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
30 April 2023
http://www.st-teresas-church.co.uk
Email: st.teresas.cleveleys@gmail.com
Lancaster Roman Catholic Diocesan Trustees Registered Charity Number 23433
Sunday : Fourth Sunday of Easter
Contents: Gospel
Notices
Reflections for the coming week
Gospel: John 10:1-10
Jesus said: ‘I tell you most solemnly, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold through the gate, but gets in some other way is a thief and a brigand. The one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the flock; the gatekeeper lets him in, the sheep hear his voice, one by one he calls his own sheep and leads them out. When he has brought out his flock, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow because they know his voice. They never follow a stranger but run away from him; they do not recognise the voice of strangers.’
Jesus told them this parable but they failed to understand what he meant by telling it to them.
So Jesus spoke to them again:
‘I tell you most solemnly,
I am the gate of the sheepfold.
All others who have come
Are thieves and brigands;
But the sheep took no notice of them.
I am the gate
Anyone who enters through me will be safe
He will go freely in and out,
And be sure of finding pasture.
The thief comes
Only to kill and steal and destroy.
I have come
So that they may have life
And have it to the full.
Gospel Reflection ‘Good Shepherds’ Are Needed For Many Different Sections Of Our Parish Community, Including Our St. Teresa’s Primary School.
Have you ever considered becoming a Governor in our Catholic School? Governors come from all different backgrounds. It is important that each Governing body has a good mix of skills, knowledge, expertise and experience, coming from all walks of life and all ages. It is vital that individuals from all backgrounds volunteer to be a Governor.
Governors need to be able to commit interest, enthusiasm and time to the tasks that being a Governor brings. You will find that the role of Governor brings personal reward and satisfaction, although it does mean that you must be prepared to give some time to the work. Further information can be obtained from the School’s website : www.stteresasprimary.com (01253 852457)
We Remember In Our Prayers Doris Sanders whose funeral was last week, Alain Lebon whose Funeral Mass is at St. Teresa’s on Friday 5th May at 12. 30 pm, and Dorothy Greaves whose Funeral Mass is at St. Teresa’s on Wednesday, 17th May at 11.15 am. We remember them and their families, and all those whose anniversaries are at this time. May they be in God’s peace.
We Welcome Into The Family Of The Church Matilda Mae Parker whose Baptism takes place at St. Teresa’s this Sunday.
The Annual Special Collection This Weekend Is, As Always, For The Ecclesiastical Education Fund, the essential fund in our Diocese which pays for the lengthy education of Priests and Deacons who serve us in our parishes.
Next Weekend, 6th/7th May, The SVP have their regular collection ‘for those in need’.
The Thornton and Cleveleys Friends of Trinity Hospice are holding a Coffee Morning in St. Teresa’s Church Hall, 10 am – 12 noon on Saturday 13th, May. There are various stalls, a raffle and tombola. Entrance is £1, which includes your coffee and biscuits
.
The Food Pantry at St. Teresa’s Church is open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 10.30 am – 1 pm, and on Wednesday, 2.30 pm – 4 pm.
The ‘Warm Space’ takes place in St. Teresa’s Church Hall on Wednesday afternoons, 2 pm – 4 pm. All welcome.
Please Note That The Food Pantry will be closed on the following 3 Bank Holiday Mondays :
1st, 8th and 29th May. Thank you, as always, to those who contribute to the Food Pantry. If you happen to have any spare shopping (carrier) bags, we would be delighted to accept them.
The Vocation To Love
The deepest wound of all is that which affects the heart,
the feeling that we have not been loved. that we are not precious to anyone.
Many people today are wounded at heart, but each of us can do something to heal their wounds.
We have hands that can make things, and minds that can understand things,
but above all we have hearts that can bring life.
We are not sterile people. We can give life to people who are inwardly broken.
We can show them that they are important, and so bring life to them.
Today, Good Shepherd Sunday, is also Vocations Sunday,
and all vocations are vocations to love.
