Wednesday in the Octave of Easter

Luke 24:13-35

Today's Gospel tells the story of Jesus meeting two disciples on the road from Jerusalem to Emmaus a few days after his resurrection.  Luke indicates that there was a great deal of confusion and sadness concerning the events of Jesus' death and resurrection.  Jesus admonishes the two men for their lack of faith and understanding concerning his suffering, death and resurrection.  It appears that this lack of faith is preventing them from recognizing Jesus in his glorified state.  However, the men are touched by Jesus' teaching and they invite him to dinner.  After Jesus gives thanks and blesses the bread, their eyes were opened and Jesus vanishes.

We can take much from the story.  Firstly, our lack of faith and reliance on self will prevent us from recognizing Jesus in our life.  Secondly, the power of the Eucharist will give us the grace to overcome these failings and will allow us to grow closer to Christ.  We can find true joy, just as these two men did, when our eyes and hearts are opened to Jesus.

Tuesday in the Octave of Easter

Acts 2:36-41; Psalm 33:4-5, 18-19, 20 and 22; John 20:11-18

Mary doesn’t recognize Jesus until he calls her name.

Maybe she was crying too hard to recognize him. Or maybe what she saw wasn’t what she was looking for. She thought she knew what that would be – a body wrapped in linen. The remains of her friend Jesus. The one she thought she knew; would always recognize. The familiar one. Maybe she was just too busy holding on to her memory of Jesus to recognize the real Jesus who stood before her. He wasn’t who she was expecting.

And then he calls her by name. And tells her to stop holding onto that she remembered but rather go and tell the other disciples that ‘I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ Because this new Jesus, the one Mary wasn’t expecting, the one she didn’t recognize, stood before her as the fulfillment of hope. In him was the assurance of salvation and eternal life – for if his Father is our Father, and his God, our God, then his journey and destination are ours as well.

Monday in the Octave of Easter

Psalm 16:1-2a and 5, 7-8, 9-10, 11

"All the good things I have come from you"

"So I am thankful and glad and I feel completely secure."

"You will show me the path of life and your presence fills me with unending joy." 

God is the ultimate giver - all the good things in our lives come from Him.  We are given these gifts as well as the wisdom to use them to benefit ourselves and others, and to give honor and glory to God.  All the blessings we have received - our families, our friends, our homes, our parish, our work, have come to us because of God's love for us - not because we deserved them.  That is the security we experience as children of God.

All of these, although they come from God, are of earthly dimension and, as such, are always subject to change.  Nothing in life, regardless of our own desires and needs, will stay the same.  People, places and things move about us in constant motion.

The only thing that will never change is God's love for us.  It is timeless and unending.  The challenge for us as Catholic Christians is to surrender ourselves to God with absolute trust.  He holds us tightly through difficult times and rejoices with us in good times.

If we place our lives in God's hands, we will never be alone.  We will be rewarded with unending joy promised to us by God in Psalm 16.

Lenten Prayers and Devotions

Here are ways to boost your spiritual life during Lent:


*  Begin each morning with the prayer: "Lord, I offer you this day, and all that I  think, and do, and say."
*  Attend Daily Mass as often as possible.
*  Pray the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary.
*  Make the Stations of the Cross at home or in a parish celebration.
*  Read Scripture for 10 minutes every day.
*  Pray the Seven Penitential Psalms (Psalm 6, 31, 50, 101, 129 and 142).
*  Spend some time in quiet prayer before the Blessed Sacrament.
*  Abstain from meat for an extra day or two each week.
*  Listen to spiritual music or a spiritual speaker.
*  Keep a Lenten journal with your spiritual insights, special intentions, people you want    to pray for, hurts and disappointments that you want to offer up, and progress reports on your Lenten resolutions.

"May Lent be for every Christian a renewed experience of God's love given to us in Christ, a love that each day we, in turn, must 're-give' to our neighbor, especially to the one who suffers most and is in need." - Pope Benedict XVI

Black History Month Celebration at Sacred Heart Feb. 19

ANNUAL BLACK HISTORY MONTH FESTIVAL

February 19^th, 2011

Doors Open 12:00

Vendor Market &  Black Business Networking   12:00 – 1:00pm

Live Performances 1pm – 3pm

Vendor Market 3pm – 4pm

Free arts & Crafts

     For Kids

Sponsored by: 4H

56 Throop Avenue

(Unity Square @ Sacred Heart)

$2.00 Adults  & $1.00 Children 5 & Up

CHILDREN UNDER 5 ARE FREE

New Brunswick Food Security Forum

http://www.mycentraljersey.com/article/20110105/LIFE09/101050304

Veneration of St. Gianna relics Feb 5-6

Veneration of Saints' RelicsDuring the weekend of Feb.  5-6, Sacred Heart Parish will be hosting relics of St. Gianna Beretta Molla, a woman whose devotion to God inspirited her to give unconditionally of her self as a wife, mother and doctor and who ultimately sacrificed her own life for her child in 1962. As a modern saint with a traditional family lifestyle, she can inspire us to serve our family and others with great love.  She is also a special intercessor for families, women having difficult pregnancies and infertile couples.  The relics are a pair of her gloves which were entrusted to the national St. Gianna Society by Pietro Molla, St. Gianna's husband. 

Like me, you may be wondering how relics relate to your Catholic faith and how best to honor them.  Below is some helpful information from the website of the Archdiocese of Boston on the meaning and veneration of relics.    
Relics of SaintsThe word “relic” comes from the Latin “reliquiae” which refers to some object, notably a part of the body or clothes, which remains as a memorial of a departed saint.  A relic can either consist of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint. The veneration of relics is not exclusive to Christianity but has been in use by many different cultures and religious systems. 
For Catholics, relics help us to honor the saints and to help keep us connected to those men and women who are our heroes in faith. The Church altar, which is the center of worship for sacred liturgy, contains a saintly relic.  Also, many cures and miracles are attributed to relics, not because of their own power, but because of the holiness of the saint they represent.
Teaching from Church Documents on RelicsThe Second Vatican Council recalls that "the Saints have been traditionally honoured in the Church, and their authentic relics and images held in veneration".  Various forms of popular veneration of the relics of the Saints, include touching, kissing, decorations with lights and flowers, bearing them in processions, and being blessed with the relics.  Such should be conducted with great dignity and be motivated by faith.  Genuflection before relics is inappropriate as it is a gesture of veneration reserved only for the Trinity.
It is a great opportunity to have these relics in our parish to draw us closer to a holy life, to remind us of the intercession of saints, and to enliven our zest and spirit to protect all human life including the unborn, the poor, the elderly and the sick, just as St. Gianna did.