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
21 April 2024
http://www.st-teresas-church.co.uk
Email: st.teresas.cleveleys@gmail.com
Lancaster Roman Catholic Diocesan Trustees Registered Charity Number 23433
Sunday : 4th Sunday of Easter
Contents: Gospel
Notices
Reflection
Gospel: John: 10:27-30
Jesus said:
“The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice;
I know them and they follow me.
I give them eternal life;
They will never be lost
And no one will ever steal them from me.
The Father who gave them to me is greater than anyone,
And no one can steal from the Father.
The Father and I are one.”
Gospel Reflection : No One Can Steal Us From The Good Shepherd
We belong to him, as closely as the stone belongs to a rock, the water to a river, the scent to perfume, for without him we would be nothing.
We belong to him as the shadow belongs to the sun, as the taste belongs to the bread, as the reflection belongs to the light.
We belong to him as brothers and sisters belong to each other, finding our family roots in the family of God, and unique in our own personality.
We belong to him as a child to a parent, loved, united, but each our own person.
We belong to him, as earth belongs to heaven, as the son Jesus belongs to his Father, for he and the Father are one, so we are one with him.
And because he has been born and lived among us, the Word of God made flesh, he belongs to us, and we share his life, as he humbled himself to share our life.
We belong to him when we sit with him in prayer, or when we share his work, each in our own way, according to our talents and our call in life, to bring his kingdom to our world.
We Remember In our Prayers Susan Crahan whose Funeral is at Carleton Crematorium on Wednesday, 24th April at 3.30 pm, and Sheila Devlin, whose Funeral Service is at St. Teresa’s on Friday 26th April at 11 am. We remember them and their families, and those whose anniversaries are at this time. May they be in God’s peace.
We also continue to keep in our prayers the children who are preparing for their First Communion, and their families. The First Communions for both our parishes are being celebrated at the 10 am Mass at St.Teresa’s on Sunday, 12th May.
This Sunday, Good Shepherd Sunday, is the World Day of Prayer for Vocations, and we support those in our Diocese who are preparing for Ministry by the annual special collection for the Ecclesistical Education Fund at each Mass this weekend.
At This Time When We Certainly Need Peace, The Rosary, A Prayer For Peace, will be prayed at St.Teresa’s on Monday mornings at 9.10 am, before the 9.30 am Mass, and at St. John Southworth on Wednesday mornings at 9.10 am before the 9.30 am Mass there. All are very welcome to come and join in.
There Is A St. Teresa’s Parish Council Meeting this Monday, 22nd April, 7 pm in the church sacristy.
The 100 Club Winners for March : Anita Barton £15; Win Ball £10; Graham Jordan £5.
Preparing for Pentecost With the Apostles ; A series of Meetings has been organised for all the Catholic parishes in our Deanery, leading up to Pentecost at the end of the Easter Season. Each week we will look at the Readings for the following Sunday. We will read, reflect and share on them. Come for all or just one. All are very welcome. These will take place at English Martyrs Church, 154, High Cross Road, Poulton, for just one hour, 7pm – 8pm on the following Wednesdays: April 24, May 1, and May 8. For further information please contact Ursula Walker – 07821 691888.
A Diocesan Pilgrimage To Walsingham, led by Bishop Paul, has been organised for 2-6 September 2024. For more details please see the notice at the back of church, and for more information contact Deacon Charlie Conner on 07895 742732 or email charlie.conner@lrcd.org.uk
The Food Pantry, situated at the back of church at St. Teresa’s, is open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 10,30 am -12 noon, and on Wednesdays 2.30 pm – 4 pm. We are so grateful for all the volunteers who work in the Pantry, and all those who donate contributions.
The Church Shop in the porch at St. Teresa’s is open before and after each weekend Mass, and has cards and gifts for First Holy Communion. Please call in and browse. You will be most welcome.
Thornton-Cleveleys Friends of Trinity Hospice Are Holding A Coffee Morning in St. Teresa’s Parish Hall on Saturday 11th May at 10 am. This of course is for our wonderful Trinity Hospice in Bispham, and our support is always very much appreciated.
