We are now able to attend Mass in person, however, we are not yet able to
hold our coffee mornings in person.

The space is open for those who want to socialise and get to know other members of the St Theresa’s community. Every Sunday we hold a quick fun quiz and a bit of a chat from the comfort of your own home.

When? Sundays at 11.10 am

Where? Zoom https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83024819984.

Everyone is welcome!

by Deacon Des

Today, we celebrate the solemn feast of Corpus Christi. This Solemnity is three feasts in one: the feast of the Eucharistic sacrifice, the feast of the Sacrament of the Eucharist, and the feast of the Real Presence of Jesus in this Sacrament. Although we celebrate the institution of the Holy Eucharist on Holy Thursday, the Church wants to emphasise its importance by a special feast, formerly called “Corpus Christi.” It was Pope Urban IV who first extended the feast to the universal Church. This is one of the few feasts left in which we observe a pre-Gospel procession and a sung “Sequence.”

In the reforms of Vatican II, Corpus Christi was joined with the feast of the Precious Blood (July 1) to become the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of the Lord. Today we celebrate Christ’s gift to us of the Eucharist, the Source and Summit of our life together as the Church. The Council of Trent (1545 to 1563), declared that we must honour Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Faith of Catholics in the Most Holy Eucharist [that others] might be attracted to the Eucharistic Lord and believe in the Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, present in this great Sacrament. “The Catholic Church teaches that in the Eucharist, the Body and Blood of the God-man are really, truly, substantially, and abidingly present together with His Soul and Divinity by reason of the Transubstantiation of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ. This takes place in the unbloody sacrifice of the Mass.”

Why do we celebrate the Eucharist some 2,000 years later? We do this because Jesus told us to do so: “Do this in memory of me.” St. Augustine in the 5th century AD said it best when he said: “It is your Mystery, the Mystery of your life that has been placed on the altar.” This Holy Memorial is known by various names:
1) “The Eucharist” because Jesus offered himself to God the Father as an act of thanksgiving; 2) “The Lord’s Supper” – or “The Breaking of the Bread”- because we celebrate it as a meal; 3) “Holy Communion” because, we become one with Christ by receiving him; and 4) “Holy Mass” (holy sending), because it gives us a mission: “Go in peace glorifying God by your life.”

Today we should also remember our children preparing to make their First Holy Communion, with the wonderful account of the remarkable experience of Blessed Imelda Lambertini. She lived in Bologna, Italy, in the 1300s. She had wanted to be a nun from the time she was a little girl, and she joined that Dominican convent at the age of nine, to better prepare herself for the day when she would take the habit. Her greatest desire was to receive Holy Communion, but in those days, you had to be at least twelve years old to do so. Imelda begged for an exception to the rule, but the chaplain refused. She kept praying for special permission. Her prayers were miraculously answered on the Feast of the Ascension in 1333. After Mass, she stayed in her place in the chapel, where one of the nuns was putting away the sacred vessels. Suddenly, the nun heard a noise and turned towards Imelda. Hovering in mid-air in front of Imelda as she knelt in prayer was a sacred host, the Blessed Eucharist, shining with a bright and forceful light. The frightened nun ran to find the chaplain. By the time the chaplain arrived, the rest of the nuns and other onlookers had crowded, awe-struck, into the chapel. When the priest saw the shining, hovering host, he put on his vestments, went over to the girl, took the miraculous host in his hands, and gave her Holy Communion.

