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 9 July 2023 http://www.st-teresas-church.co.uk Email: st.teresas.cleveleys@gmail.com Lancaster Roman Catholic Diocesan Trustees Registered Charity Number 23433
Sunday : 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time Contents: Gospel Notices Reflections for the coming week
Gospel: Matthew: 11:25-30 Jesus exclaimed, “I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to mere children. Yes, Father, for that is what is pleased you to do. Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, just as no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. “Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened and I will give you rest. Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden light.”
Gospel Reflection : More Hoist , Less Speed Slow me down, Lord. Ease my pounding heart, quieten my racing mind, steady my hurried steps. Amidst the business of life, give me the calm I need. Teach me the art of taking time-off, of slowing down to look, to chat, to read. Remind me each day that there is more to life than increasing its speed. Hoist me, lift me up by letting me down – but gently, Lord. Help me be gentle and humble of heart, for then I might find rest for my soul – and give others the chance to unwind tool.
We Remember In Our Prayers Annette Ireland, whose Funeral Service is at St.John Southworth on Wednesday, 19th July at 11.15 am, Patsy Campbell, whose Funeral Service is at St.Teresa’s on Monday, 24th July at 10.45 am. and Mary Cliff, whose Funeral is at St Bernadette’s, Bispham, on Wednesday, 26th July at 10.30 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 Sophia Rose Williams, whose Baptism takes place at St. Teresa’s this Sunday.
Marriage We pray for every blessing and much happiness for Angie Yiannaki and James Brewster whose Wedding takes place at St. Teresa’s next Saturday.
Today is Sea Sunday when the Church prays for all those who live and work at sea. Many of us rarely, if ever, stop to consider how important seafarers are to our standard of living. Without them we would not have most of the items we use in our daily lives. Many of these seafarers are unable to practice their faith due to long periods away from home, whilst others are denied basic rights and working conditions which we take for granted’ The Special Collection at each Mass this weekend is our opportunity to support the work of the Apostleship of the Sea, (Stella Maris), the official maritime welfare agency of the Catholic Church in the UK. This annual collection is absolutely vital to enable Stella Maris to continue its great charitable work with seafarers. Please give generously, and remember seafarers in your prayers.
The Annual Mass in Honour of Blessed Edward Bamber takes place next Thursday, 13th July, 6.30 pm in the gardens of St. Winefride’s House, Low Moor Road, Bispham, FY2 0PA. St. Winefride’s is the retirement home for priests of our Diocese, and Mass will be celebrated by Bishop Paul with clergy from our local area. The staff and members of the St. Winefride’s Committee are very welcoming, and are glad to be back to host this special evening, with the refreshments too after the Mass. Although we call this an annual event, there has been a four-year pause due to Covid.
The Food Pantry at St. Teresa’s Church is open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 10.30 am – 12 noon, 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.
Food Crisis : It is only right that our two parishes, along with others, support people locally who, in these economically challenging times, need help with one of the most basic things for daily living – food supplies. At the same time, we should not neglect those who are struggling, and suffering, in our wider world. Recently, CAFOD has made us aware of a world-wide problem. CAFOD has begun a campaign called ‘Fix The Food System’, through which it is urging the UK Government to protect the right of farmers around the world to use their own seeds. Seeds are life. They are the foundation for farmers to produce the food that feeds us all. For generations, small-scale farmers have freely swapped and shared a wide variety of seeds to produce food, and maintain biodiversity. More recently farmers have also developed seeds that ensure crops are resilient to climate change. However, their right to choose what seeds they use is increasingly under threat, as new laws are introduced across the world that limit what small farmers can do with their seeds. Their seed rights are under threat. These laws, which are being brought in with the support of global financial institutions, may be something that is good for big business profits but not so good for farmers who grow the majority of the world’s food. It is clear that our current global food system is in crisis, and at the heart of this crisis is a struggle over control of the world’s seeds. Protecting the freedom of farmers to choose seeds is a right we must all stand up for if we are to tackle global hunger while responding to the cry of the earth and the poor. Seed sovereignty is the right for farmers to save, use, exchange and sell their own seeds. It is about farmers having the power to choose the seeds they plant, and what crops are most appropriate to them, rather than to that power which belongs to corporations or international institutions. Small farmers are using seed banks to let them choose what crops are most appropriate for them. Their methods have allowed them to grow healthier, more sustainable food that provides for their families, and goes for a higher price at their local markets. This organic system can flourish on a far grander scale, but it needs the UK Government to use its voice at the World Bank to create a more sustainable and supportive environment for farmers which trusts their knowledge and supports them. What on earth can we do?
