April 27, 2023

Welcome Home

were welcomed into

At the Easter Vigil, catechumens at parishes in the

communion with

Church. Above, Bishop James F. Checchio poses with the new members of the Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi Parish. From left: Krystal Lashley, Charles Messina, Jerlin Garo, Anna Chen, Mark Adolph, Matt Montville and Jennifer Glavasich. For more photos of Holy Week, see pages 20-21. — John Batkowski photo

Report reflects how faithful help diocese’s mission grow, impact lives

and sacrifices have made our Eucharistic Lord known and loved in our communities and throughout New Jersey. That is such a wonderful blessing.

My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

A year ago, we emerged from the pandemic to face financial struggles and the beginning of the war in Ukraine. As a diocese, we joined with Catholics from all over the world in participating in the listening sessions to prepare for the Synod called for by Pope Francis. It was wonderful that so many participated in person or by sending in their observations and hopes for our beloved Church. While many concerns were raised, many people desired to give witness to hope and hungered for something even more in life.

For us as disciples of Jesus, this hope and hungering finds comfort in encountering and embracing our Eucharistic Lord, the ultimate source of love, mercy and hope!

In September, as we made our diocesan pilgrimage to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., for the close of the 40th Anniversary of our Diocese of Metuchen, I witnessed how our loving God impacts so many of us. In the presence of the Apostolic Nuncio, our Holy Father’s representative to the United States, faces from all of our four counties glanced at our Eucharistic Lord in the stillness of the celebration while joyfully celebrating our diverse charisms and lives all rooted in Him. It was, indeed, a great moment to thank God for what He has done in our lives and in our local Church.

One of my joys as your Bishop is the visits I am able to make to our parishes and Communities. I certainly am blessed and grateful to see you living your discipleship and witnessing to Jesus through lives of faith and service. Your witness

In an effort to keep you informed, I am happy to share with you our annual report published in this paper. It provides an overview of our diocese’s activities during the past year. Moreover, it is a reflection of that Eucharistic encounter we all share and the results of it. As you will read, our mission continues to grow and impact many lives.

By the movement of the Holy Spirit and our sacrificial works in evangelization, we have begun to carry out the National Eucharistic Revival and renew our devotion to the great gift given to us in the Blessed Sacrament. Yes, we, too, face continued challenges, but gratefully our Lord continues to stay with us and renew us.

Your fidelity to our Lord and His Church and your attentiveness to the movement of the Holy Spirit in Middlesex, Somerset, Hunterdon, and Warren counties is so encouraging and makes a difference. Indeed, through our Blessed Mother’s intercession and the sacrificial love of each of us, our world discovers the true hope of the world – Jesus Christ. Our recent and beautiful ongoing celebration of Jesus’ resurrection certainly reminds us of this in a most poignant way!

As I, too, return to the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, know that I bring all of you to the celebration of the Mass and the quiet moments of adoration. As our revival moves into our parishes and communities, may we each respond to the gift of the Eucharist in our own way and continue to give witness to our Lord and His beautiful works. Thank you for all you are and do. God has been good to us and you. Our priests, deacons, men and women in consecrated life and all who minister in the diocese have been generous, too. I ask you to pray for all who minister on behalf

of our diocesan Church. Please keep our diocesan priorities of prayer, vocations and the works of Mercy in mind, too, as we embrace the Eucharistic Revival, and know of my love, prayers and gratitude for you.

With renewed best wishes, I remain Yours in Christ

Our Diocesan Family

“Our mission is to evangelize all people, at all times, and in all places. We are to proclaim the message of Jesus; to teach His truth; to extend His love to people of all ages.”

(From the original “Statement of Mission” of the Diocese of Metuchen)

We must ask ourselves: what has God done for us? And what is He asking of me in response to His goodness and love?

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Our 40 years as a diocesan Church is a continuation of Christ’s missionary mandate. In Middlesex, Somerset, Hunterdon and Warren counties, we now take up the ever ancient and ever new call to come and follow after Him, reproducing in our own lives His life, death and resurrection, and thus becoming His witness and invitation to others to the life He came to bring. Every disciple of Jesus Christ is called to act in His name, to reproduce the love shown by Jesus in their own lives. The Church is entrusted with the work of salvation, to carry out the words and deeds of Christ in every place and age. Each day, we, as committed disciples, are offered opportunities to act in the name of Jesus, wherever we may find ourselves. The world needs the touch of Jesus – He touches the lives of those around us, through each of us, each day. This is certainly a time for us to pause and to give thanks for what has been, and while we place our trust in God, we cannot let Him work alone. Rather, we must continue to put into the deep as our Lord commands us in Scripture.

(From Bishop Checchio’s Pastoral Letter on the Occasion of the 40th Anniversary of the Diocese of Metuchen)

529-7934 Peter Nguyen • (732) 529-7956

POSTMASTER: Send change of address notice to The Catholic Spirit, 146 Metlars Lane, Piscataway, NJ 08854.

Most Reverend James F. Checchio, JCD, MBA Bishop of Metuchen

The 2021-2022 Annual Report and statistics about the diocese can be found on pages 22-23.

Significant phase of Synod on Synodality moves from Canada to Rome

(OSV News) — The final document for the North American phase of the 20212024 Synod on Synodality was released April 12, capturing a process of dialogue and discernment that two participants described as “messy,” “joyful” and unifying — like the synod itself.

“It’s amazing what comes about when ... you invoke the Holy Spirit in the conversation,” Julia McStravog, a theologian and co-coordinator of the North American team for the synod’s continental phase, told OSV News.

“The synodal approach provoked a genuine appreciation and joyfulness on the part of the people of God to be able to engage in conversation, even if they were talking about difficult issues,” said team co-coordinator Richard Coll. He also serves as executive director of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Department of Justice, Peace and Human Development.

Led by Catholic bishops from Canada and the United States, McStravog, Coll and their fellow team members have now synthesized the results of synod listening sessions throughout the two countries, producing a 36-page final document available for download at usccb.org/synod. (According to the USCCB, the Catholic Church in Mexico is participating in the global synod with the Latin American Episcopal Council, or CELAM, given its long partnership with that conference.)

The North American synod team — consisting of eight bishops, three laywomen, two priests, two laymen and two women religious — spent time in prayer, silence and discussion to distill responses for inclusion in the text, which forms a response to the Document for the Continental Stage issued by the Holy See’s General Secretariat for the Synod of Bishops in October 2022.

The final document for the continental stage from North America, along with the contributions of the six other continental assemblies, will form the basis of the “Instrumentum Laboris,” the global synod’s working document, to be released by the General Secretariat in June.

Bishop Daniel E. Flores of Brownsville, Texas, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Doctrine, who leads the North American team with Canadian Bishop Raymond Poisson of SaintJérôme-Mont-Laurier, Quebec, presented the document at the Vatican April 12.

