Each week we post on our website the Sunday Readings which can be located under Order of the Mass on our home page. You can print them out and bring it to Mass each week or you can view it on your electronic device. If you like to have a book format there is a great publication that is offering you a trial offer (see website link below).

Magnificat is a monthly publication designed for daily use, to encourage both liturgical and personal prayer. It can be used to follow daily Mass and can also be read at home or wherever you find yourself for personal or family prayer.

Visit Magnificat for more information please click here.

Consider visiting a nearby church in the area of your work or come to St. Magdalen’s during the day or after work. Spend a few quiet minutes before the Tabernacle.

"The Sacred species reserved in the Tabernacle is to be adored because Christ is substantially present!” Imagine, time alone WITH Jesus!! What better use of anyone’s time, even if only for a short while?

With the resurgence in the Extraordinary Form of the Mass and Catholic tradition in general, here’s a question that has had come up in recent years: are Catholics supposed to avoid chewing the Eucharistic host in their mouth?

Maybe you’ve heard people say “you shouldn’t chew the Eucharist like bubble gum,” or claim that it’s sacrilege to chew the Eucharist rather than let it dissolve in your mouth. Yet that vast majority of Catholics do chew the host. What is a faithful Catholic to do?

Our life on earth could be compared to a tread-mill; it can be monotonous yet it neverstands still. What is true on the physical level can also be said of the spiritual. If we donot ‘continue to go forward’ with Jesus we will ‘fall off the tread-mill’. Therefore everydaywe must honestly evaluate whether we are growing closer to Christ or makingcompromises and readjust from there. Further, just as our daily routine can become burdensomeand monotonous, so also our prayer life can feel this way.

Although it may seem like nothing is happening when we pray and nothing is changingin our circumstances yet in faith we know that God is providing for our deepest needsand is keeping us afloat ‘on the treadmill’. Our relationship with God is strengthenedwhen we are faithful to His commandments and to prayer. May we embrace the invitationHe offers us through Eucharistic Adoration.

In previous meditations we have addressed the fascinating topic of the fruits of the Eucharist, although not in an exhaustive form because, how can we cover something so unspeakable? However, we can outline some basic concepts that may be helpful for the faithful.

We will only address this vast subject of the Eucharistic mystery in what the fruits of sacramental communion is concern.

Perhaps Adoration can seem counter-intuitive. All day long at work and in school we are expected to pay attention and to be productive. We can even begin to measure success by how much we are able to accomplish. Understandably then, coming into a silent chapel and sitting before God in the Eucharist can seem to go against everything within us. Yet, God teaches us that to receive we do not have to do or give anything, we simply need to be open. God’s grace is not earned but it is not “cheap” either. He asks only for a heart ready to receive the good things He has in store for us.

If you were about to make one decision that would dramatically impact the rest of your life, how would you go about it?

Updated December 28, 2020

New Jersey is using a phased approach to COVID-19 vaccination to ensure that limited vaccines are distributed in a fair and equitable manner. Phase 1A started December 15, 2020. During 2021, additional people will become eligible to receive vaccination in New Jersey. Decisions about priority groups and how the doses will be spread across the state may change based on changes in vaccine supply and public demand.

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It is difficult to imagine how glorious Heaven will be. St. Paul says, “What eye hasnot seen, and ear has not heard, and what has not entered the human heart, whatGod has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9). We have smallglimpses of the joys that await God’s faithful ones even on earth, but they are simplythat—glimpses. We experience the joy of good food and this is a foreshadowingof Heaven as an eternal banquet. We experience the joy of love in human relationshipsand this foreshadows the joy of communing with the Triune God. One of thegreatest joys of Heaven will be to behold the beauty of God, face to face. Yet evennow, we have a glimpse of that glory when we pray before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.The joys of Heaven will be truly amazing but God does not wait until Heavento commune with us, He does so now through the Eucharist.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

As you may know, the Holy Father is participating in a virtual meeting today with the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, with the United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, and other leaders, marking the first-ever International Day of Human Fraternity. The meeting can be viewed by visiting the Vatican News website.

In a time in which we are sadly afflicted by division, this meeting offers us a reminder that – regardless of our economic, political, and societal status or our race, ethnicity, or religious beliefs – we are all bound together as children of God, equally made in His image and likeness.

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For me, there is something about the smell of freshly burned incense filling the church that is spiritually uplifting. But where did it come from and why do we use it?

