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
8 September 2024
http://www.st-teresas-church.co.uk
Email: st.teresas.cleveleys@gmail.com
Lancaster Roman Catholic Diocesan Trustees Registered Charity Number 23433
Sunday : 23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time
Contents: Gospel
Notices
Reflection
Gospel – Mark 7:31-37
Returning from the district of Tyre, Jesus went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, right through the Decapolis region. And they brought him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech and they asked him to lay his hand on him. He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, put his fingers into the man’s ears and touched his tongue with spittle. Then looking up to heaven he sighed; and he said to him, ‘Ephphatha,’ that is, ‘Be opened.’ And his ears were opened, and the ligament of his tongue was loosened and he spoke clearly. And Jesus ordered them to tell no one about it, but the more he insisted, the more widely they published it. Their admiration was unbounded. ‘He has done all things well, they said ‘he makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak.’
Gospel Reflection : Precious Gifts
The gift of hearing is a precious gift, but it is only with the heart that we can hear rightly. The cry of a needy person may reach our ears, but unless it reaches our heart too we will not feel the person’s pain, and it is unlikely that we will respond.
And the gift of speech is a precious gift, but again it is only with the heart that we can speak rightly. For our words to ring true they must come from the heart. If they only come from the lips, they will have a hollow sound and will have little effect. They will be like a wind that ruffles the surface of the water but leaves the depths untouched. But words that come from the heart can enter the heart.
We Remember In Our Prayers Betty Wilson whose Funeral was last week, Marguerite Julia Foulds whose Funeral Service is at St. Teresa’s on Wednesday 11th September at 12.30 pm, and Maureen Ann Sheppard whose Funeral Service is at St. Teresa’s on Monday, 16th September at 12 noon. We remember them and their families, and those whose anniversaries are at this time. May they all be in God’s peace.
A Date For Your Diary – St. Teresa’s Parish Christmas Fair Is Coming! – Sunday 1st December. More details to follow shortly.
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.
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).
We Welcome Into The Family of The Church Audrey Agnes Byrne whose Baptism takes place this Sunday at St.Teresa’s
We Pray For Every Blessing for David Holderness and Rebecca McCutcheon whose Wedding took place at St. Theresa’s this Saturday.
This Weekend There Is The special Annual Collection At Each Mass for The Catholic Education Services which supports all our Education Establishments In England and Wales.
Cardinal Allen Catholic High School Are Having Their Annual Open Evening On Thursday 19th September from 5 pm until 8 pm. All are very welcome to go there that evening and see the great opportunities the school has to offer our young people.
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.
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.
Please join us on Friday, 27th September in St. Teresa’s Parish Hall for our CELEBRATION of the first year of the FCPCC (Fylde Coast Pregnancy Crisis Centre of which 4 of our parishioners are trustees).
Our first Centre on the Fylde Coast is currently operating from a dedicated room in the Baptist Church, Cleveleys. It provides time, space and support to both men and women, relieving psychological, emotional and spiritual distress related to unplanned pregnancy, post abortion issues or other pregnancy/child loss.
Our Fylde Coast branch of the PCN (Pregnancy Centres Network) will bring much relief to the area as the nearest centre to us is in Manchester, some 40+ miles away and none in England north of us. Prayer support has been an essential part of achieving our goal.
Our ‘Celebration Evening’ starts at 7.30pm in St. Teresa’s Parish Hall, and will consist of a table quiz, a buffet and live music provided by ‘3-PAGE HARMONY’, Tea and Coffee are provided but please feel free to bring your favourite tipple!
Tickets for our evening of the Friday, 27th September, cost £10 and are now on sale from the back of church or contact Sue/Bernard Ward on 858346 or 07889532158.
We hope to make this a lovely social occasion, as well as raising awareness and helping the finances.
Daily Reflections for this week
Monday (Martin Luther King)
In a real sense ours is a great time in which to be alive.
Therefore I am not yet discouraged about the future. Granted that the easy going optimism of yesterday is impossible. Granted that we face a world crisis which often leaves us standing amid the surging murmur of life’s restless sea. But every crisis has both its dangers and its opportunities. Each can spell either salvation or doom. In a dark, confused world the spirit of God may yet reign supreme.