Launched by Pope Francis in October 2021, the multi-year synod of bishops — the theme of which is “communion, participation and mission” — seeks to cultivate an ongoing dynamic of discernment, listening, humility and engagement within the Catholic Church.

The North American report highlighted three key themes: the implications of baptism, communion with Christ and one another, and missionary discipleship as a living out of the baptismal calling.

“Every human person possesses the dignity that comes from being created in the image of God. Through baptism, Christians share in an exalted dignity and vocation to holiness, with no inequality based on race, nationality, social condition, or sex, because we are one in Christ Jesus.”

“Our baptismal dignity is inseparable from our baptismal responsibility, which sends us forth on mission,” the document stated. “Every human person possesses the dignity that comes from being created in the image of God. Through baptism, Christians share in an exalted dignity and vocation to holiness, with no inequality based on race, nationality, social condition, or sex, because we are one in Christ Jesus.”

By virtue of their baptism, participants in the synod’s North American phase expressed “a desire for a greater recognition of, and opportunities for, co-responsibility within the Church and her mission: with greater collaboration “among the laity and the clergy, including bishops,” said the document. It stressed “there can be no true co-responsibility in the Church without fully honoring the dignity of women.” An authentic “acknowledgment and respect for the gifts and talents of young people is another vital aspect of a co-responsible Church in North America,” said the document.

“Amid polarization and a strong pull towards fragmentation,” synod par-

ticipants in North America emphasized the need to “maintain the centrality of Christ,” especially in the Eucharist.

The document candidly acknowledged that a “significant threat to communion within the Church is a lack of trust, especially between bishops and the laity, but also between the clergy in general and the lay faithful.”

The clergy sexual abuse crisis in particular has caused “major areas of tension in North America,” as have “the historical wrongs found in the residential [and] boarding schools for Indigenous people, which ... included abuse of all kinds,” said the document.

In their introduction to the document, Bishop Flores and Bishop Poisson admitted the need to “[make] efforts to listen more effectively to those from whom we have not heard, including many who have been relegated to the margins of our communities, society and Church.” They noted their “absence” in the synodal process was “not easily interpreted but was palpably felt.”

Among those often missing from synodal sessions were priests, with bish-

ops acknowledging their responsibility to address that lack “by example and by conveying the transparency and spiritual/ pastoral fruitfulness of synodality.”

Synod participants listed women, young people, immigrants, racial or linguistic minorities, LGBTQ+ persons, people who are divorced and civilly remarried without an annulment, and those with varying degrees of physical or mental abilities as marginalized within the Church.

Outreach and inclusion of these groups is ultimately driven at the local level by the faithful actively living out their baptism, McStravog said.

At the same time, “the bishops really took to heart the call ... to reach out to the periphery,” said Coll, who added that virtual synod sessions enabled broader participation.

Synod participants consistently articulated a longing for better formation in the faith and in Catholic social teaching, the document said.

As the synod process moves into its next phase, Coll and McStravog pointed to the need for humility and openness to God’s will.

“We don’t have all the answers, and none of this is pre-packaged,” said Coll. “You have to trust that the Spirit will be there to guide us despite the messiness — or maybe because of it.”

Philadelphia Archbishop Nelson J. Pérez joins college students, other young adults and ministry leaders during a synodal listening session at La Salle University April 4, 2022.

OSV News photo/CNS file, Sarah Webb, CatholicPhilly.com

– final document of North American phase of the 2021-2024 Synod on Synodality

Wait a minute, I bet that you’re Catholic!

When I was young, I remember going to the home of my Venetian, great-aunt, Lena in Raritan Boro, where she had two huge fig trees. There were so many figs on these trees, that she was able to give them to her neighbors and still have plenty left for her family. One year I asked Aunt Lena if I could have a branch to start my own tree but she told me to wait until late April because “you have to plant the fig tree on the feast of St. Mark, April 25, otherwise it would not bear good fruit. Of course, anyone who has been to Venice knows that St. Mark is the patron saint of Venice.

My mother, for years, never left church without lighting a votive candle, none of which were electric. I remember asking my mom why she had to light these candles. She answered that our prayers are heard better and often when we light a candle with these. Even at the site of make-shift memorials, people often leave a lit votive candle as a way to show that prayer has been offered for the person who died. In every parish where I was pastor, I always installed two sets of votive lights, most of which

were now electric due to pressure by insurance companies. Still, by time the last Mass was offered on Sunday, every candle was burning.

A friend of mine recently bought a car, on the dashboard he has a little statue of St. Michael and another of the Blessed Mother. Throughout my childhood, one could pick out the cars owned or leased by Catholics because they all had a small crucifix or a little statue on the dashboard. My mom had St. Therese in most of her vehicles because that is her patron saint.

My late grandmother, who also lived in Raritan Boro, loved to play cards with her girlfriends around the kitchen table. Besides betting a nickel a game, and I have no idea what game it was, and exchanging local gossip, my grandma always announced at the end of the evening that everyone needed to wash her hands because, “cards were of the devil.”

In New Mexico, where I attended graduate school, mothers of brides were known to put a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary, facing out, in the front window of the home, on the day of their

daughter’s wedding. If however, it was cloudy outside or a chance or rain, the statue of Mary, was put in the corner of the parlor and faced the wall so as to express disappointment in her, until the sun came out again, at which point, the Blessed Mother went back to the center of the front window.

When I pastored the PortuguesesBrazilian Catholics, they have a tradition on the feast of St. Martin of Tours. They have to eat chestnuts. Nobody has been able to tell me why but chestnuts are healthy to eat. At Christmas, these Catholics line up to kiss the baby from the Creche. It’s what they do each year. from the same creche,Italian-American Catholics have been taught to take a piece of blessed straw. The reason? If you put a piece of blessed straw from the creche in your wallet, you’ll never go broke. On the first of January, we were taught to eat twelve grapes for good luck. It may sound crazy but we did it.

Some of these aforementioned customs have worn off on me, a Catholic priest since 1986.I don’t make statues

A new intergenerational covenant needs nurturing

face the window in inclement weather. I don’t eat chestnuts on the feast of St. Martin of Tours. However, when I buy a new car, I will not drive it off the lot until I first bless it. I have a medal of St. Joseph on the visor of my vehicle and a medal of St. Therese on my key fob. I stick a piece of blessed straw in my wallet every Christmas. I eat grapes on the first day of the new year and I like to light votive candles. I always wash my hands after playing cards. I planted a fig tree on the feast of St. Mark, in the backyard of St. Stephen Protomartyr Church, my first pastorate, where figs grew in abundance during my six years there. If these practices make me a superstitious, I ask God’s indulgence. I also bet most observers would bet that I am Catholic. Father Comandini is managing editor of “The Catholic Spirit.”

tions at the service of the elderly!

CREATE opportunities for intergenerational encounters and ENCOURAGE youth to explore a caring profession, or … a priestly or religious vocation!

