Is it a poem if it doesn't rhyme? I will freely admit that poetry and myself are never really going to be best friends. I have always enjoyed the sciences and medicine. However I can really appreciate that some poems can speak to individuals in a way that other forms of literature cannot. The bible is full of many different types of literature from action to betrayal and even poetry! What is your favourite part of the Bible. How does that speak to you? Have you ever tried writing your own thoughts down as a poem? Can you express your thoughts in different ways? Todays feature is has linked photography and poetry to great effect!

​ I am sharing a poem I wrote at the beginning of the first lockdown.
My husband took the photo of the beautiful sunrise over Prestatyn beach
& I felt it was a symbol of hope.

How has this poem affected you? What has it made you think of?

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It can be very easy to hold on to hurts and to relive the various adversities we faced.  Fr Michael offers a reflection reminding us that even our adversities are not obstacles to God doing something in our lives.  As you watch, think about how God has been close to you through times of struggle and how he has lead you out of those adversities.  If you are living through adversity now, pray to God asking him to lead you through it, to know His hand is at work.

Now listen to the daily readings, click to download

It has often been said that the eyes are the window to the soul. I wonder how different the world is now compared to what was seen by our eyes at this time last year! The comedian Michael Mcintyre has produced a sketch which you may wish to watch- just cut and paste the link! Sometime a smile will work wonders! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?edufilter=NULL&v=LEr_84HJbgk).

St Teresa's church is our very own link with God and I wonder the ways we use this amazing place are different this year compared to last year? How are we meeting with our friends? How are we receiving Jesus in out lives? Just as Mr Mcintrye has used technology to get a point across, we in our parish have also used technology to get a point across. The advent calendar you are reading is such a use of technology.

How has the way in which our parishioners have accessed Holy Mass changed? Videos? Telephones? These pictures below show how imaginative people have been!

Hopefully it won't be too long now until we are all back at the "real thing!"

Now listen to the daily readings, click to download

When we have spare time on our hands, quite often we are not sure what to do with this? we are so used to being busy all the time. Can we see the enforced "spare time" from the lockdown as a blessing and try to learn new skills? Maybe a language (Ich lerne Deutsch!), how about quilting as in the feature shown below? What have you done with your spare time lately? What plans have you got? Can you give more time to God?

Now listen to the daily readings, click to download

We spend so much of our time at work that it's important that we do something that will give us joy, something that will enable us to honour God and align us with the values of our faith.
Our work doesn't have to have direct link to the church for us to serve God and represent Christ.
If we work in a coffee shop or a bank, we might not consider our conduct to have any connection with our faith. But something as simple as genuinely inquiring about someone's day or taking extra time to deal with a customer's query can act as an exhibition of Christ-like love in a society where people are often so inward looking and busy to spare their time or thought.
The Bible teaches us that we will be rewarded for our hard work, that we should honour God in all that we do and that work can be something with spiritual purpose. After all, God worked to create life (Genesis 2:3), Jesus worked (John 5:16) and Adam was sent to work in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:15).
Of course, it's a lot easier to thank and honour God when we're doing a job that we enjoy, and when our colleagues and clients are pleasant and satisfied with the service that we provide. (Taken in part from Christaintoday.com)
 
But what happens when events cause all that we think is normal in our work life to change. Today’s feature is one that will be common to lots of people……WFH!

I have been WFH (working from home) since March 20th. At the time, I expected to out of the office for 6-7 months and arrived home with several boxes, the office plants and a lap top handed to me at the last moment!

At first there was the novelty, “The traffic on the stairs was awful……”, then the isolation.  I work in an office with four others and we really enjoy each others’ company and have supported each other through our daily difficulties.  Suddenly, my colleagues were only available by phone and quick questions could no longer be answered by popping down to the admin office. Things became easier as we moved onto Teams (similar to Zoom). 

I teach at Keele University . All of our modules were changing for the new academic year, which was daunting anyway, but having to plan these in isolation was very challenging. Then, to deliver these modules remotely, using technology that we had no experience of, made the challenge even greater.

At first, trying to do my 7 hours of work a day was difficult as all the family were home, and we have no spare room or even a desk in the house. I ended up at the kitchen table, my husband (also WFH) took the sofa in the living room, and our eldest son had the camping table in his bedroom. This was where he took his finals for his degree, completely separated from his classmates.

We settled into a routine and then the aches and pains began. Sitting for so long with a laptop causes shoulder and neck problems, so we had to make adjustments. I was able to borrow a work chair and use a washing up bowl as a foot rest. I raised my lap top on a couple of box files and bought a separate key board and mouse. This has helped. Then when my husband returned to his school teaching, my eldest returned to university to do a masters and my youngest resumed school, I had to adjust to being physically alone, although teaching my students remotely

So how have we all managed? We have constantly reminded ourselves how lucky we are to have jobs that can be done from home. Although some furlough would have been nice as our jobs have taken far more hours than usual and been more intense, we realise the devastating impact that uncertainty over employment can have! In the early days, I set up various video calls with groups of friends and that gave me the social contact I was missing.