Daily Reflections for this week Monday (Pope Francis: Evangelii Gaudium) We have a treasure of life and love which cannot deceive, and a message which cannot mislead or disappoint. It penetrates to the depths of our hearts, sustaining and ennobling us. But this conviction has to be sustained by our own constantly renewed experience of savouring Christ’s friendship and his message. It is impossible to persevere in a fervent evangelization unless we are convinced from personal experience that it is not the same thing to have known Jesus as not to have known him, not the same thing to walk with him as to walk blindly, not the same thing to hear his word as not to know it, and not the same thing to contemplate him, to worship him, to find our peace in him, as not to. A true missionary, who never ceases to be a disciple, knows that Jesus walks with him, speaks to him, breathes with him, works with him
Scripture (Matthew 11:27-30)Jesus exclaimed, ‘Yes, Father, that is what it pleased you to do. Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, just as no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Come to me all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest. Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
Tuesday (Carlo Carretto) The peace promised by Jesus communicates to the soul such a sense of ‘new life’, such a ‘chaste joy’ despite the tremendous trials. At bottom, what is the real difficulty of living on earth? Is it not surmounting pain, fear, illness, old age, death? Well if we have found something which enables us to overcome these negative aspects of our earthly pilgrimage, which helps us to smile through our tears, to hope even as we decline, to be certain of life even in death, we have experienced in ourselves the victory brought by Christ. God communicates his love, and by living this love of his we live in him and share in his ‘victory’ during our struggle on earth.
Scripture (Hebrews 12:1-2)With so many witnesses in a great cloud all around us, we too, then, should throw off everything that weighs us down and the sin that clings so closely, and with perseverance keep running in the race which lies ahead of us. Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, who leads us in our faith and brings it to perfection: for the sake of the joy which lay ahead of him, he endured the cross, disregarding the shame of it, and has taken his seat at the right hand of God’s throne.
Wednesday (Cardinal Newman) The Christian has a deep, silent, hidden peace. We can bear ourselves; we can (as it were) joy in ourselves, for it is the grace of God within us, it is the presence of the eternal comforter, in which we joy. We can lay our head down at night and know that God has been all things to us, and that nothing is not ours which God could give us. More thankfulness, more holiness, more of heaven we need indeed, but the thought that we can have more is not a thought of trouble but of joy.
Scripture (Philippians 4:4-7)Always be joyful, then, in the Lord; I repeat, be joyful. Let your good sense be obvious to everybody. The Lord is near. Never worry about anything; but tell God all your desires of every kind in prayer and petition shot through with gratitude, and the peace of God which is beyond our understanding will guard your hearts and thoughts in Christ Jesus.Thursday (Fr. Richard Rohr) All false religion proceeds in a certain sense from one illusion: people say, “Thy Kingdom come” out of one side of their mouth, but they don’t out of the other side say, “My kingdom go.” It happens, when we try to have both these kingdoms reign, when we say that the Lord is Lord of our lives, but in fact we are lord of our own lives. When Jesus is not the Lord of our lives, we will most assuredly lord it over one another. That attitude has resulted in the domination, competition and success agenda of western civilisation.
Scripture (2 Corinthians 5:17-19)For anyone who is in Christ, there is a new creation: the old order is gone and a new being is there to see. It is all God’s work; he reconciled us to himself through Christ and he gave us the ministry of reconciliation. I mean, God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not holding anyone’s faults against them, but entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.
Friday (A New Catechism) Beneath the surface each of us contains within us the history of sin and grace. This is what lies deepest: the harshness, the scandal, the indifference, the unbelief, the despair, the hatred, to which God responds again and again with grace. Time and time again he has renewed his gift to us of the Holy Spirit. This is the true dimension of the history of goodness. It is the history of the power of sin and the greater power of grace. If there is anything to mark out those who have tried to live out the life of Jesus in the ranks of humanity, it is the fact that they have been penetrated with the sense of their own insufficiency and of the glory of God.
Scripture (Isaiah 9:1-2,5)The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light; on the inhabitants of a country in shadow as dark as death light has blazed forth. You have enlarged the nation, you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at harvest time, as they exult when they are dividing the spoils. For a son has been born for us, a son has been given to us, and dominion has been laid on his shoulders; and this is the name ha has been given, ‘Wonder-Counsellor, Mighty-God, Eternal-Father, Prince-of-Peace, to extend his dominion in boundless peace.
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