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
25 August 2024
http://www.st-teresas-church.co.uk
Email: st.teresas.cleveleys@gmail.com
Lancaster Roman Catholic Diocesan Trustees Registered Charity Number 23433
Sunday : 21st Sunday of Ordinary Time
Contents: Gospel
Notices
Reflection
Gospel – John 6:60-69
After hearing his doctrine many of the followers of Jesus said, ‘This is intolerable language. How could anyone accept it?’ Jesus was aware that his followers were complaining about it and said, ‘Does this upset you? What if you should see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before?
‘It is the spirit that gives life,
The flesh has nothing to offer.
The words I have spoken to you are spirit
And they are life.
‘But there are some of you who do not believe.’ For Jesus knew from the outset those who did not believe, and who it was that would betray him. He went on, ‘This is why I told you that no one could come to me unless the Father allows him.’ After this, many of his disciples left him and stopped going with him. Then Jesus said to the Twelve, ‘What about you, do you want to go away too?’ Simon Peter answered, ‘Lord, who shall we go to?’ You have the message of eternal life, and we believe, we know that you are the Holy One of God.’
Gospel Reflection : : The Aroma of Goodness
We pick up messages about what will give us a full life from many daily sources.
We are told to seek the fullness of life in keeping the body young, or in knowing ourselves, or in wealth and health, or in doing well in examinations or business.
We are told to seek the fullness of life in avoiding pain, in doing good, in loving others.
And, Jesus says, to seek the fullness of life is to know and live by some very basic truths : – That God our Father loves us, that we are brothers and sisters to one another, and that ‘good’ will always overcome ‘evil’.
So why do we sometimes turn up our noses when we get but a whiff of such simple goodness going on around us all the time?
We Remember In Our Prayers Betty Wilson whose Funeral Mass is at St.Teresa’s on Wednesday, 4th September, at 2 pm.
There is a Craftroom Clearout Tabletop Sale In St Teresa’s Parish Hall On Saturday 14th September 11 am – 2 pm To The Public – Sellers Only at 10 am. Why not sell those stashed supplies that you no longer use. A 6 ft table is £15. Please email nanstabletopevents@hotmail.com to book.
We Welcome Into The Family of The Church Sophie-Alexandra Mary Neiras whose Baptism takes place at St. Teresa’s this weekend.
The SVP (St.Vincent de Paul Society) are very grateful for the £120 which was donated last week in their special collection for those in need locally.
The SVP Are Now Organising The Traditional ‘Christmas Shoe Box’ Appeal For The Salvation Army. Knitting Volunteers Are Needed For This, to Supply 20 Ladies and 20 Mens Double Ply Wool Hats (Beanie Style), and Scarves If Possible. These will go in the Shoe Boxes with other things for Christmas. The Shoe Boxes are supplied. Please contact Linda (07966 477479) or Carolyn (01253 933696).
The Roman Synod on Synodality, 2020- 2024
The Second Session of the Synod is fast approaching. It starts in early October.
If you would like to know what is going to be discussed, and discover together what it means for us, please come along to some presentation and reflection sessions to be held in English Martyrs Church Hall, High Cross, Poulton on Wednesday evenings in September at 7.00 pm. The actual dates will be Wednesday, 4th, 11th, 18th, 25th September.
We will be looking at tbe “Working Document” which is the basis for discussion at the Synod. You don’t need to have read the Document yourself as the presentation will cover the key themes which we can explore together. The sessions will be led by Elaine Brownwood, and are open to anyone in the Deanery who wishes to attend. We are very grateful to Sister Philomena and Sister Anne for organising all this.
Come And Sing With ‘REFRESH’ On Sunday, 1st September, 4 p.m at St. Andrew’s Church, Cleveleys.Would you like to sing, socialise and be part of a brand new choir, learning a Christian musical to perform at the Winter Gardens next March, with Roger Jones of Christian Music Ministries.All abilities are welcome. To know more or register your interest email www.refreshment.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.
Daily Reflections for this week
Monday (Cardinal Basil Hume)
Our attitude must always be one recognising that it is never by any power of our own that we can take one step of progress in our understanding of the things of God. It is a gift, and one for which we must ask earnestly, sincerely, constantly. If we do not believe, we remain in the dark, we miss the true meaning of life and the future has no hope. Perhaps one of the greatest difficulties of our age, and for many Christians too, is that we only half believe, half doubt. We do not go the whole way and say “I believe” with total conviction. Our ability to make this act of faith is a gift from God for which we have to ask, and it demands a humility of mind which is not characteristic of contemporary society.