Some minutes later, after the crowd had dispersed, the mother superior came over to Imelda to call her for breakfast. She found the girl still kneeling, with a smile on her face. But Imelda was dead. She had died of love, in ecstasy after receiving Christ in the Eucharist. He had longed to be with her even more than she had longed to be with him. Blessed Imelda’s body is incorrupt, and you can still see it today in the Church where she is interred, in Bologna. She is the patron saint of First Holy Communicants.

by David Morson

In I Corinthians, St Paul writes,” If Christ is not Risen then Our Faith is in vain”.
Easter Sunday is a Day of Great Joy because Jesus overcomes the powers of darkness to restore all humanity to new life in God. In the Orthodox Church people process in to the unlit Church and one Candle is lit to the cry, “Christ is Risen”. Then slowly and steadily the light passes from one person’s candle to the next, until the Church is ablaze with radiant light. This lovely ceremony symbolises the way that Jesus comes out of the darkness of the Tomb as a Light to the World and how one by one His risen presence is transferred through us in the lit candles, one after another. So, we too are brought out into the radiant life of God when sin and death have been conquered giving us a joyous new beginning. Moreover, hope, that even though we die,we will rise again.

The narrative of what happened on this wonderful day will be read at Mass, so I will not try to record that here, except to share one lovely aspect of the story that I find very human and a little amusing. In St John’s Gospel, after Mary encounters the empty tomb, she finds Peter and “the disciple Jesus loved” (coded language for St John himself, the youngest disciple) and tells them what she has seen. We are then told by St John in his Gospel, that the two disciples” run” to the tomb, ” but the other disciple” (John) outran Peter. However he waits for Peter “who was behind him,” to catch up before going in. If anyone thinks this story is made up, why would St John go in into such minute and vaguely humorous detail to describe what happened on that wondrous morning. What a lovely human touch!

Can I wish everybody a peaceful and joyous Easter. God bless you all.

David

by David Morson

Holy Saturday is sometimes seen as a break or interlude between the seemingly despondent events of Good Friday and the rejoicing in the Resurrection of Jesus on Easter Sunday. But, our Apostle’s Creed states that Jesus “descended in to Hell” during this period.

This has become known as the “Harrowing Of Hell” It is a difficult concept, but it relates to the mystery of all those good souls who lived and died before Jesus’s Sacrifice and how they now became free to share in the Salvation brought about by His Death.

The Church’s great Ceremony of the Easter Vigil which takes place in the evening of Holy Saturday, also focuses on such new beginnings.

In the Service, there is a time when new Members of the Church are Baptised or Confirmed, initiating a new beginning for both them and us.

Finally, Holy Saturday is a time when we reflect upon the unwavering ministry of Jesus’ women followers. It was them who remained with Jesus at the foot of the Cross when all the male disciples fled and hid. Their faithful presence is recorded in all Four Gospels. Their love for the Lord was not broken by His Death. They saw the tomb where His Body was laid and watched the stone being put into place. They were the one’s who lamented and mourned. They formed the first small community who maintained Hope in the Lord’s Sacrifice. They were the ones who discovered the Empty Tomb when they came early on Sunday Morning to anoint the Body….and it was one of their number, Mary Magdalene, who was the first person to whom the Risen Lord appeared.

by David Morson

The word “Maundy” derives from the Latin for “Mandate”. This is usually associated with foreign affairs or military diplomacy. For example, after World War I Britain was given Mandates for Palestine, Trans Jordan and Iraq and France for Lebanon and Syria. The idea was that an experienced country, should guide and promote an inexperienced country to independence and fulfilment and then withdraw when they are ready to stand alone. So, in order to explore how this translates to our story of Salvation, I am going to focus today on St John’s account of the message of Maundy Thursday.

Before starting, can I refer back to the first Reflections, namely, The Pascal Mystery and the Last Supper, the Two Gardens and St Paul’s theology of Jesus as The “2nd Adam”, Maximillian Kolbe and Self Sacrifice and finally, the Reflection on Caiaphas and the illegality of the Trial of Jesus, as it won’t be possible to cover it all today. Could I also suggest that you Google, ” Jesus Of Nazareth ;The Last Supper “and watch the moving rendition of the institution of the Eucharist The extract takes 5 minutes 58 seconds.

Back to the idea of Maundy or Mandate, St John’s Gospel is very different from the first three Gospels. Although like them it is factual, St John theorises the events He records in a way the other three don’t.

So on Maundy Thursday, St John has Jesus giving a very long discourse or teaching prior to the Supper itself, which is not found in the other Gospels and it is here that He relates the concept of the Mandate which is ” Maundy” Thursday.

