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
1 June 2025
http://www.st-teresas-church.co.uk
Email: st.teresas.cleveleys@gmail.com
Lancaster Roman Catholic Diocesan Trustees Registered Charity Number 23433
Sunday : 7th Sunday of Easter
Contents: Gospel
Notices
Reflection
Gospel: John 17:20-26
Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and said: ‘Holy Father, I pray not only for these,
But for those also who through their words will believe in me. May they all be one.
Father, may they be one in us, as you are in me and I am in you,
So that the world may believe it was you who sent me.
I have given them the glory you gave to me, that they may be one as we are one.
With me in them and you in me, may they be so completely one that the world will realise that it was you who sent me and that I have loved them as much as you love me. Father,
I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, so that they may always see the glory you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.
Father, Righteous One, the world has not known you, but I have known you, and these have known that you have sent me. I have made your name known to them and will continue to make it known, so that the love with which you loved me may be in them,
and so that I may be in them.’
Gospel Reflection : Jesus Prays For You
In the hours before Jesus’ death, you might wonder what was on his mind. Did he wonder about the success of his mission, or how his message would be spread? Maybe, or maybe not.
But we do know that he prayed for his friends. From the supper room, where he looked at his friends with love and sadness in his heart, he prayed for them, and assured them that he would always be with them in bread and wine, when they celebrated the meal which remembered him. And on the cross he looked on all his friends who stood at a distance. And he looked beyond his friends to all who down the ages would believe in him.
He prays for you now, as he prayed for you then – praying like a parent for a child, a grandparent for a grandchild, a friend for a friend.
Allow him to pray for you. Allow him to reach out to you in love, for real prayer teaches us to love one another. And join with his prayer for those you wish to pray for. “May they all be one.”
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.
We welcome Into The Family of the Church Isaac James Poole whose Baptism takes place this Sunday at St.Teresa’s
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.
Giving
There are those who forgive, but only on condition
that they receive something in return, and receive it immediately.
There are those who give on condition that they receive something in return later on
and with a handsome profit.
And there are those who give
without expecting anything in return, now or ever:
they scatter the seeds of the heart without looking for any harvest.
These are imitating the generosity of God,
who bestows his love on good people and bad,
and grants mercy to saints and sinners.
Reflections for this week
Monday (A Carthusian monk)
From time to time, God allows peace to well up from the soul and to pervade the nature of our senses. There is, as it were, a sudden uprising which makes us conscious of it. It is by faith that we perceive the divine Truth, and in particular the presence and action of God with us. Faith introduces us into another and higher world, that of God of which it is the light. Ask Jesus, then, to make this wonderful light shine more and more in our hearts—this light which, little by little, becomes love, and which is the true life.
Scripture (Psalm 33:13-15,18,20-22)
From heaven, the Lord looks down, he sees all the children of Adam. From the place where he sits he watches all who dwell on the earth; he alone moulds their hearts, he understands all they do. We are waiting for the Lord; he is our help and our shield, for in him our heart rejoices, in his holy name we trust. Lord, let your faithful love rest on us, as our hope has rested in you.
Tuesday (Fr. Thomas Keating)
The grace of the Ascension offers an incredible union, an invitation to unbounded life and love. This is the invitation to enter into the cosmic Christ – into his divine person, the Word of God, who has always been present in the world. This is the Christ who disappeared in his Ascension beyond the clouds, not into some geographical location, but into the heart of all creation. In particular, he has penetrated the very depths of our being, our separate-self sense has melted into his divine Person, and now we can act under the direct influence of his Spirit. Thus, even if we drink a cup of soup or walk down the street, it is the Christ living and acting in us, transforming the world down the street, it is Christ living and acting in us, transforming the world from within. This transformation appears in the guise of ordinary things – in the guise of our seemingly insignificant daily routine.
Scripture (Ephesians 1:17-19)
May the god of our Lord, Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give you a spirit of perception of what is revealed, to bring you to full knowledge of him. May he enlighten the eyes of your mind so that you can see what hope his call holds for you, what rich glories he has promised the saints will inherit and how infinitely great is the power he has exercised for us believers.
Wednesday (Fr. P Lallemant, SJ)
Without contemplation one will never make much progress in virtue, and will never be much use in helping the progress of others. One will never be quite free from imperfections, always being attached to earth and never rising above the feelings of nature. But with contemplation, one will do more, both for oneself and for others, in a month than one could do without it in ten years. Contemplation produces the very acts of sublime love of God and it perfects faith and all other virtues, lifting them to the highest degree to which it is possible to rise.
Scripture (Luke 24:46-53)
Jesus said to his disciples, ‘So it is written that the Christ would suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that, in his name, repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be preached to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses to this. ‘And now I am sending upon you what the Father has promised. Stay in the city, then, until you are clothed with the power from on high.’
Thursday (Fr. Richard Rohr)
As a people, we are afraid of silence. That’s our major barrier to prayer. I believe silence and words are related. Words that don’t come out of silence probably don’t say much. They are probably more unloading our own thoughts than a communicating. Yet words feed silence—that’s why we have the word of God. But that word doesn’t bear much fruit—it really doesn’t break open the heart of the Spirit—unless it’s tasted and chewed, unless it’s felt and suffered at a level beyond words. That running from silence is undoubtedly running from our souls, ourselves, and therefore, from God. If I had to advise on thing for spiritual growth, it would be silence.
Scripture (Lamentations 3:22-26)
Surely the Lord’s mercies are not over, his deeds of faithful love not exhausted; every morning they are renewed; great is his faithfulness! ‘The Lord is all I have,’ I say to myself, ‘and so I shall put my hope in him.’ The Lord is good to those who trust him, to all who search for him. It is good to wait in silence for the Lord to save.
Friday (Brother Lawrence)
When the mind has developed some bad habits of wandering and inattention, they are difficult to overcome and they draw us, in spite of ourselves, to earthly things. I do not advise you to do much talking at prayer, for much talking is often the occasion of wandering. Hold yourself before God, keeping in mind the presence of the Lord. If your mind wanders and withdraws at times do not be disturbed; the will must call it back quietly. One way to do this during the time of prayer is not to allow it to strive too much during the day. It must be kept strictly in the presence of God. Being accustomed to remember him from time to time, it will be easy to remain quiet during your prayers.
Scripture(Col.3:1-4)
Since you have been raised up to be with Christ, you must look for the things that are above, where Christ is sitting at God’s right hand. Let your thoughts be on things above, not on the things that are on the earth, because you have died, and now the life you have is hidden with Christ in God. But when Christ is revealed—and he is your life—you, too, will be revealed with him in glory.
Martin Bennett