AFFIRM LIFE by helping the seniors you know to pursue what is most meaningful to them.

Among the important issues involving the dignity of human life, abortion is of prime importance – but it is not the only pro-life issue.

As Little Sisters we are deeply concerned about the “other end” of the prolife spectrum – the care of the sick, the elderly and the dying.

In his landmark encyclical, Evangelium Vitae, Pope John Paul II wrote, “Neglect of the elderly or their outright rejection are intolerable. Their presence in the family, or at least their closeness to the family in cases where limited living space or other reasons make this impossible, is of fundamental importance in creating a climate of mutual interaction and enriching communication between the different age-groups. It is therefore important to preserve, or to re-establish where it has been lost, a sort of ‘covenant’ between generations.”

Today our society is very far from Pope John Paul II’s vision.

Pope Francis often speaks of the “throwaway culture” to describe the neglect and abandonment of those considered useless, particularly the very young and the very old.

Francis’ concept of the throwaway culture aligns with what John Paul II

termed the culture of death.

I am convinced that the scarcity of religious vocations, including vocations to our Congregation, is related to this culture of death. A decrease in the number of young women joining our community may also be related to the fact that many young people today grow up far from their elders, without roots, as Pope Francis often says.

From Little Sisters who share their vocation stories, it is evident that a close and loving relationship with grandparents or other family elders is often the spark that lights the flame of a vocation at the service of the elderly.

For several years now, the Little Sisters have also been grappling with the same workforce issues faced by other providers of senior care.

In the aftermath of the pandemic 99 percent of U.S. nursing homes and 96 percent of assisted living communities are dealing with staffing shortages.

Over 300 U.S. nursing homes closed during the pandemic and two-thirds of the remaining nursing homes are at risk of closing.

Today over 800,000 needy older adults and people with disabilities are

languishing on Medicaid-funded state waiting lists without caregivers to provide needed services.

By 2030, 3.5 million new workers will be needed in long-term care services just to keep pace with our rapidly aging population.

Without dramatic changes, thousands of older adults and their families will lose access to quality care, creating fertile ground for the legalization of assisted suicide and euthanasia.

I share these frightening statistics not to be a prophet of doom but to issue a call to prayer and action!

There are many things we can do today to nurture a covenant between generations and a more caring culture.

If you are a young person, OPEN YOUR HEART to the seniors in your life, and to the possibility that God is calling you to a career or a vocation of service to the elderly.

Don’t be afraid to contact the Little Sisters! Our life shared with the elderly, lived in the spirit of the Beatitudes, is a beautiful, joy-filled life!

PRAY that young people will be drawn to careers in geriatrics/gerontology … and even better, to life-long voca-

Spend time with the elders in your family; volunteer in a home for the elderly. Show esteem and support to those who work in caring professions and thank them for their service.

DEFY DEATH by voting against assisted suicide and euthanasia and by helping others to understand the inherent evil of these acts.

Support initiatives and policies in favor of increased compensation, benefits and incentives for aging services professionals.

Support immigration reform to make it easier for qualified caregivers to enter the workforce in our country.

Support reform of restrictive longterm care regulations and inadequate financing.

Two years ago Pope Francis instituted a day honoring grandparents and the elderly, to be celebrated each year on the fourth Sunday of July. It is my dream that this day will evolve to the point where the streets of our major cities are filled with families and people of all ages joyfully celebrating the covenant between generations.

Sister Constance Veit is the communications director for the Little Sisters of the Poor in the United States and an occupational therapist.

“Older adults are losing access to quality care, creating fertile ground for the legalization of assisted suicide.”

WORLD & NATION

Compiled from Our Sunday Visitor

Report documents ‘staggering death toll’ of Christians in Buhari-led Nigeria

NJ lawmaker seeks bi-partisan support for ousted religious at military medical center

WASHINGTON (OSV News) -- A leading Catholic lawmaker and religious freedom advocate has called on the Biden administration to support the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services in a dispute over a long-running Catholic pastoral care contract that a leading U.S. military medical center awarded to a secular defense contractor. Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, Md., issued an April 4 “cease and desist” order to Holy Name College Friary, a community of Franciscan priests and brothers in Silver Spring, Md., who have served service members and veterans at Walter Reed for nearly two decades. Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., wrote in an April 14 letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, that the Franciscan priests and brothers “have a strong record of providing pastoral care to military patients and veterans at Walter Reed” and were barred “from providing any form of religious services” right before the holiest week

of the year for Christians. Smith said it showed “questionable judgment” that a Catholic pastoral care contract would be awarded to “a for-profit company best suited to provide industrial services instead of a Catholic religious institution with a strong record of providing pastoral services,” Smith said. He noted his concerns for the First Amendment religious freedom rights of U.S. Catholics. A spokesperson for Walter Reed told OSV News the “current pastoral care contract is under review to ensure it adequately supports the religious needs of our patients and beneficiaries.”

Walter Reed National Military Medical Center is seen in an Oct. 2, 2020, photo. A leading Catholic lawmaker has called on the Biden administration to back the U.S. Military Archdiocese in the matter of pastoral care at Walter Reed.

OSV News photo/Joshua Roberts, Reuters

Abortion ban approved by legislature, governor

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (OSV News) --

Florida lawmakers and the state’s Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is widely expected to launch his bid for the Republican presidential nomination soon, approved a bill April 13 to ban abortions after six weeks. The new bill would only go into effect if the state’s current 15-week ban is upheld amid an ongoing legal challenge before the Florida Supreme Court. DeSantis, who is Catholic, previously indicated he would sign the bill if it reached his desk. His decision could become a frequent topic for supporters and critics alike if DeSantis does launch an anticipated presidential campaign. Lawmakers in the state House approved the bill largely along party lines in a 70-40 vote. The state Senate approved the measure earlier in April. Senate Bill 300, the Heartbeat Protection Act, would prohibit most abortions in the state, with exceptions for women who are victims of rape or who

face a mortality risk associated with the pregnancy.

Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida is pictured in a March 8 photo. Florida lawmakers approved a bill to ban abortions after six weeks, a proposal supported by DeSantis, a Catholic, who previously indicated he would sign the bill if it reached his desk.

OSV News photo/Scott Audette, Reuters

ABUJA, Nigeria (OSV News) -- At least 52,250 people have been killed over the last 14 years in Nigeria just for being Christian, a new report published April 10 revealed. The report, titled “Martyred Christians in Nigeria” and published by the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety), says 30,250 of those killed were killed since 2015, when President Muhhamadu Buhari came to power. The report blames what it calls Buhari’s radical Islamism for those killings. Approximately 34,000 moderate Muslims were also butchered or hacked to death within the same period. The sheer number of Christians and moderate Muslims killed or displaced has sent chills down the spines of many, including Andrew Boyd, spokesman for Release International, which serves the persecuted church in some 30 countries. He described the report’s finding as “a staggering death toll.” “It is absolutely appalling that so

many Christians are being targeted for their faith and killed in Nigeria, while the Nigerian government seems to stand by and let it happen. It is no less appalling that the international community appears content to stay on the sidelines and watch,” he told OSV News. Meanwhile, Aid to the Church in Need, in its own report, has given voice to the thousands of Christians persecuted for their faith in Nigeria.