Everything Jesus does and says on that night is about love and sharing. There is an inclusive Act of Love when Jesus Washes the Disciples feet. There is an inclusive Act of Love in Sharing a Meal with His friends, as He had done before with tax collectors and sinners and in the Feeding of The 5,000. There is an inclusive Act of Love in Saying “Take This and Eat and Drink “All of You”, and there is an overriding inclusive Act of Love in the Words , “This is My Body and This is My Blood which will be given up for you and for the forgiveness of sins”.

So, disciples of Jesus’ are Mandated by Him to do the “Same”. “You are my disciples if you obey my commandments… Love one another as I have loved you”. ..Just as I am in the Father and The Father is In Me, so I am in You… I am the Vine and You are The Branches … I call you servants no longer but friends who know their Master’s Bidding….. Love One Another as I have loved you…”No greater love has any Man than He who lays down His Life for His Friends”.

Jesus’ in His Sacrifice gives us all the Mandate to start anew by living a life of love and sharing. If we share in the life of Jesus as His disciples, we also share in the life of the Father and as such, have eternal life.

by David Morson

After the verbal conflict between Jesus and the Temple Authorities yesterday, the Chief Priests were determined to arrest Jesus and have Him put to death.

They could not do this in the open because of the large crowds listening to Jesus’ words and who according to Mark were,” spellbound by His Teaching”. They were also aware that Pilate, the Roman Governor, who was in Jerusalem for the Passover would expect Caiaphas as High Priest to keep the festivities peaceful.

Their actions then, were both motivated by anger at Jesus’s criticism and jealousy, but also fear of some sort of disturbance or popular unrest instigated by Jesus’s popularity which would lead to retribution by the Romans. Caiaphas was aware of the popular clamour for a Messiah to overthrow Roman rule. The Passover meant massive crowds were present in Jerusalem and the situation was potentially volatile. That is why he said, “It is better for one Man to die for the sake of the nation”, Their problem in arresting Jesus was answered when Judas came to them and offered to betray Jesus to them. Thus the name, “Spy Wednesday”.

There is no real evidence for why Judas would want to do this.

St Mark tells us that he went to the Priests following the incident where a woman anoints Jesus at Bethany with spikenard, a very expensive ointment, used in funerary arrangements. Some present, and we are not told who, complained that this was a waste and could have been sold for a year’s wages. So, was it anger or jealousy which made Judas go the Priests? St Mark tells us the Priests were pleased and promised to give Judas money, but no mention of the amount. It is in St Matthew’s account of the incident that 30 pieces of silver are mentioned. This was to show the fulfilment of another prophesy of Zechariah which pointedly refers to God’s replacing the unworthy shepherds of the people with Someone who is worthy.

St Luke states that Judas significantly agreed to look out for an opportunity to hand Jesus over to them when no crowds were present. St John doesn’t mention Judas’ act of betrayal until the Last Supper, but both Luke and John explain his actions by the,” the devil entering his heart”. Other theories postulate that Judas might have been trying to advance Jesus’ Messianic claim by manipulating circumstances, but there is no evidence for this. So, the scene is now set for the climax of Holy Week, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday. But Judas’ motivation in this tense drama, is still a mystery.

It is interesting that St Mark always refers to Judas as ,”one of the Twelve” when he mentions his name, as if to emphasise that Judas was in fact one of the apostles. Discipleship is a big theme of St Mark’s Gospel and whilst not excusing Judas, St Mark is critical of all the Apostles’ lack of awareness of Jesus’ Mission, as He had warned them about His forthcoming Passion and Death on three separate occasions. Then, they would have realised that the woman with the ointment was preparing Him for His Death.

Peter, the Leader of the group denied Jesus three times, and the others could not stay awake with Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane and abandoned Him when He was arrested. So, Mark sees Judas’s actions as part of a general lack of understanding of Jesus’ Mission which only became apparent to them after His Resurrection on Easter Sunday.