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 March 2024
http://www.st-teresas-church.co.uk
Email: st.teresas.cleveleys@gmail.com
Lancaster Roman Catholic Diocesan Trustees Registered Charity Number 23433
Sunday : Palm/Passion Sunday
Contents: Notices
Reflection
Mass Reflection : Wholly Weak?
Like other creatures with whom we share this planet, we humans have an instinct for self-survival, which can lead us to display a strength and dominance over others which can be so inappropriate, and so often harmful. But, unlike other creatures, we also have a distinctive need for some common purpose in life, even to be of service to others.
For Christians, Holy Week recalls and celebrates specific events which radically altered the course of our human history. We believe God entered our time and world, in an unprecedented way, in Jesus. He gave us Jesus’ teachings and particular way of living as a model for our living. But living his way is sometimes not only a challenge but an affront to the way of living we may have grown used to.
On Palm Sunday we are encouraged to proclaim our praise to the Lord of life and not just to ourselves – to Jesus as the centre and meaning of our lives, and not just to our own interests or comforts. Strangely, we grow by serving something greater than ourselves. Our life expands in proportion to our becoming part of a life bigger than our own.
Perhaps the key to unlock the mystery of life, and of the Cross, is the fact that it is in our weakness and our woundedness, not in our power and strength, that we find our God. This Holy Week is for those who feel wholly weak too!
We Remember In Our Prayers Maureen Lynch, and Donna Fildes whose Funerals were last week, Sheila Davies whose Funeral Service is at Carleton Crematorium on Thursday 4th April at 1.15 pm and Andrew Heys whose Funeral Mass is at St Teresa’s on Friday, 12 April at 12.30 pm. We remember them and their families, and those whose anniversaries are at this time. May they all be in God’s peace.
The SVP (St. Vincent de Paul Society at St.Teresa’s) have their regular collection for ‘those in need’ at each Mass this weekend, 23rd/24th March.
We Congratulate the 14 children preparing for their First Holy Communion who celebrated their First Reconciliation/Confession last Thursday, and we thank their parents for their support, along with all the preparation done by Clare and our parish Catechists.
There are Stations of the Cross, with Benediction, this Sunday afternoon at 3 pm.
The St. Teresa’s Parish Social/ Tea Event on 3rd April Due to the fantastic response we have had for this event we now sadly, but in a positive, thankful way, have to say ‘SOLD OUT’ -no more tickets.
The Food Pantry at St. Teresa’s will be closed on Good Friday,29th March, but open on Easter Monday, 10.30 – 12.00 noon. It will be closed on Wednesday, 3rd April.
The Wednesday Evening ‘Keep Fit And Dance Group’ is having a break this week, but will reopen on 3rd April.
The Church Shop in the porch at St. Teresa’s is open before and after each weekend Mass, and has cards and gifts for Easter and First Holy Communion. Please call in and browse. You will be most welcome.
It’s That Time Of Year – Planned Giving/Gift Aid Envelopes for the coming new tax year, are available this weekend after each Mass. At St. Teresa’s please see Steve Laird in the Food Pantry room at the back of church, and at St. John Southworth see Jane Collier who will be in the church porch. The envelopes of those who have them now will soon run out, but there are plenty of envelopes for those who want to start using them. Of course if you are a tax payer, whether working or retired, this is a very important source of income for our parishes. Last year it gave us 25p in the pound on what you already gave, at the Inland Revenue’s expense, not yours, which meant we received back £7,000 to add to our income. Such an amount proves that it is so worthwhile, and why we are so grateful to those who already contribute in the weekly offertory in this way. Please will anyone who is not already using ‘Gift-Aid seriously consider it, and also see Steve or Jane in order to complete the simple paperwork. They are both very helpful, and we thank them for what they do for the good of our parishes.
This Is Also The Time of Year To Renew or Take Out A Subscription To St. Teresa’s 100 Club. Envelopes are available at the back of church, as is Kathryn Brimelow who kindly organises the 100 Club for us.
HOLY WEEK AND EASTER SERVICES
(All at St. Teresa’s unless otherwise stated)
Maundy Thursday Mass – 6.30 pm
(After this Mass there will be an opportunity for the customary time for private prayer,
‘watching’ at the Altar of Repose, which will finish thirty minutes after the end of Mass)
Good Friday
Stations of the Cross – 11 am at St. John Southworth and St. Teresa’s
(At 12 noon there is a short Ecumenical Service, organised by all our Churches near Poundland on Victoria Road West in Cleveleys)
3 pm The Celebration of the Lord’s Passion
(This is the main Service of the day. The church is then closed until the Easter Vigil)
Holy Saturday (Easter Vigil) – 6.30 pm.