Scripture (Isaiah 35:3-8)
Strengthen then all weary hands, steady all trembling knees and say to the faint hearted, ‘Be strong! Do not be afraid. Here is your God, vengeance is coming, divine retribution; he is coming to save you. The eyes of the blind will be opened, the ears of the deaf
unsealed, then the lame will leap like a deer and the tongue of the dumb sing for joy; for water will gush in the desert and streams in the wasteland, the parched ground will become a marsh and thirsty lands springs of water; and through it will run a road for them, and a highway which will be called the sacred way.
Tuesday (Daniel O’Leary, ‘An Astonishing Secret’)
We receive Holy Communion to really become the bread and wine, allowing them to transform our very being into the presence of God. And then, fully reflecting our baptismal ordination as priests/priestesses and prophetesses/prophets to continue consecrating, through our senses and very existence, every moment, action, experience of each day and night.
The silent, sacramental moment after receiving Holy Communion is the precious, timeless space when we touch and feel the mystery of love, when we open ourselves completely to the personal and universal presence of grace when, inextricably linked with our Tremendous Lover, we become intimately aware that we are already that. May the Holy Spirit clarify our hearts and minds to really grasp these truths and live by their blessed presence in our communities
Scripture (Colossians 1:9-14)
That is why we ask that you should reach the fullest knowledge of his will, growing in knowledge of God, fortified, in accordance with his glorious strength, with all power always to persevere and endure, giving thanks with joy to the Father, who has made you able to share the lot of God’s holy people and with them to inherit the light. Because that is what he has done. It is he who has rescued us from the ruling force of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of the Son that he loves, and in him we enjoy our freedom, the forgiveness of sin.
Wednesday (Bede Griffiths)
When historical events are seen to reveal the ultimate significance of life, then myth and history meet. Such are the birth, the resurrection and the ascension. They are historical events, yet they are symbols of the ultimate Reality, of the eternal mystery manifest in space and time, of the deliverance from sin and death, of our ascent to the divine. At this point,
history becomes wholly meaningful. We discover our real nature and know ourselves as children of God. The divine and the human meet “without separation and without confusion.”
Scripture (1Peter 1:3-4,10-12)
Blessed be God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in his great mercy has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ and into a heritage that can never be spoilt or soiled and never fade away. This salvation was the subject of the search and investigation of the prophets who spoke of the grace you were to receive; searching out the time and circumstances for which the spirit of Christ, bearing witness in them, was revealing the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow them.
Thursday (2nd Vatican Council, ‘The Church Today)
For God’s Word, by whom all things were made, was himself made flesh so that as perfect man he might save all people and sum up all things in himself. The Lord is the goal of human history, the focal point of the longings of history and of civilisation, the centre of the human race, the joy of every heart, and the answer to all its yearnings.
Scripture (Ephesians 3:8-10)
I have been entrusted with the special grace, of proclaiming to the gentiles the unfathomable treasure of Christ and of throwing light on the inner workings of the mystery kept hidden through all the ages in God, the creator of everything. The purpose of this was, that now, through the church, the principalities and ruling forces should learn how many-sided God’s wisdom is, according to the plan which he had formed from all eternity in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Friday (Metropolitan Anthony)
Prayer is the search for God, encounter with God, and going beyond this encounter in communion. Thus it is an activity, a state, and also a situation; a situation both with respect to God and to the created world. It arises from the awareness that the world in which we live is not simply imprisoned in the two categories of time and space, a world in which we meet only the surface of things. Prayer is born of the discovery that the world has depths; that we are not only surrounded by visible things but that we are also immersed in and penetrated by invisible things. And this invisible world is both the presence of God, the supreme, sublime reality, and our own deepest truth.
Scripture (Psalm 34:3-4,15, 17-18)
Proclaim with me the greatness of God, let us acclaim his name together. I seek the Lord and he answers me, frees me from all my fears. The eyes of the Lord are on the upright, his ear turned to their cry. They cry in anguish and the Lord hears and rescues them from their troubles. The Lord is near to the broken-hearted, he helps those whose spirit is crushed.
Martin Bennett