Scripture (Rev. 3:15-16,20-22)
I know about your activities, how you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were one or the other, but since you are neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. Look, I am standing at the door knocking. If one of you hears me calling and opens the door, I will come in to share a meal at that person’s side. Anyone who proves victorious, I will allow to share my throne, just as I have myself overcome and have taken my seat with my Father on his throne. Let anyone who can hear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.
Tuesday (C.S.Lewis.)
I think that all Christians would agree with me if I said that though Christianity seems at first to be all about morality, all about duties and rules and guilt and virtue, yet it leads you on, out of all that, into something beyond. One has a glimpse of a country where they do not talk of those things, except perhaps as a joke. Everyone there is filled full with what we should call goodness as a mirror is filled with light. But they do not call it goodness. They do not call it anything. They are not thinking of it. They are too busy looking at the source from which it comes.
Scripture (Joshua 24:2-3,14-15)
Joshua then said to all the people: ‘Yahweh the God of Israel says this: “From the time immemorial, your ancestors lived beyond the River and served other Gods. I then brought your ancestor Abraham from beyond the River and led him through the length and the breadth of Canaan. So now, fear Yahweh and serve him truly and sincerely; banish the Gods whom your ancestors served beyond the River in Egypt, and serve Yahweh. But if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose today whom you wish to serve, whether the gods whom your ancestors served or the gods of the Amorites in whose country you now live. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
Wednesday (2nd Vatican Council—The Church Today)
For its part, authentic freedom is an exceptional sign of the divine image within us. For God has willed that we be left ‘in the hand of our own counsel’ so that we can seek our Creator spontaneously and come freely to utter and blissful perfection through loyalty to him. Hence our dignity demands that we act according to a knowing and free choice. Such a choice is personally motivated and prompted from within. It does not result from blind internal impulse nor from mere external pressure.
Scripture (Psalm 40:5-8)
How much you have done, Yahweh my God—your wonders, your plans for us—you have no equal. I will proclaim and speak of them; they are beyond number. You wanted no sacrifice or cereal offering, but you gave me an open ear, you did not ask for burnt offering or sacrifice for sin; then I said ‘Here I am, I am coming.’ In the scroll of the book it is written of me, my delight is to do your will; your law, my God, is deep in my heart.
Thursday (Fr. Michael Ivens, SJ)
(Explaining the Second Week of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius)
The personal love of Christ, which is a grace, is a love which changes and re-orientates the whole person. It is the love by which we allow the loved-one to take over our lives, to lead us along his own ways towards his own objectives, the love by which we trust ourselves to the other’s power to change us. A person advancing through contemplation in a love of this kind is made especially aware of certain specific qualities of the true life in Christ, and experiences these as desirable.
Scripture (John 6:63-69)
Jesus said ‘It is the spirit that gives life, the flesh has nothing to offer. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. But there are some of you who do not believe.’ He went on, ‘That is why I told you that no one could come to me except by the gift of the Father.’ After this many of his disciples went away and accompanied him no more. Then Jesus said to the Twelve, ‘What about you, do you want to go away too?’ Simon Peter answered, Lord, to whom should we go? You have the message of eternal life, and we believe; we have come to know that you are the Holy One of God.’
Friday (Jean Vanier)
A Christian community will always be running against the tide of society, with its individualistic values of wealth and comfort and resulting rejection of the people who get in the way of these. A Christian community constantly calls its members to share, to welcome, become poorer and go beyond their resources to a truer love. It is important to be reminded of the precise goals of the community, its calls and its origins. Too often, the essential is obscured in a thousand and one activities. People no longer know why they are together or to what they should be witnessing. They discuss the details but forget what brought them together.
Scripture (2 Cor. 4:3-4,6)
If our gospel seems to be veiled at all, it is so to those who are on their way to destruction, the unbelievers who have been blinded by the god of this world, so that they cannot see shining the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. It is God who said ‘Let light shine out of darkness’ that has shone into our hearts to enlighten them with the knowledge of God’s glory, the glory on the face of Christ.
Martin Bennett