A woman and child cry following a funeral Mass in the parish hall of St. Francis Xavier Church in Owo, Nigeria, June 17, 2022. The Mass was for some of the 40 victims killed in a June 5 attack by gunmen during Mass at the church. 52,250 people have been killed over the last 14 years in Nigeria only for being Christians, a new report published April 10 revealed —OSV News photo/Temilade Adelaja, Reuters

Violence mars religious observances in

JERUSALEM (OSV News) -- A BritishIsraeli mother and her two daughters were killed in a drive-by-shooting terrorist at tack in the Jordan valley on April 7, during a week that, instead of seeing the holidays of Passover, Easter and Ramadan celebrated in parallel peacefully, spiraled the region into violence. Rina, 15, and Maia, 20, Dee died at the scene of the attack while their mother Lucy, 48, died of her wounds on April 10. Following the Jordan valley attack, an Italian tourist identified as Alessandro Parini, 36 -- in Israel for the Easter holiday -- was killed in what Israeli police have said was a car-ramming terrorist attack on a beach promenade in Tel Aviv which left one other Italian and three British nationals among the injured. The attacks were spurred on by an Israeli police raid into Jerusalem’s Al Aqsa Mosque compound in the early morning of April 5, and is on a site known to Jews as the “Temple Mount.” Israel police also issued a statement saying they had completed their “extensive…work” in preparation for the Orthodox Holy Fire ceremony April 15, following coordination meetings with heads of churches. The fire hazard secu-

Holy Land

rity regulations imposed by Israeli police on the ceremony, and the way in which ittion. It imposes restrictions on the number of faithful who can attend the ceremony, which sees the holy fire brought forth from the traditional tomb of Jesus inside Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

Israeli medics and police officers check a damaged car at the scene of a shooting attack, in the Jordan Valley in the Israelioccupied West Bank April 7. A BritishIsraeli mother and her two daughters were killed in a drive-by-shooting terrorist attack.

OSV News photo/Gil Eliyahu, Reuters

Catholics in North America cite harm of polarization

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- In their discussions about the life of the Church and “synodality,” or walking together, Catholics in United States and Canada noted the negative impact “polarization” is having on the Church, said Bishop Daniel E. Flores of Brownsville, Texas.

“Politics gets mixed into it, and it’s not that politics doesn’t have a place in the way the Church thinks about things,” he said, but the situation seems to have gotten to where Catholics “immediately sort of categorize people.”

“I think people are aware of that,” he continued, “and really want to find a way out of that, so that we can talk to each other as Catholics, as baptized trying to be faithful to Christ.”

The bishop said figuring out how to deal with social issues in a Christian way “is going to take a lot of work, and it’s OK to disagree, but you don’t have to demonize the other person who thinks differently than you do.”

Bishop Flores, chairman, U.S. bishops’ Committee on Doctrine, spoke to Catholic News Service April 12 about the release of the final document from the North American continental stage of the process leading up to the assemblies of the Synod of Bishops at the Vatican in 2023 and 2024.

The Texas bishop, who had shepherded the U.S. portion of the synod process, was at the Vatican for a weeklong meeting of the synod preparatory commission.

The discussion of polarization in the 12 listening sessions for the U.S.-Canadian continental consultation is related to participants’ emphasis on “baptismal dignity” as the source of communion in the church, of shared responsibility for its mission in the world and of the call to be more inclusive, Bishop Flores said.

“We’re bound to Christ by baptism,” he said, which “also necessarily means we’re connected to each other. And that’s part of the whole reality of who we are. We don’t control who we’re connected to, Jesus does, and so we need to let that dignity show itself.”

Bishop Flores encouraged people to read the continental report trying “to imagine the voices of people speaking from many, many different walks of life” and remembering that all of them making the effort to participate in the sessions is “a sign of their love for the Church and their desire to do something good together.”

Reading the document “with an open heart,” people will find things they agree with and ideas they do not share, “but that’s OK,” the bishop said. “It’s a big church, and we need to at least hear each other before we can kind of think together as to how to move forward.”

From the listening sessions held for participants from the United States and Canada, Bishop Flores said one of the themes that came out most strongly was “wanting to be a Church that continues this experience of communion in a practical sense, of being able to get together and speak about matters of the faith and matters of the church that are very impor-

tant to people.”

People were really happy just to have been asked to share their experience of the life of the Church,” Bishop Flores said, and they would like to have similar opportunities in the future.

In the North American report and in the other regional reports he has read, Bishop Flores said he sees a common theme of Catholics feeling “the world is changing so fast” and wanting to find the best ways for the Church to respond to those changes.

Certainly in North America, but also in most other parts of the world, he said, Catholics highlighted a need for “formation” and not primarily as a call for religious education classes, but “formation in a synodal mindset,” one that helps people understand and appreciate being “a people of the Word of God who gather together and talk about it and pray together and then let that inform us as we move forward.”

On a whole range of issues, including on the repeatedly stressed issue of reaching out to and involving young people in the life of the Church, Bishop Flores said the discussions were not about “what the Church needs to do” but “’how can we do this better’ -- and that’s an important shift.”

The North American synthesis also includes a separate section, titled “Bishops’ Reflections on the Experience of Synodality in North America.”

Bishop Flores said the key reflection was that bishops found their diocesan listening sessions “very invigorating” and want to find ways to continue having that

Synod delegates reflect on experience

Having completed the Diocesan Phase of the 2022-23 Synod, Bishop James F. Checchio, who also serves as treasurer, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, appointed four delegates to represent the diocese at several virtual Continental Phase listening sessions.

The delegates were: Father James De Fillipps, pastor, St. Magdalen de Pazzi Parish, Flemington; Christian Charity Sister Anna Nguyen, diocesan Delegate for Religious; Maria Hunter, director, Office of Parish Social Ministries at Catholic Charities, Diocese of Metuchen; and Joan Fasanello, director, Life Choices, Inc., a pregnancy support center in Phillipsburg.

The Catholic Spirit reached out by e-mail to the delegates to get their reaction to their service.

Responses, which were received from Sister Anna and Hunter, were edited because of limited space.

Was there something about participating in the Synod that deepened or renewed your faith?

Sister Anna Nguyen: “The Synod was a real journey. I felt that with the Holy Spirit, we walked together in sincerity of heart. We left ‘no stone unturned.’ Along the way, some paths were flowing with milk and honey, encountering richness, joy and elation. Others were arid, rough, rocky, and thorny. The seeds of Good News were (perhaps still are) struggling to survive; reconciliation and healing may still be a deep need in some areas.