​ Knowing that everyone, everywhere is having a difficult time has also kept our own difficulties in perspective. Keeping in contact with the church through the online masses and recordings has also helped me keep on going through the difficult times. Finally there is light at the end of the tunnel as the vaccine approaches! 

Now listen to the daily readings, click to download

Sometimes things happen which stretch us all to the limit and really test our faith in God. One of our parishioners has submitted this story which really made me quite emotional when I read it. I challenge you to read the story and then reflect on events in your own life where you can see the hand of God.

​When our daughter, Ruth, announced at the beginning of lockdown that she was pregnant, Alan and I were delighted and not a little amazed. She was “elderly” in medical terms – would be 45 by the time the baby was born. We were looking forward to being very involved, adding to our frequent trips to Sheffield where most of our family now lived.
Throughout lockdown, it became evident to me that Alan’s health was failing fast. He had already survived almost seven years with leukaemia, but a number of connected health problems had left him weakened and diminished. Lockdown was therefore difficult, but at least we had the baby to look forward to – and regular zoom meetings with our four children and our other three grandchildren.
In August, Ruth began to panic that her bedroom ceiling, which had had a drooping bit of plasterboard taped up for a while was getting worse, and it was just over where she would be putting the baby’s cot. She contacted several plasterers, none of whom would commit to a date to come and sort it. Eventually she found one who could do it at the end of September (leaving just six weeks before the baby was due). He refused to board over the old ceiling, but had no time to pull it down. Essentially, this would have to be a DIY job, with a two day window just before the new ceiling went up. I had helped with two similar projects before, so was confident it could be done, but my sons and son in law were hesitant. It was obvious that Alan was not in any fit state to help, so in the end I masterminded it myself, and plans were put into place.
Before this happened, however, Alan became very ill and was taken into hospital. After four days of not being able to visit him, and mostly unsuccessful attempts to speak to him on the phone, the doctor rang to give me the news that he was not going to recover, and that it would be a matter of days.  Five days after he had been admitted, Alan was able to talk to me and his children quite coherently, and prayed with us, as well as receiving an anointing. He died in the night, quietly and peacefully, leaving us in shock, but thankful that his suffering had been short-lived and his end peaceful.
The funeral was to take place exactly a week after he died, and was not difficult to organise. The weekend in between, however, was the date when the plasterer was coming – and the ceiling was not yet down! So two days after Alan’s death, in a scenario which could only be described as surreal, my son Brendan, my son in law Rhodri and myself , dressed in serious PPE embarked on a two day project to pull down a ceiling in a house which had been collecting soot for almost a hundred years.
It was unbelievably unpleasant and physically demanding work, and we felt like giving up, but the baby was depending on us to provide a safe environment. The three of us worked hard and it was a good bonding opportunity. It felt both wrong and right to be doing this immediately after a bereavement (people I told looked at me as if I was either unfeeling or deranged!)– but we knew that if Alan had been around, he would have got stuck in with us. For me, labore est orare – to work is to pray, and it felt like a sacred duty to complete this task during the week of “no-mans land” which preceded the funeral.
Finally, the work was completed twelve hours before the plasterers were due to arrive the next morning, and they did their part beautifully. We could get on with the funeral. We hadn’t finished with the setbacks, however, as our oldest son received a positive Covid result the day before and he and his wife and daughter were unable to attend. But we overcame this with the aid of the live streaming, and an additional “zoom” camera which my youngest son wore. Father Michael helped to ensure that the vigil and the funeral were uplifting and meaningful, and the restrictions imposed by lockdown were not in the end a problem.
These few weeks should on the face of it, have been a time of discouragement and sadness. Somehow, though, thanks to the many prayers of our family and friends, and the help of the Holy Spirit, it has been a most uplifting and almost triumphant time, We looked soot, Covid and even death in the face and were not defeated. And finally, I was able to look at the perfect little face of our granddaughter, peacefully sleeping in a room with a pristine ceiling . God is good.
 
Barbara Davies.

Now listen to the daily readings, click to download,,,,,,

REFLECTION
 
            
 
            I have found joy in the beauty of our garden, in reading and in writing cards to those I have regularly visited.
 
            To have found a Mass in a garden that is both intimate and beautiful is such a consolation and inspiration. Because of its closeness to you, its regular congregation consisting of the celebrant, together with a young married couple and a co-frere who are the readers and the cameraman, you feel part of a community again, one that reaches out by prayer to all over the world.
 
            We send you a photograph of a small part of this garden. The red chair is there to represent the wider community, (for us to sit on and be part of the Mass).The altar and its setting are shown in the small picture.
 
