Holy Angels - Woodbury, NJ
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Friday of the Passion of the Lord(Good Friday)

4/14/2017

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Today's Gospel
John 18:1 - 19:42 

Jesus went out with His disciples across the Kidron valley 
to where there was a garden, 
into which He and His disciples entered.
Judas his betrayer also knew the place, 
because Jesus had often met there with His disciples.
So Judas got a band of soldiers and guards 
from the chief priests and the Pharisees 
and went there with lanterns, torches, and weapons.
Jesus, knowing everything that was going to happen to Him, 
went out and said to them, "Whom are you looking for?"
They answered Him, "Jesus the Nazorean."
He said to them, "I AM."
Judas his betrayer was also with them.
When He said to them, "I AM, " 
they turned away and fell to the ground.
So He again asked them,
"Whom are you looking for?"
They said, "Jesus the Nazorean."
Jesus answered,
"I told you that I AM.
So if you are looking for me, let these men go."

Reflection
Today’s Gospel is set in a garden, the place where Jesus brought His disciples many times to teach them about the faith. It was in a garden that man first chose not to trust God, leading to our alienation from Him, and here we are, again, in a garden, a place Jesus’ disciples knew well, watching our redemption take place. For all the beauty and tragedy found in that place, the garden was a place of encounter.  


“Whom are you looking for?” Jesus asks the gathered crowd; they state His name. He replies with the Biblical name of God, “I AM”, not once, but three times - a Biblical sign of completeness and finality, that Jesus is completely God and His moment has finally arrived.  

Jesus turns to each of us today and asks the same question, 

“Whom are you looking for?”
Are you looking for hope? 
I AM.
Are you looking for life?
I AM.
Are you looking for healing? 
I AM.
Are you looking for redemption?
I AM. 
Are you looking for love?
I AM. 
Are you looking for a relationship with Me? 
I AM looking for you, too. 


Saying prayers is not the same thing as praying. Practicing a religion is not the same thing as being religious. Checking a box next to “Christian” on a form is not the same thing as being a follower of Christ. Words and gestures are meaningless if they are not rooted in a personal relationship with Jesus that transforms our entire lives. Judas knew how to say prayers, how to keep religious traditions, and what label to give himself. He was, by all signs, a practicing Jew, but if he really knew and had a living relationship with the God of his ancestors, then when he asked God where he was in his life, he would have heard Jesus whisper back to him. “I AM here”, and that relationship would have changed everything for him. 

Our world is tired of casual Christianity. Today, be a living witnesses to the joy and hope found in a relationship with Christ. When the world asks, “Who actually follows this Jesus and is a Christian?” We should be able to turn to them, as Jesus did to the crowd, and echo His words with conviction, “I AM."

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The Lord's Supper (Holy Thursday)

4/13/2017

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Today's Reading 
1 Corinthians 11:23-26 

Brothers and sisters:
I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, 
that the Lord Jesus, on the night He was handed over, 
took bread, and, after He had given thanks,
broke it and said, "This is my body that is for you.
Do this in remembrance of me."
In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, 
"This cup is the new covenant in my blood.
Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me."
For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, 
you proclaim the death of the Lord until He comes.


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Reflection
Rituals form the basis of almost every religion and Catholicism is no exception. Catholics believe that in the bread and wine of the Last Supper meal we find the True Presence of Jesus in a very real and meaningful way. Not a symbol, not a nice little prize for coming to church, but a living and dynamic sharing in the very life of Christ for those who receive. The ritual of the Eucharist held great significance for the early Christians for in this letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul is reminding them of Jesus’ words about the Eucharist. Since this letter was written somewhere between 53-57 AD, it's evidence that this belief in the Real Presence was something held by the early Christians, not a later invention of the Church. The Eucharist is the Presence of Jesus in a sacramental way through a ritual dating back to the Last Supper itself. What is Jesus trying to teach us through it? 

Jesus has a personal love for you and He does not want to be forgotten by you. He wants to remind you of that love day after day, Mass after Mass, Communion after Communion. In the Eucharist, the priest is literally handing you Jesus’ Heart, although you can usually only see it with the eyes of faith. In fact, wherever there have been Eucharist miracles where the Eucharist has become visible flesh and blood (and there have been many, all over the world), the consecrated bread always becomes heart tissue, and more significantly, tissue from a heart that has suffered. Google it. It's amazing. 

What does this mean? Jesus has suffered for love of us, and suffers to be loved by us. He gives us His Heart in the Eucharist and some of us consider it nothing more than a ritual cracker. Holy Thursday celebrates the great gift of the priesthood, which brings us the beautiful Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. Today, attend a Holy Thursday service. It’s one of the most beautiful rituals of the entire Church year. Holy Thursday invites us to enter into the mystery of God’s love shown upon the Cross, in the Eucharist, and through the community. Do this in remembrance of Him. His Heart is waiting.
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Parish Office
81 Cooper Street 
Woodbury, NJ
Phone 856-845-0123
 Office Hours: 9:00am - 4:00pm Monday-Friday
​Fax: 856-845-7409
Email: mail@holyangelsnj.org 
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