“There were recurring themes. Still other paths led us up mountains of mystery leaving us overwhelmed. But In sum, this Synod journey provided hope, enlarging our ‘tent,’ opening up additional room for discerning the will of God. God’s will is love and light. I believe that when God’s will becomes clear, we have what is best to look forward to for our Church.”

Maria Hunter: “The diocesan stage of the Synod caused concern since the issues causing division seemed to be more prominent, but the North American Continental Assembly inspired much hope, joy and enthusiasm! Love for the Church and its members was the focus. We felt hopeful that, through listening to the Spirit, prayer, and respectfully listening to others, we can work together to promote unity and healing. We are one in Christ, all on the same “side.” Sometimes we need to be reminded of this.

How did participating at North American Continental Assembly compare to the diocesan phase?

Sister Anna Nguyen: I had the opportunity to meet (virtually) people from across the U.S. and Canada representing key levels of ministry in our Church, i.e., bishops, priests, deacons, religious sisters and brothers, lay leaders representing varied ethnic backgrounds, wide spans of profession, years of service and seasoned as well as new.

kind of interaction with the variety of people that make up the Church in their dioceses.

“A bishop needs to find new ways to kind of stay in touch with what his people are living, are thinking and are praying about,” he said.

The bishops, like many other people who participated in some stage of the synod process, he said, also have questions about what it means, on a practical level, to be a “synodal Church” that listens to and relies on the gifts of everyone while also being a “hierarchical Church.”

And that is a discussion that will continue, he said, including at the synod assemblies.

The continental phase also again heard calls for the church to be more welcoming and inclusive. “The groups named during the continental stage included women, young people, immigrants, racial or linguistic minorities, LGBTQ+ persons, people who are divorced and remarried without an annulment, and those with varying degrees of physical or mental abilities,” the report said.

Bishop Flores said he expects “lively discussion” on that topic as well.

“What does it mean as a Church to be open and welcoming to people, especially in the context of the dignity of the baptized,” is a question to be explored, he said. “The continental document does not offer us a solution to these things, it just raises them up. This is what people really are thinking about.”

Maria Hunter: “The members of the listening circle I participated in came from the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of New Westminister, British Columbia; Diocese of Fall River, Mass.; Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA; Archdiocese of Moncton, New Brunswick,; Diocese of St. Augustine, Fla.; Archdiocese of Washington, D.C. We had never met before the Assembly, but it felt like we had because the entire time we shared, everyone spoke with much hope, joy, and enthusiasm for the Church.

“We all agreed that there are some issues that could cause division but, if the conversation continues, the present tensions could strengthen the Church and unite its members. The wounds that many have can be healed with time if we continue to listen and be empathetic.

“We also agreed that it is important that things in the Church that cannot be changed must be respected and upheld. We strongly agreed that it is important for the Church to be more welcoming to all that ongoing formation is needed for all to grow in their faith and love of God.”

Facility founded for pregnant, underserved women dedicated

By Deacon Parick J. Cline

WARREN — When the Inspire Family Life Center opened a year-and-a-half ago, a number of the goals of the three cofounders were achieved. Bunny BrinckLund, Carol Spina and Rosanda Grau had worked to establish the center with a shared vision of utilizing their collective experiences and talents to be of service to God’s most precious children, born and preborn by saving lives through transforming hearts.

Since the facility opened Sept. 8, 2021 — the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary — it has provided services to at-risk and underserved women and families throughout New Jersey such as pregnancy testing and support, education, limited obstetric ultrasound services, abortion alternatives, mentoring and a 24/7 Help Line. More than 100 clients have been served as of April 4.

On March 22, the second part of the founders’ vision came true with the dedication and grand opening of the new Family Center. Spina, chair of the Board of Directors called it, “a dream come true.” The new center is intended to serve pregnant women and their families as well as women who are not pregnant but in need of material support, such as children’s clothing and infant care products. Additionally, Inspire will be able to

volunteers and supporters of the Center were present. Grau, executive director, thanked those who had contributed to the work and success of the operation. Specifically, she expressed gratitude to Jennifer Ruggiero, secretary, diocesan Secretariat for Family and Pastoral Life, for “all the assistance and support provid-

ed by the diocese,” and to Deacon Francis A. Sinatra, who has served as a medical

The ability to expand their services to include “initiatives that can affect the current culture by inspiring families toviding life affirming programs” has been a particular focus of vice vhair Brinck-panded facility will now allow the center to assist parents to navigate the current cultural landscape and challenges they face raising children today.’

As he did at the original dedication of Inspire in 2021, Father Sean W. Kenney, pastor, Our Lady of the Mount Church, Warren, blessed the new Family

Center. Father Kenney spoke of his own excitement at seeing this expanded venture come to fruition. He also acknowledged “the mosaic of people and their talents that have contributed to its success.” He noted how appropriate was the name chosen for the center, Inspire, as he said, “that defines the work that it does.”

Many of the women the center has served since its initial opening expressed their appreciation for the services and assistance provided. One woman, who requested anonymity and was assisted at a very difficult period in her life, said, “I cannot begin to express my gratitude to God for directing my steps to the kind people at Inspire.”

On Sept. 23, the Center will sponsor a “Miles for Mothers” Fun Run/Walk as a means to both increase financial support and awareness of the services provided and the women and families they serve. More information about the center along with additional ways to provide support is available at: www.InspireFLC.com.

Pictured at the blessing of their new Inspire Family Center which complements Inspire’s Women’s Center, both located at 51 Mt. Bethel Rd., Warren, are its co-founders (left to right): Rosanda Grau, Bunny Brinck and Carol Spina. Gerald Wutkowski, Jr. photo

By Sr. Gabriela of the Incarnation, O.C.D.

At some point in his or her life, every human being hears these words in one way or another. It may be in a moment of loneliness, in a time of sickness, when a job opportunity closes or a move to a new home is necessary. It may happen in the breath-taking beauty of a sunrise or in the exquisite harmony of a song. Finally, it will certainly happen when we come to the end of our life and are called to leave this world. Whenever and however God speaks these words to us, we sense, however dimly, that we are called to follow a path that I must walk alone and that leads to an unknown place.

Each of us answers that call in our own way because each call is heard by our ears alone. Nevertheless, because this call into the desert is a part of the life of each person, it is also an essential part of the life of the Church. It is incarnated into the fabric of the Church and manifests itself in various expressions; we see it most strikingly in the Order of Hermits, but it is also found in the retreats given to individuals and to groups of the faithful. Finally, it is manifested in a very special way in the various orders and congregations of contemplative nuns, and this has been highlighted and brought to the attention of believers by Pope Francis’s recent documents Vultum Dei Quaerere and Cor Orans.

