SUNDAY 9/13

 @8:15aM Orthros & @9:30aM Divine Liturgy
+Sunday before the Holy Cross 
Memorial Service
A 3-Month Memorial Service will be prayed for the repose of the soul of +Christos Rabidis, beloved husband of Alexandra and father of Catherine and Ted.
A 6-Month Memorial Service will be prayed for the repose of the soul of +Athanasios Vasilios Kritharis, beloved husband of Maria, devoted father of Athena, Nikolaos and George; father-in-law of: Vicmary, Nicole, and Andy; grandfather of Athanasios and William Vasilios; brother of Konstantinos (Efstratia) Kritharis.

May their Memory be eternal. Αιωνία η μνήμη αυτών. 

 Divine Services

Sunday 9/13 @8:15am Orthros & @9:30am Divine Liturgy:
+Sunday before the Holy Cross

Monday 9/14 @8:00am Orthros & @9:00am Divine Liturgy:
+Exaltation of the Holy Cross

 LIVE OUR services HERE
Find OUr Written prayers and services HERE

September 13^th is the 1^st day of Sunday School
Sunday School students will attend the Divine Liturgy at 9:30am, receive Holy Communion, return to their pews for Agiasmo and then proceed to their class.

 TO REGISTER, CLICK HERE

Hope & Joy "Welcome Back" Craft
Sunday, Sept. 13th in the Social Hall after Church! Come make a craft, see old friends, and make new ones!

GOYA KICK-OFF MEETING & BBQ
Join us for a fun event to kick off our year! For all current, new and
prospective members.
Sunday, September 13th at 12:00pm after Sunday School

Support GOYA & purchase St. Andrew Gear!
^{Today is the last day to make your purchases!} 
HERE

GOYA Basketball Practice has begun!
The next practice is September 16^th at 6:30pm. Email [email protected] for details.

Coffee Hour is hosted by Daughters of Penelope
Bagels are donated by ALFA BAGELS Route 10 in Randolph, NJ 
Coffee is donated by Aristotle Leontopoulos of Coffee Associates in Edgewater

LORD'S VOICE SEPTEMBER 13, 2026

THE SUNDAY GOSPEL (John 3:13-17)
"That the world may be saved through him"

The Lord said, "No one has ascended into heaven but he who descended from heaven, the Son of man who is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him."

THE MISSION OF CHRIST IN THE WORLD

The Gospel passage read in today’s Divine Liturgy comes from the dialogue of the Lord with Nicodemus, who was a teacher of Israel and a member of the Jewish Great Council. The passage is directly connected with the crucifictory sacrifice of Christ and, for this reason, the Church has appointed it to be read on the Sunday before the Feast of the Exaltation of the Precious Cross. The meaning of the forthcoming feast of the Cross is summarized in the final verses of the passage: “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.”

The incarnation of the Son of God

When “the fullness of time” had come, the hour appointed by God, He sent His Son into the world (Galatians 4:4). This
mission refers to the mystery of the divine kenosis, the incarnation of the Word, the second Person of the Holy Trinity. The Son of God enters into historical reality. He becomes Jesus Christ, that is, in His hypostasis, in His Person, the divinity and humanity are united without confusion and without division. His human nature is anointed by His divinity, and thus He becomes the Savior of all people, “of the whole race of Adam.”
He is sacrificed willingly for the life of the world and offers Himself as a ransom for the rebirth and salvation of man. He takes upon Himself the sin of the world, which He nails to His Cross, offering back to every believer, in freedom, true and eternal life. In this way, God expresses His infinite, ineffable, and inconceivable love for man, for only in the Person of Jesus Christ does God meet man in a redeeming union.

The encounter of God and man

 This encounter, one that presupposes the consent and cooperation of man, becomes participation, communion, union of the created with the uncreated. Corrupt and finite man becomes, through the Grace of God, holy, eternal, immortal, filled with the Holy Spirit. Already from this present life he partakes of the new creation and life, in the coming Kingdom which the Lord’s infallible mouth promises.
Therefore, the Lord becomes incarnate, becomes man, not to condemn man but to save him from the dominion of sin, the devil, and death. “That he might not perish,” that He might preserve him whole, unharmed, without the fragmentation, division, and loss, brought about by self-love, selfishness, injustice, and other forms of failure arising from human folly. Christ is, without any distinction or partiality (Romans 2:11), the Light and the Savior of all nations, of the entire world, and of all people who desire their salvation and believe in His holy Name.

