St Teresa & St John Southworth Churches, Cleveleys
Fr Chris Cousens—Phone: 853325
Rev Bernard Ward (Deacon) (Tel: 858346)
Enquiries for St John Southworth: Phone: 853340
25 May 2025
http://www.st-teresas-church.co.uk
Email: st.teresas.cleveleys@gmail.com
Lancaster Roman Catholic Diocesan Trustees Registered Charity Number 23433
Sunday : 6th Sunday of Easter
Contents: Gospel
Notices
Reflection
Gospel: John: 14:23-29
Jesus said to his disciples:
‘If anyone loves e he will keep my word,
And my Father will love him.
And we shall come to him
And make our home with him.
Those who do not love me do not keep my words.
And my word is not my own:
It is the word of the one who sent me.
I have said these things to you
While still with you;
But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit,
Whom the Father will send in my name,
Will teach you everything,
And remind you of all I have said to you.
Peace I bequeath to you,
My own peace I give you,
A peace the world cannot give, this is my gift to you.
Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.
You heard me say:
I am going away, and shall return.
If you loved me you would have been glad to know that I am Going to the Father,
For the Father is greater than I.
I have told you this now before it happens,
So that when it does happen you may believe.
Gospel Reflection : Eastertime is the promise of God’s peace, and the promise of today’s Gospel.
Sometimes people ask us to pray for them, or pray for people close to them. Praying for others is part of our Christian life, and in the Gospel today we see that Jesus is praying for his disciples, and for all who will believe through them.
He prays that we will always be with him. Love means wanting to be with someone, like spouses, family or friends. We need to give time to be with each other in ways that our relationships can flourish. It’s the same with our friendship with Jesus. Our moments of prayer bring us into his company. He is always there for us.
There are many ways of praying : silence, vocal, meditation and contemplation, praise and thanks, sorrow and frustration, and often asking for help, for ourselves or for others. It is a good thing to give some time each day to answer Jesus’ own prayer, that we be with him.
But Jesus also prays that others may believe through his disciples, and through each of us. Prayer can help this, making our hearts more loving and compassionate and accepting of others. And our helping of others in generosity and love can really nourish our prayer.
We Remember In Our Prayers Lynne Wild whose Funeral Service is Carlton Crematorium on Monday 16th June at 12 .30 pm.
.We remember her and her family, and those whose anniversaries are at this time.. May they all be in God’s peace.
Ascension Day is celebrated next Thursday 29th May, a Holy Day of Obligation. There are two masses at St Teresa’s ,9.30 am and 6.30 pm that day.
We congratulate the 100 Club winners for April : Lorraine Mcloughney £15, Eileen O’Connor £10, Johnny Waters £5.
Lancaster Diocese Centenary :To celebrate the centenary of our Diocese our Deanery (local group of churches) has organised a family event on Saturday 21st June 2025, 1-4 pm at St. John Vianney Parish, Blackpool. It is hoped that each parish will help to make it an enjoyable day, with entertainment, food, and games. Please see the notice in the church porch.
Tom Holland has organised a Fundraiser for Trinity Hospice and Brian House in memory of his wife Mary, Please see the notice in the church porch.
Please note,The Saturday Evening Mass on 12th July is at 5 pm.
Reflections for this week
Monday (Meister Eckhart)
I was once asked: ‘Some people like to withdraw from company and prefer always to be alone. That is where they find peace, when they enter church. Is this the best thing?’ My answer was ‘No!’, and this is the reason. Those who are rightly disposed truly have God with them in all places: on the street, in any company, as well as in a church or a remote place. No one can obstruct such a person. Such a person bears God with them in all that they do and wherever they go, and it is God who acts through them. Thus we should be permeated with the sense of a divine presence and be in-formed with the form of our beloved God and be so established in him that we see his presence effortlessly.
Scripture (Wisdom 8:9-12)
I therefore determined to take wisdom to share my life, knowing that she would be my counsellor in prosperity and comfort me in cares and sorrow. Thanks to her, I shall be admired by the masses and honoured, though young, by the elders. I shall be reckoned shrewd as a judge, and the great will be amazed at me. They will wait on my silences, and pay attention when I speak.
Tuesday (Hans Kung)
The Hebrew word from which church is derived means ‘assembly’ (of God). Here the reference is to both the process of assembling and the assembled community. According to the New Testament, every individual local community is given what it needs for human salvation; the gospel to proclaim, baptism as a rite of initiation, the celebration of a meal in grateful remembrance, the various charisms and ministries. Thus every local church makes the whole church fully present; indeed, it may understand itself – in the language of the New Testament – as people of God, body of Christ and the building of the Spirit.
Scripture (Acts 15:23-26,28,32-35)
We here that some people coming from here, but acting without any authority from ourselves have disturbed you with their demands and have unsettled your minds; and so we have decided to delegates with our well-beloved Barnabas and Paul, who have committed their lives to the name of Jesus Christ. It has been decided by the Holy Spirit and ourselves not to impose any burdens on you beyond the essentials.
After Judas and Silas had gone back, Paul and Barnabas stayed on in Antioch, and there with many others they taught and proclaimed the good news, the word of the Lord.
Wednesday (C.S.Lewis)
There are three things that spread the Christ-life to us: baptism, belief, and that mysterious action, the Eucharist. At least, those are the three ordinary methods…I cannot see myself see why these things should be the conductors of the new kind of life, but I can tell you why I believe it is so. I believe that Jesus was (and is) God. And it seems plain as a matter of history that he taught his followers that the new life was communicated in this way. In other words, I believe it on his authority.
Scripture (John 14:23-28)
Anyone who loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we shall come to him and make a home in him. Anyone who does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not my own: it is the word of the Father who sent me. I have said these things to you while still with you: but the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all I have said to you. Peace I bequeath to you, my own peace I give you, a peace which the world cannot give, this is my gift to you. You heard me say: I am going away and shall return.
Thursday (John Main, OSB)
There is no renewal of the church despite all the energy expended on courses, meetings and reorganization if there is not also a radical renewal in spirit. Because of its depth and the nature of its mystery, this radical renewal is not in our own power to make happen. What we can do is prepare for the power that will do it. Our preparation is deepening openness and vulnerability to the power of God dwelling in us. This is prayer. Religious renewal boils down to a renewal in prayer.
Scripture (1 Cor. 2:7-8, 10-12)
It is of the mysterious wisdom of God that we talk, the wisdom that was hidden, which God predestined to be for our glory before the ages
began. None of the rulers of the age recognised it; for if they had
recognised it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory; to us, though, God has given revelation through the Spirit, for the Spirit explores the depths of everything, even the depths of God. Now, the Spirit we have received is not the spirit of the world but God’s own Spirit, so that we may understand the lavish gifts God has given us.
Friday (Evelyn Underhill)
The coming of the Kingdom is perpetual. Again and again freshness, novelty, power from beyond the world, break in by unexpected paths, bringing unexpected change. Those who cling to tradition and fear all novelty in God’s relation with his world deny the creative activity of his Holy Spirit, and forget that what is now tradition was once innovation: that the real Christian is always a revolutionary, belongs to a new race, and has been given a new name and a new song.
Scripture (Romans 15: 16-18)
I was given grace to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the gentiles, dedicated to offer them the gospel of God so that they might become an acceptable offering, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. So, I can be proud, in Christ Jesus, of what I have done for God. Of course I can dare to speak only of the things which Christ has done through me to win the allegiance of the gentiles, using what I have said and done, by the power of the Spirit of God.
Martin Bennett