God’s voice calling us to the desert can easily be drowned out by the turmoil of modern life. Because of this danger, communities of contemplative nuns are an essential reminder of the need to tune our ears to that voice and to follow it. Our communities— Benedictines, Poor Clares, Carmelites, Adorers of the Precious Blood, Passionists and all the other communities of women solely devoted to contemplation—we are all heralds standing on the watch towers reminding people that God loves each of them and calls each of them to intimacy with Himself. We need to make our own call resound, not to put ourselves forward, but to alert the faithful to the Voice whispering in their own heart “Come and rest in Me.”

Going to God in the desert is a call that each one follows, yet it is never done alone because nothing in the Church is ever done alone. Everything in the Church is done in communion because the Church exists to live here on earth the life of the Trinity, and nothing in the Trinity is ever done alone. Everything in the Trinity is an act of communion, and so must everything in our life be.

This is where the witness given by hermits and the witness given by contemplative religious differs. Hermits live solely for God. They witness to the total immersion in God that each of us is made for. Contemplative nuns are not hermits; we are women religious, and religious,

is a communion. Each member of the Church lives in the solitude of the desert and in the communion of the Trinity. This seeming contradiction creates a tension that needs to be resolved. The two apparent contradictory poles of solitude and communion need to be held together as the two ends of a violin string need to be held in the right tension for the violin to be in tune.

This balanced tension can be achieved in a multitude of ways, as we see from the various contemplative orders, but both aspects of solitude and communion must be present and harmoniously interacting. On one end of the spectrum there are the Benedictines with their charism of hospitality. Such a witness shows forth notably the facet of communion essential in every religious institute while establishing it in the framework of the solitude of the cloister. At the other end of the spectrum, we have the mendicant Orders such as the Poor Clares and the Carmelites who have little or no face-to-face contact with outsiders. Yet this seeming isolation contains a outward influence that was shown conclusively by the proclamation of St. Thérèse of Lisieux as the Co-Patroness of the Missions. In between these two poles there are the various Orders and institutes who carry on an outreach that is expressed in retreat houses and various publications. Every contemplative community needs to find its own balance of solitude and outward witness.

After pronouncing her first vows as a discalced Carmelite nun, Sister Talitha of the Trinity kneels before Mother Mary Elizabeth, prioress, of the Carmel of Mary Immaculate and St. Mary Magdalen Monastery, Flemington. The prioress blesses Sister Talitha who is wearing a crown of minature white roses and yellow daffodils, a traditional bridal wreath for a religious profession.

unlike hermits, live in a community. We witness to the Church as a communion. The Church is a multiform reality, yet all the different facets of the Church have an essential unity. Saint Paul compared the Church to the human body, and, just as each cell of the human body, though it may be as different from other cells as the cell of a fingernail is from a cell of the eye, still each cell contains in itself the DNA of the whole body. Each cell contains the plan of the whole body.

I’m sure Saint Paul would have loved that analogy, for it applies perfectly to the Church. Each facet of the Church contains the essence of the whole Church.

“It is of the essence of the Church that she be both human and divine, visible and yet invisibly equipped, eager to act and yet intent on contemplation, present in this world and yet not at home in it”

(Sacrosantum Concilium, no. 2). Hermits are “intent on contemplation.” The laity are called to bring about the Kingdom of God in this world, and therefore they

—John Batkowski photo

need to be “eager to act.” The active religious orders share in this eager activity and add to it the witness that the Church’s activity is always done in communion. No member ever acts in isolation. And where do the contemplative orders and institutes fit in? What aspect of the Church do we witness to? We are witnesses to the reality that contemplation and communion are inseparable. We are called to be wholly devoted to contemplation and to live it in communion with one another and with the Church. Contemplation, that deep intimacy with God, is truly an experience of the desert where God speaks to the heart of the listener in a place where no one can come near. “De internis neque Ecclesia.” Only the Holy Spirit can plumb the depths of the human heart.

Yet we human beings are created in the image of the Triune God, and God, to quote our beloved Pope Benedict XVI, is “a relationality” (Caritas in Veritate, no. 54). God is communion. And His Church

But there is more that needs to be said. A community of contemplative nuns not only needs to live in communion within itself and to witness to communion to the Church and to the world, but it must also live in communion with its own charismatic family. There are certainly communities of contemplative nuns that are the first establishments of their charism. Every religious order starts out with one house and then, if God prospers it, that one house sends forth shoots and establishes new foundations. But most contemplative orders have a number of communities that share the original charism and this sharing in the original charism of the founder or foundress makes of these communities members of that unique family. Even a single house existing as a diocesan institute exists as part of the diocese. To paraphrase John Donne, “No Nun is an island, sufficient of herself.” And no community is an island either.

This brings us to the matter of autonomy, a subject that has raised the most questions and aroused the most resistance to the directives of Cor Orans. The objections were that belonging to an association or federation risked compromising the autonomy of the individual monasteries. This fear came from a failure to read the document attentively and from

continued on page 9

“I will lead her into the desert and there I will speak to her heart.”

—HOSEA 2:14

not recognizing the difference between numbers 7 and 8 of Cor Orans, which speak of a Federation and an Association of monasteries, and number 12, which speaks of a Congregation of monasteries. A Congregation is “a structure of government, erected by the Holy See, among several autonomous monasteries of the same institute, under the authority of a president, who is the major superior according to law, and of a general chapter, that in the monastic Congregation is the supreme authority, in accordance with the constitutions approved by the Holy See” (Cor Orans, no. 12). A federa- tion and an association are “a structure of

Discalced Carmelites are shown praying the Divine Office in the chapel of the Carmel of Mary Immaculate and St. Mary Magdalen Monastery, Flemington. Daily, they pray the Divine Office which is the name given to the seven periods of common worship that punctutae their day. The most important of these are evening Vespers, the Office of Readings in the night and morning Lauds. photo courtesy of the discalced Carmelites.

communion” between several “autonomous monasteries of the same Institute… so that in sharing the same charism,” the monasteries “collaborate among them-

selves” and also “overcome isolation and promote regular observance and contemplative life” (Cor Orans, nn. 7 & 8). Here, there is no mention of government, of a major superior or of a chapter with supreme authority over the member monasteries. The president of a federation or an association has no authority. She is a Sister of all the members with a ministry to help foster communion among the member monasteries.

We need to stress the importance of communion among monasteries. Federations and Associations are “structures of communion among monasteries of the same Institute.” That is, they exist to foster sisterly relationships among communities of the same family. The charism given by God to the founder or foundress of a religious institute is not a small gift. It shares in the immensity of God’s own life and, as we see in the ancient Orders, needs a number of communities to express itself in its full flowering. For any community to say that it has no need of the other members of its own religious family is to say that it incapable of growth, that it has no riches to share with others and that itself cannot be enriched by anyone else.

This isolation mentality runs two risks: the first risk is that the community will stagnate. Feeding only on itself, it will inbreed and weaken until it resembles a pool of dead water covered over with algae. Running water flows clear.