            Finally, a prayer:-  “Lord God, may I be more open to your Holy Spirit:
                                                Grow in me the fruit of your patience and help me to
                                                put my trust in you.”

Now listen to the daily readings, click to download

Throughout the Bible we read testimony of the Lord communicating to us in the skies, ocean waves, breeze rustling through the trees, fields and flowers, and birds that sing cheerfully. Jesus reassures us that our Father in the heavens always cares for the little sparrows and he cares for us (Matthew 6:26 and 10:29).
Nature reveals to us God’s beauty, glory, power, wisdom, presence, creativity, and, most of all, his loving care. This is why we’re drawn to spend time in the beauty of nature and to enjoy animals. To take a walk on a beautiful day, play with your dog in the grass, or hold your cat are reliable ways for many people to connect with God’s loving presence (taken from www.soulshepherding.org)

Here at St Teresa's church we are blessed with many talented individuals who make our church reflect the Glory of God by the floral displays they produce. But how has this changed during the lockdown....? 

Lockdown! How one florist coped with adversity in her own unique way......
​
Easter Flowers. Can’t go to church. Thinking how can I arrange or even buy any !
Good Friday comes, I find some purple material from my sewing room. Delve in the garage and find the cross Alan made. Looked around my garden for leaves and dried thistles. Hence, an outdoor arrangement .

​From seed to vase, to plate
​ 
My favourite flowers, or one of many . Sowed the seeds in March .As I haven’t a greenhouse so its the garage. My gardens ,yes plural ,has been a saviour over these months .Grown Tomatoes and runner beans ,peas for the first time. Will grow more veg next year.

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Jesus often told stories or parables to help explain a message to the a waiting crowd. When we hear the Gospel readings from this advent calendar, what message are we hearing and how can we apply this to our lives in the 21st century and during this coronavirus pandemic? Jesus also lived in a family in Nazareth when he grew up with Mary and Joseph. What stories would he have been told? Stories are really important to establish relationships with each other. In the feature below, listen to how one of our parishioners has adapted to the pandemic, and used modern technology to link with her family abroad and tell stories

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"Lockdown" has recently been announced as one of the words of 2020, but is it really  all what this year has been about? Our parishioner Cathie has sent in excerpts from her diary and given us an insight into her thoughts from this unusual year. What else have you done? How have you spent the time?  Are your experiences the same as Cathie's? What would you have done differently. 

I keep a journal - private now, but maybe the thoughts, experiences and impressions from the past (10 years), sometimes deep in my heart and soul, will be laid bear as witness to what has made me stronger as this year draws to a close.

Written down from my Journal:

On the Feast of the Annunciation, I watched Pope Francis streaming an Address and Benediction "URBI et ORB". It took me some time to trust my online searches because I have always been suspicious of the Internet's 'dark side' as the work of the devil incarnate.  Now I have no fear!  The devil has had his kicking as Our Lord showed himself in our homes around the earth ......

On 13, March, in spite of News about Corona virus, strain known as Covid 19... a minority thought it did not concern us, as bad jokes abound about bottles of Corona lagers left on shelves, whilst bathroom tissue became extinct and food was on everyone's mind. 

How tough it is for the people who have had the worst of floods and homes destroyed, here and world wide and now everything  has stood still...... Our weather is amazing, 17* and sunny, birds loving the absence of the silver birds in the sky...

We have a beautiful garden.... I thank my Lord.... I also shed tears as news returns to doom and gloom with many deaths and lost livelihoods.......

Tomorrow the Shrine of Walsingham will live stream the re-dedication of England to Mary, (dating from the Reign of Richard II) it seems more poignant considering this was prepared two years ago.....

I must remind the Legion of Mary on our next 'What's App' meeting Tuesday evening....​

Amidst a fog of statistics, I'm not watching any more news......
Before I go to sleep, I cry... My Lord, what are we doing to God's beautiful world?   
From now on..... I move my altar at home to our front lounge window to reflect what we are celebrating in the church..... A neighbour takes inspiration and sends me a message (from across the road) telling me it's inspired her to do the same.

Father Jan and Father Michael show such enthusiasm and joy during their live streams of Mass and evening prayer..... It becomes the 'new normal' it gives some structure to the days and nights, to personal prayer and to those living alone.  The Windows to our Homes open up as our Witness to the Lords Annunciation, Death and Ressurection.......

I long for a hug from my grand children, the youngest two only 5 months old will not know us!

Let go and Let God!

Our NHS and key workers are amazing.  I feel helpless as I remain in this bubble.

July..... Lock down suddenly comes to an end and now there is more chaos....

What to do..... Now can we go to Mass? can I reopen? PPE is ready, I'm ready, but feel overwhelmed....

'Speak Lord your servant is listening'
Finally, what I always knew, God Loves Me....... Pass it on.......

Now listen to the daily readings, click to download