The use of incense in religious worship started more than 2,000 years before Christianity even began. The use of incense in China is documented before 2000 BC. Trade in incense and spices was a major economic factor between east and west when caravans traveled the Middle Eastern Incense Route from Yemen through Saudi Arabia. The route ended in Israel and it was here that it was introduced to the Roman Empire.

There is a deep sense of peace in Jesus’ Eucharistic presence. This calm is perhaps most palpable when we feel storm-battered and worn thin from the cares of the world, work, and our family obligations. Jesus calls us to Himself especially when we feel close to drowning, when we feel the waves of adversity going far above our heads. In those moments, Christ addresses Himself to us in the same way that He addressed St. Peter, “Take heart it is I; have no fear.” (Matthew 14:27). Jesus takes us by the hand and provides the strength and courage we need to endure in trials. The peace of Christ brings healing and fortitude.

In the beatitudes Jesus reveals that those who areclean of heart will be able to see God. Purity is arequirement to behold God both in Heaven and onEarth. Yet what does it mean to be clean of heart?It means to strive more and more to see others asthey truly are: beloved children of God who are madein His image and likeness. It means seeking to findJesus hidden in our neighbor. Purity and faith go handin hand. The pure recognize Jesus hidden in humanity.The faithful recognize Jesus hidden in the Eucharist.May we be granted the grace to recognizeJesus always and in everyone.

Winter brings darkness, cold, and sometimes a great deal of snow. The lackof sunlight and the monotony of our days can cause many people to losehope. Yet Jesus promises to be our light and our salvation. He promises toguide our paths and that the darkness will not overcome us. In EucharisticAdoration we come before the Lord of Heaven and Earth, the Lord who wasnot afraid to stand as a light in the darkness. He remains with us to strengthenour hearts to persevere when all appears dark and we feel lost. He remainswith His children to remind them “The light shines in the darkness,and the darkness has not overcome it.” —John 1:5

Each year in early to mid-January, the Church’s celebration of Christmas comes to a close, meaning that we now find ourselves in what the English-speaking world calls “Ordinary Time.” The priests return to wearing green vestments; we hear a continuous flow of the Gospel readings from Sunday to Sunday; and hymn choices switch out of holiday mode. Yet, if we were to look at a missal or breviary in Latin or from before the liturgical reforms following Vatican II, we would be hard pressed to find the phrase “Tempus Ordinarium.” The Latin instead reads “Tempus per annum” or “the time during the year.”

Why do we call it “ordinary,” then? Instead of getting into the often fiery debates of translation, let’s look at a less well-known text that teaches us about the liturgy: The Ceremonial of Bishops.

St. Maximillian Kolbe once stated, “If angels could be jealous of men, they would be so for one reason: Holy Communion." This is a profound reality to ponder. Angels who look upon the face of God, who are in Heaven, who cannot suffer, still do not possess the greatest gift which God has given to humanity: the Eucharist. It can often be tempting to forget that the ordinary bread and wine are truly the body and blood of Jesus Christ, yet God is with us. He remains with us and He gives Himself completely to us. Let us rejoice in the greatness and the goodness of our God, acknowledging that while our time on earth may be filled with trials and sufferings, God never asks us to walk alone.

Today the Church celebrates the Feast of the Epiphanythe manifestation of Jesus as the Christ or ‘Anointed one of God’ to all the world. The Magi teach us a great deal about how we ought to approach Jesus in Eucharistic Adoration. First they approached with faith, recognizing that this was no ordinary child but rather the Son of God. We too must look upon the consecrated host, not as ordinary bread but as the hidden God. Secondly they presented the Lord with gifts, the best of what they had to offer. When we approach the Lord Jesus we must present Him with all that we are and all that we have our minds, and our hearts. In this way our Lord will continue to manifest His presence to us and through us to all the world.

Joseph would have added sprigs of rosemary to the stable‛s straw, to protect infant Jesus from bugs.

The purple of Advent and Lent is the color that bookends the life of Jesus. Both holy seasons are penitential, in preparation for the coming of the Christ: the Incarnation, Resurrection and Return. I like the continuity of a color that threads its symbolism through our religion. We know by altar linens and chasubles of priests what season we are in, and what prayers will be said. The purple of penitence and preparation, reds of sacrifice, whites of virtue and victory and the green of hope and freedom.

There is also symbolism in the plants used in our rituals; the most familiar are the fronds on Palm Sunday (burned to create the Ashes of Wednesday that mark the start of Lent) and evergreens throughout Advent and Christmas.