Standing water stagnates and has nothing of life to share.

A more common danger is that of outside influence. We are made for communion, and, if a community refuses to share in the life of its own religious family, it will turn to those outside of its proper charism and, whether it realizes it or not, it will imbibe their spiritual outlook. Every Catholic institute can be enriched by the charisms given to other members of the Church, and, among Carmelites, Saint Teresa fought vigorously for the right of her nuns to have contact with other preachers besides their own friars. But one’s own brothers and sisters have the first place in sharing communion with the members of an Institute. Without this familial sharing, a community can be taken over by a spirituality and a viewpoint that is alien to its own founding charism.

Communion and solitude in God; contemplative nuns are given to the Church to witness to the richness and beauty of both, to the God-given life that flows from answering His call into the desert. For those who do answer this call, the moment will come when they will “come up from the wilderness leaning on the arm of their Beloved” (Song of Songs 8:5).

Sr. Gabriela Hicks, O.C.D, is a member of the Carmel of Mary Immaculate and St. Mary Magdalen in Flemington, New Jersey (FlemingtonCarmel.org).

By Christina Leslie Correspondent

PISCATAWAY -- “You are here today because, like Mary, you are aware of God’s presence in your life,” Bishop James F. Checchio said to the staunch defenders of life at the St. John Neumann Pastoral Center chapel March 25. “Thank you for sharing the word of life with others.”

The love of, and respect for, life resounded throughout the day-long “Choices Matter” Critical Life Issues Conference, the 21st such event sponsored by the diocesan Office of Human Life and Dignity. The program of diverse speakers, prayer, fellowship, prolife exhibits, the Sisters of Life video series, Eucharistic Adoration and Confessions began with Mass celebrated by the bishop on the Solemnity of the Annunciation.

Bishop Checchio maintained Mary’s “yes” to the angel’s request she serve as Mother to God’s Son also meant she was his first, ideal disciple and missionary as the young woman journeyed to her cousin, Elizabeth.

“All of us are supposed to do the same thing: receive the word and share it,” the bishop said in his homily. “Mary was pronounced blessed because she believed and acted on it… This conference [aims to] build the culture of life post-Roe. We pray and reflect on the road forward.”

Despite the overturning of the Supreme Court decision on abortion, the bishop reminded the group, the battle continues on the state level.

“Don’t ever doubt your efforts and what you are doing on behalf of life,” Bishop Checchio said. “Listening to God’s will is the right thing. Stay close to Jesus and his blessed mother. Thank you for sharing the word of life with others. May we always be people that say ‘yes’ to the Lord.”

A trio of speakers educated, energized and inspired the attendees in their keynote presentations.

In his presentation “A Second Chance at Choice – Abortion Reversal,” Dr. George Delgado shared scientific and anecdotal data describing how the use of progesterone can reverse the effects of mifepristone (RU-486) medical abortions. He is the founder of Abortion Pill Reversal, a Program of Heartbeat International; completed certification in health care ethics offered by the National Catholic Bioethics Center, and is board certified in family medicine, hospice and palliative care. Delgado is a graduate of the University of California, Davis, School of Medicine.

Delgado informed the group that, due to the administering of progesterone, more than 4,000 babies from all 50 states and in more than 70 foreign countries have been saved from chemical abortions.

“We are giving women a second chance at life,” he said. “People can and do change their minds... [abortion] re-

Bishop, guest speakers at conference explain why ‘Choices Matter’

versal is safe and effective, and women who are given the opportunity to stop their chemical abortions are extremely grateful.”

The bioethicist reported that 60 to 65 percent of abortions today are chemical and the woman is left to abort in her home rather than a doctor’s office. He continued that the administration of progesterone is successful in preventing abortions about 68 percent of the time, and side effects such as premature birth or birth defects are low.

“Progesterone has been used for more than 50 years with a very long safety record,” Delgado said. “They tell us it is junk science, but we say it is new science. It makes biologic sense. Go forth and spread the Good News: women given the opportunity are grateful.”

Banquet of Christ

A former contestant on reality television show, “America’s Next Top Model,” Leah Darrow had the attendees’ rapt attention during her presentation, “Embracing Babies and Dreams: Why Babies and Dreams Go Hand in Hand.” Darrow’s fast-paced, beauty-centric lifestyle in the Big Apple couldn’t satisfy her search for peace, she recounted.

“The abortion industry and the prodeath culture wants you to believe babies are the end of your dreams,” she said. “It is a lie that has been peddled to women. It worked on me years ago; during a modeling photo shoot, I distinctly heard God tell me, ‘I made you for more.’”

Upon returning home and rediscovering her faith, Darrow went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in psychology at the University of Missouri-St. Louis and a master’s degree in theology from the Augustine Institute. She created and hosts the “Do Something Beautiful” podcast, is author of “The Other Side of Beauty,” and co-founded the LUX Conference for young adult Catholic women. She is a married mother of six children.

Darrow maintained that the “culture

The diocese’s 21st Critical LIfe Issues Conference, “Choices Matter,” held March 25 at the St. John Neumann Pastoral Center began with Mass celebrated by Bishop James F. Checchio. At top the bishop raises the host during the consecration. To his left is Deacon Stephen Kern, director, diocesan Office of the Diaconate and at his right is Father Roy Quesea, vice-chancelllor and secretary to the bishop. Above at left an attendee prays during the Mass. Above right the bishop prays before the statue, Mary the Mother of Life Within. The conference was held on the Solemnity of the Annunciation. During the conference the statue was replaced by the Blessed Sacrament. — Mike Ehrmann photos

of death” wants to kill you, kill the spirit of God in you, to make you forget God and hope exist and there is a better way to live your life.

“If you are still breathing, God is not done with you yet,” she said. “He wants more for you and from you. He makes everything work out for us. The only person who can mend a broken heart is the one who made it.”

But the culture of death is starting to crumble, Darrow said, with more people turning away from abortion.

“The banquet of Christ is our revolution. Our power is in our God. Babies don’t keep us from our lives, they make them better,” Darrow asserted. “Babies and dreams always go together.”

Post-Roe World

“I became a helper because I needed help,” confided Lisa Rowe, a licensed clinical social worker, author and CEO of SupportAfterAbortion.com who discussed “Beyond Politics: Humanizing Women and Men Who Experienced Abortion.”

Rowe maintained that men and women both need to address the generational aspects of abortion.

“You are programmed to see abortion as a political issue only,” she said. “We are programmed to see the issue outside. It is significant, and we need, in a post-Roe world, to speak about it.”

The therapist shared somber statistics about the reach abortion has in today’s society. Studies have found that three in five women who have undergone an abortion already have children; 50 percent of women undergoing an abortion have another one, and eight of 10 of them will abort at home.

Though talking about abortions may be difficult, it must be done for all to heal, Rowe concluded. “We are taught to stuff it so far down. Start the conversation.”