Daily Reflections for this week
Monday (Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh)
If you learn to use a prayer you have chosen at moments when you can give all your attention to the divine presence and offer God this prayer, gradually what happens is that the awareness of God grows within you to such an extent that whether you are with people, listening, speaking or whether you are alone working, this awareness is so strong that even if you are with people you will still be able to pray. We listen to people, we do our work, we read, we do what we are supposed to, and the pain of bereavement, the awareness of joy is with us incessantly. This should also be the sense of the presence of God.
Scripture (John 10:27-30)
Jesus said: “The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice; I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life; they will never be lost and no one will ever steal them from me. The Father who gave them to me is greater than anyone and no one can steal from the Father. The Father and I are one.”
Tuesday (St. Teresa of Avila)
What utter blindness to seek for happiness where it cannot be found. Lord, give us light! See! We need it more than did the man who was born blind, for he longed to se the light but could not, while we do not wish to see it. O true God of mine! How hard a thing I ask of you. No less than you should love those who do not love you: should open to those who do not knock – should cure those who wish to ail. You said that you came to seek sinners: these are the real sinners!
Scripture (Psalm 100: 1-3,5)
Cry out with joy to the Lord, all the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness, come into his presence with songs of joy. Know that he, the Lord, is God. He made us, we belong to him, his people, the flock of his sheepfold. Indeed, how good is the Lord, eternal his merciful love. He is faithful from age to age.
Wednesday (The Desert Fathers)
The presbyter of a church used to come to a hermit to consecrate the Eucharist for him. But someone else visited the hermit and told him evil things about the presbyter. The hermit would no longer let him in, so he went away. Then the hermit heard a voice saying, ‘Men have taken my judgment into their own hands.’ He saw a vision of a well of gold and a bucket of gold, and plenty of drinking water. He saw a leper emptying and refilling the bucket and he was thirsty but would not drink because it was a leper who had poured the water. Then the voice spoke a second time and said, ‘Why don’t you drink this water? What does it matter who draws it, for he only draws it and pours it out again.’ The hermit realised what the vision meant. He called the presbyter and had him consecrate the Eucharist as before.
Scripture (Acts 13:44-51)
The next Sabbath, almost the whole town assembled to hear the word of God. When they saw the crowds, the Jews, filled with jealousy, used blasphemies to contradict everything that Paul said. Then paul and Barnabas spoke out fearlessly. ‘We had to proclaim the word of God to you first, but since you have rejected it, since you do not think of yourselves as worthy of eternal life, here and now we turn to the pagans. It made the pagans very happy to hear this and they gave thanks to the Lord for this message. But the Jews stirred up a persecution against Paul and Barnabas and expelled them from their territory.
Thursday (Carlo Carretto)
The will of God. That’s what rules the world, what converts the nations, what brings to life and brings triumph out of death. The will of God made Christ incarnate and demanded his sacrifice; this it was that founded the Church. And it is God’s will still to continue the work of redemption until the end of time. It will call people to enter one by one into the visible body of the Church when the time is ripe after having belonged to his invisible soul through their good intentions and good will.
Scripture (Ephesians 2:11-14,18-22)
Do not forget that there was a time when you who were pagans were separate from Christ and excluded form membership of Israel, aliens with no part in the covenants of the Promise and without God. But now in Christ Jesus, you who used to be so far off have been brought close by the blood of Christ. For he is the peace between us and has broken down the barrier which used to keep them apart. Through him, then, we both in the one Spirit have free access to the Father. So you are no longer aliens or foreign visitors; you are fellow citizens with the holy people of God and part of God’s household. And you, too, in him are being built up into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
Friday (St. Francis of Assisi)
Our Father, from whom comes all good, may our knowledge of you become ever clearer that we may know the breadth of your blessings, the length of your promises, the height of your majesty, the depths of your judgments, so that you may rule in us through your grace and enable us to come to your kingdom, where there is an unclouded vision of you, a perfect love of you, a blessed companionship with you, an eternal enjoyment of you. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven, that we may love you with our whole heart and we may love our neighbours as ourselves by drawing them with all our strength to your love.
Scripture (Daniel 7:13-14)
I was gazing into the visions of the night when I saw, coming on the clouds of heaven, as it were a son of man. He came to the One most venerable and was lead into his presence. On him was conferred rule, honour and kingship, and all peoples, nations and languages became his servants. His rule is an everlasting rule which will never pass away, and his kingdom will never come to an end.
Martin Bennett