding anyone’s faults against them but entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. For our sake he made the sinless one a victim of sin, so that in him we might become the uprightness of God.
Martin Bennett