The salvation of the world in Christ

For this reason, the word world, which is repeated three times in the final verses of our passage, acquires particular
theological and spiritual significance. Quite often in Holy Scripture, this word bears a negative meaning, for it signifies the worldly mindset, that is, the alienation and estrangement of man from God, hostility or indifference toward the will and work of God, enslavement to corruption and vanity. Yet in our passage, as well as in other places of Scripture, world signifies the creation of God, as an expression of His love, His power, His wisdom, and His glory.
And the crown of this world is man, who is the image of the ineffable glory of God, “even though he bears the marks of transgressions” (Funeral Service). For this reason, Saint Gregory the Theologian says that man is “a kind of second world,” that is, a second cosmos who gives meaning also to the rest of creation: “another angel, a king over what is on earth, yet ruled from above, earthly and heavenly, temporal and immortal.” The Lord Jesus is the salvation and the adornment (eukosmia) of the world, the One who adorns and glorifies in return with His ineffable goodness and beauty those who glorify Him as God and Savior, as the radiance of the glory of the Father.

Archimandrite N. K.

Coffee Hour Hosts In September: 9/20 PTA, 9/27 Parish Council (October: 10/4 Philoptochos)

Sunday 9/13 @8:15am Orthros & @9:30am Divine Liturgy +Sunday before the Holy Cross
MEMORIAL: +Christos Rabidis | MEMORIAL: +Athanasios Kritharis
@11am First Day of Sunday School (Religious Education)
@12pm HOPE&JOY Craft
@12pm GOYA Kick-off Meeting/BBQ

Monday 9/14 @8:00am + Orthros & @9:00am Divine Liturgy +Exaltation of the Holy Cross
@7:30pm Parish Council Meeting

Wednesday 9/16 NO DIVINE LITURGY: St. Euphemia
@11am Morning Knitting & Crocheting Group
@6:30pm Evening Knitting & Crocheting Group
@6:30pm GOYA Basketball Practice

Thursday 9/17
TBA @6:30pm Greek/GOYA Dance begins (Youth)
@7pm Bible Study

Saturday 9/19
@12pm Planned Giving Conference at St. Andrew

Sunday 9/20 @8:15am Orthros & @9:30am Divine Liturgy +Sunday after The Holy Cross
@9am Metropolis Holy Cross Dive at St. George Gk Orthodox Church in Ocean Twsp  
@12pm Daughters of Penelope Meeting

Tuesday 9/22 @8:00am + Orthros & @9:00am Divine Liturgy +Phocas the Martyr, Bishop of Sinope
@7pm Philoptochos Meeting

Wednesday 9/23 @8:00am + Orthros & @9:00am Divine Liturgy +Conception of St. John the Baptist
@6:30pm GOYA Basketball Practice

Thursday 9/24
@11:30am Agape Luncheon

Saturday 9/26 @8:00am + Orthros & @9:00am Divine Liturgy +The Falling Asleep of St John
@9am Faith Kitchen: GOYA
@11am Gyro & Souvlaki Fest
@11:30am Baptism: Vienna Spiropoulos
@2pm Baptism: Diego

Sunday 9/27 @8:15am + Orthros & @9:30am Divine Liturgy +1^st Sunday of Luke
MEMORIAL: +Helen Ballos
@11am Backpack Blessing
@Coffee Hour: Ministry Fair Sunday!
@12:30pm Mercedes Raffle
@3:30pm GOYA Volleyball game

Prayer for a Sick Person:

Heavenly Father, physician of our souls and bodies, who have sent Your only-begotten Son and our Lord Jesus Christ to heal every sickness and infirmity, visit and heal (me) Your servant from all physical and spiritual ailments through the grace of Your Christ. Grant (me) patience in this sickness, strength of body and spirit, and recovery of health.  Lord, You have taught us through Your word to pray for each other that we may be healed.  I pray that You heal (me) as Your servant and grant (me) the gift of complete health. For You are the source of healing and to You I give glory, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen

Please keep these names in your prayers

Janet, Irene, Lauren, Eleni, Andrew, Dorothy, Carolyn, Ava Michelle Irene, Constatninos, Stamatina, Ellena, Effie, Alexander, Alexandra, Constantinos, Christos, Angeliki, Maria, Henny, Salib, Merva, Saad, Theodora,  Photini, Thekla, Robert, Eleni, Eleni, Ioannis, Margarita,  Anna, Nicholas, MaryJane, George, Vasilios, Konstantinos, Photeine, Chrissy, David, George, Maria, George, Gladys John, Gregory, Barbara,  Amal, Helen, Michelle, Chrisdulla, Ennette, Eleni, Mary, Andreas, Sofia, Joseph, Kenneth, Vasilis, Judith, Catrina, Patricia,  Erica, Maria, Angeliki, Maria, Dimitrios, Irene, Reta, Eleni, Ioannis, Maria,  Nadia, George, Frosso, Kyriaki, Maria, Beatrice, Angeliki, Monica, Martin…

If you would like us to remember you or your loved one in our prayers, please contact the office. 973-584-0388 or send us an email to [email protected]    

Names will be kept on this list for approximately three months. Please resubmit Names if needed.   Fr. John will pray for the Names above during the PROSKOMIDI “Offering of gifts” during the first part of the Divine Liturgy when our priest prepares the mystical gifts of bread and wine. Please keep these names in your prayers as well.