Daily Reflections for this week
Monday (Cardinal Basil Hume)
Repent, we are told, turn away from sin. Believe the Gospel not as an ideology to talk about, not as an abstract system of values to be discussed among learned persons. Conversion begins deep within ourselves, it involves radical change inside ourselves which then alters the way we relate to God and to fellow human beings. It is a change of heart. It leads us to embrace wholeheartedly what the Gospel says and to love Him who says it.
Scripture (Acts 2:36-41)
You can be certain that the Lord and Christ whom God has made is this Jesus whom you crucified. Hearing this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, ‘What are we to do?’ ‘You must repent,’ Peter answered, ‘And everyone of you must be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’ He spoke to them and urged them, ‘Save yourselves from this perverse generation.’
Tuesday (Henri Nouwen)
Following Jesus demands of you in the first place obedience to his Gospel. Don’t be afraid that this obedience will impoverish your personality. No laws, no rules, no therapy no discussions, are capable of setting our communities in order and making them fruitful if the Spirit of Jesus is not reigning there. Free yourself from a world that seeks only pleasures and possessions. Through your radical surrender to God, you will be free from this.
Scripture (2 Corinthians 3:14-18)
Until this very day, the veil remains over the reading of the Old Testament to those with closed minds: it is not lifted, for only in Christ is it done away with. Their hearts are covered with a veil, and this veil will not be taken away until they turn to the Lord. Now this Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And all of us, with our unveiled faces like
mirrors reflecting the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the image that we reflect in brighter and brighter glory; this is the working of the Lord who is the Spirit.
Wednesday (Thomas Merton)
In Christ God is made man. In him, God and man are no longer separate, remote from one another, but inseparably one. In Christ everything that is divine and supernatural becomes accessible on the human level to every one of us. What is divine has now become connatural to us in Christ’s love so that if we receive him and are united to him in friendship, he who is at the same time God and our brother, grants us the divine life that is now able to be ours on our human level.
Scripture (Colossians 1:13-20)
God has rescued us from the ruling force of darkness and has transferred us to the kingdom of the Son that he loves, and in him we enjoy our freedom, the forgiveness of sin. He is the image of the unseen God, the first-born of all creation, for in him were created all things in heaven and on earth. All things were created through him and for him. He exists before all things and in him all things hold together, and he is the head of the body, that is, the Church. God wanted all fullness to be found in him and through him to reconcile all things to him by making peace through his death on the cross.
Thursday (Fr. Richard Rohr.)
Relationship is a by-product of a journey shared between those seeking the same goal, between those who eat the same bread and drink from the same cup. A companion, literally, is “one who eats bread with us.” Jesus calls us to be his companion on the journey to the Father. He says: Walk with me. Trust my faith. Trust my love. Trust my hope. And I will walk with you. He is a partner. He is a brother. He eats bread with us. Christians are afraid to believe how deep, real and powerful that relationship is between companions of Jesus, those who are on the same path together.
Scripture (John 10:2-4,9-10)
He who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the flock; the gatekeeper lets him in, the sheep hear his voice, one by one he calls his own sheep and leads them out. He goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow because they know his voice. I am the gate. Anyone who enters through me will be safe: such a one will go in and out and will find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that you may have life and have it to the full.
Friday (William Law)
Do not all Christians desire to have Christ as their saviour? Yes, but here is the deceit; all would have Christ to be their saviour in the next world and to help them into heaven when they die. But his salvation, if it is to be had, must be had in this world, by changing and altering all that is within you, by helping you to a new heart.
Scripture (Romans 3:21-25)
God’s saving justice was witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, but now it has been revealed altogether apart from law: God’s saving justice given in faith through Jesus Christ to all who believe. No distinction is made: all have sinned and lack God’s glory, and all are justified by the free gift of his grace through being set free in Christ Jesus. God appointed him as a sacrifice for reconciliation, through faith, by shedding his blood.
Martin Bennett