Easter Sunday Masses – 10.00 am at St. Teresa’s
5.00 pm at St. John Southworth
Daily Reflections for this week
The suffering and dying of God is regarded as essential to reach the resurrection, to which we can’t get quickly enough. But this underpins not a theology of the resurrection but a superficial ideology of hope. Before outlining vast theologies of redemption, indeed before talking about the wonder of the Resurrection we should contemplate the absurdity of the death of Jesus. An open contemplation of the death of Jesus, leading to a mystical union with God, leads us to examine the depth of our assimilation of, and relationship to, the values of Jesus. It often seems that it is only at the death of someone that we come to understand, in any depth, our relationship with them.
Scripture (Psalm 42)
I thirst for God, the living God; when shall I go to see the face of God? I have no food but tears, day and night, as all day long I am taunted ‘Where is your God?’ I shall say to God ‘Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go around in mourning, harassed by the enemy?’ Hope in God! I will praise him still, my Saviour, my God. Send out your light and your truth, they shall be my guide, to lead me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell.
Tuesday (Dietrich Bonhoeffer)
When Jesus calls his disciples to follow him, it is closely associated with the prediction of his passion. He must suffer and be rejected. Had he only suffered, Jesus might still have been applauded as the Messiah. All the sympathy and admiration of the world might have been focused on his passion. It could have been viewed as a tragedy with its own intrinsic value, dignity and honour. But in the passion, Jesus is a rejected Messiah. His rejection robs the passion of its halo of glory. Suffering and rejection sum up the whole cross of Jesus. This notion has ceased to be intelligible to a Christianity which can no longer see any difference between an ordinary human life and a life committed to Christ.
Scripture (Mt. 27:39-44)
The passers-by jeered at him: “So you would destroy the Temple and in three days rebuild it! Then save yourself if you are God’s son and come down from the cross!” The chief priests and the scribes and elders mocked him in the same way “He saved others but he cannot save himself. Let him come down from the cross and we will believe in him. He has put his trust in God; now let God rescue him if he wants him” Even the bandits who were with him taunted him in the same way.
Wednesday (Martin Luther)
‘Discipleship is not limited to what you can comprehend. Plunge into the deep waters beyond your own comprehension. Not to know where you are going is the true knowledge. My comprehension transcends yours. Thus Abraham went forth from his father not knowing where he was going. He trusted himself to my knowledge and cared not for his own, and came to his journey’s end. Behold, that is the way of the cross. The road which is clean contrary to all that you choose or desire—that is the road you must take. To that I call you and in that you must be my disciple.’
Scripture (Ps. 22 )
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me. The words of my groaning do nothing to save me. My God, I call you by day but you do not answer, at night, but I find no respite. Yet you, the Holy One, in you our ancestors out their trust, they trusted you and you set them free. But I am a worm, not a man, scorn of mankind, contempt of the people; all who see me sneer and wag their heads, ‘He trusted himself to Yahweh, let Yahweh set him free!’ Do not hold aloof, for trouble is upon me, and no one to help me.
Thursday (Henri Nouwen)
“Can you drink the cup I shall drink?” pierced my heart like a sharp spear. I knew that taking this moment seriously would radically change our lives. It is the question that has the power to crack open a hardened heart and lay bare the tendons of the spiritual life. But why should we drink this cup? There is so much pain, so much anguish, so much violence. Wouldn’t it be easier to live normal lives with a minimum of pain and a maximum of pleasure? “Can you drink the cup that I am going to drink?” Just letting that question sink in made me feel very uncomfortable. But I knew that I had to start living with it.
Scripture (Mark 10:35-39)
James and John said to Jesus, “We want you to do us a favour. Allow us to sit one at your right hand and the other at your left hand in glory.” But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup I shall drink, or be baptised with the baptism with which I will be baptised?”
They replied, “We can.”
Friday (Fr. Richard Rohr.)
The supreme irony of the whole crucifixion scene is this: He who was everything had everything taken away from him. Jesus was nailed to the cross, his arms nailed open. He is the eternal sign of God to humans, yet his arms were nailed open because he said in his life “I love you”. When you say this, you give the other power over you: power to destroy you and power to create you. Jesus spoke these words to his creation and we took him at his word. But God says “I love you anyway!” That is God’s great act of reconciliation. What hope!
Scripture (Hebrews 4:15-16, 5:7-9)
The high priest we have is not incapable of feeling our weaknesses with us, but has been put to the test in exactly the same way as ourselves, apart from sin. Let us, then, have no fear in approaching the throne of grace to receive mercy and to find grace when we are in need of help. During his life on earth, he offered up prayer and entreaty, with loud cries and with tears, to the one who had the power to save him from death, and, winning a hearing by his reverence, he learnt obedience, Son though he was, through his sufferings; when he had been perfected, he became for all who obey him the source of eternal salvation.
Martin Bennett