For further information and resources on abortion reversal, see abortionpillrescue.com and stenoinstitute.org.

At top, after attending Mass the 150 attendees at the diocese’s Critical Life Issues Con ference were welcomed to the day which included prayer, fellowship, prolife exhib its, a video, Eucharistic Adoration and three keynote speakers. Above left, Dr. George Delgado, the first keynote speaker, shared scientific and ancedotal data on abortion reversal which he calls, “A Second Chance at Choice.” Next is Jennifer Ruggiero, who heads the diocese’s Secretariat for Family and Pastoral Life. She welcomed attendees and introduced the Sisters of Life Video series entitled, “Into Life: Love Changes Everything. Excerpts of two of the 12-part video series were shown to raise aware ness about this resource which can be used in parishes, schools and small groups to learn about what it means to walk with a woman who is pregnant and vulnerable. It is available at: https://introlifeseries.com. Above right is Cristina D’Averso-Collins, director, the diocesan Office of Family Life Ministry. She introduced Dr. Delgado and also facilitated a Q & A session following his talk. At right is one of the exhibits at the conference.

— Mike Ehrmann photos

”The banquet of Christ is our revolution. Our power is in our God. Babies don’t keep us from our lives, they make them better. Babies and dreams always go together.”

Leah Darrow, former contestant on “America’s Next Top Model”

Lord reveals himself at Mass in ‘very powerful way’

By Gina Christian OSV News

The Archdiocese of Hartford is investigating a possible Eucharistic miracle at one of its parishes, where Communion hosts seemingly multiplied during a March 5 Mass.

Father Joseph Crowley, pastor, St. Maximilian Kolbe Parish, Thomaston, Conn., said in a YouTube livestream of his March 12 homily that an unnamed extraordinary minister of the Eucharist at the previous week’s liturgy had begun to run out of Communion hosts -- only to find that “all of a sudden there [were] more hosts in the ciborium.”

The St. Maximilian Kolbe Parish is comprised of three church locations -- St. Thomas, Immaculate Conception and St. Casimir -- and the alleged multiplication of Communion hosts took place at St. Thomas.

The minister continued to distribute the hosts to some “100, 150 people in the congregation,” after which “there was the same amount, if not more hosts” in the ciborium, said Father Crowley, who had celebrated the March 5 liturgy. “What happened is Our Lord multiplied himself. … I have no doubt. I know what I gave the person. I know what [was] returned [to the tabernacle]. It was just very obvious and plain to me as to what happened.”

Father Crowley said in his March 12 homily he wanted to tell parishioners “from the horse’s mouth as to exactly what happened,” and “stick to the facts” to avoid confusion.

In a livestream video of his postCommunion remarks at the March 5 liturgy at St. Thomas, a visibly struck Father Crowley said the experience was “very powerful, very awesome, very real,

Archdiocese of Hartford is investigating a possible Eucharistic miracle at the church, where Communion hosts seemingly multiplied during Mass, March 5, 2023. St. Thomas is where Father Michael J. McGivney was pastor after being assistant pastor at St. Mary’s Church in New Haven, where he founded the Knights of Columbus.

very shocking.”

David Elliott, associate director of communications for the Archdiocese of Hartford, told OSV News that the archdiocesan judicial vicar, Father George S. Mukuka, “has been looking into the possibility of a Eucharistic miracle” at the parish.

Following the investigation, the judicial vicar will prepare a report for Hartford Archbishop Leonard P. Blair, “who will make a determination from there” regarding the event’s supernatural nature, said Elliott.

Several of the seemingly multiplied

hosts had been distributed at daily Mass March 6 and 7, but were then kept in reserve as the archdiocesan investigation is still underway, said Father Crowley in his March 12 homily.

He said that the incident -- which he described as “one of those moments where God showed up in a very powerful, powerful way” -- had stunned him.

“I haven’t been praying for anything like this,” he said. “I’ve heard of this happening. I don’t know of any person out of my 20-plus years of dealing with the Church … [and] dealing with hundreds of priests … hundreds, thousands

of people, [and] many, many bishops. I know that the Lord can do anything. He does all things for nothing is impossible for God.”

At the same time, “the real miracle is the fact that we’re able to take simple bread and wine, and through the prayers of the Church, through the hands of the priest, Christ is made present through transubstantiation,” said Father Crowley. “Our Lord then becomes the flesh and blood hidden under the mere presence of bread and wine.”

Through the apparent multiplication of hosts, “Our Lord gave us one of the best moments of reflection this Lent about himself, about the Eucharist,” said Father Crowley.

Father Crowley acknowledged that people often go through situations where “God seems so removed, so hidden … not part of our everyday moment because we don’t see him.”

“It’s sometimes hard to see a God that seems to be so hidden,” he said. “Perhaps the Lord had done this before, where you just give Communion out and all of a sudden there’s plenty of hosts and you just keep going. But to … be made aware is part of the miracle.”

A local saint in the making also may have played a role, Father Crowley said, since Blessed Michael McGivney, founder of the Knights of Columbus, served as pastor of St. Thomas Church from 1884 until his death in 1890.

“I think in a very profound way that … because of Blessed McGivney’s life here … it shows that this is a very special place. And it’s important to God,” said Father Crowley. “And I think good things are coming. I think great things are coming.”

Gina Christian is a national reporter for OSV News.

Teamwork lifts academy in national competition

The Euro Challenge team at Mount Saint Mary Academy, Watchung, recently advanced to the semifinal round of the competition in Manhattan, N.Y., against other teams from the New York Metropolitan area.

The team, which is advised by Kathleen Brennan, Mathematics Department chairperson, advanced to the semifinals of the 2023 National Competition, which is scheduled to be held in New York on April 24.

In competitions, Euro Challenge teams give 15-minute presentations, during which they are required to describe the current economic situation in the euro area. The description includes a discussion of GDP growth, unemployment, and inflation in that area.

The students select one economicrelated challenge confronting the euro area as a whole and pick one of the 19-member countries of the euro area to illustrate the challenge. They recommend a policy/policies for addressing the challenge which was identified in the country.

Euro Team members from Mount Saint Mary Academy, from left: sophomores Katherine Byrne, Madison DeFrancisco, Grace Puglisi, Manuela RoncancioRoldan, Mary Catherine King, Jenny Zhu and Megan Quraishi.

St. Thomas Church in Thomaston, Conn., is pictured in November 1991. The

OSV News photo/courtesy Knights of Columbus

photo courtesy of Mount Saint Mary Academy

My vocation to fraternity, evangelization and the “All-Sufficiency of Christ”

Editor’s Note: To celebrate Religious Brothers Day on May 1, “The Catholic Spirit” is pleased to publish a column by Brotherhood of Hope Kenneth Apuzzo. It provides an insight into the community’s mission, lifestyle and good works.

By Kenneth Apuzzo, BH

The Brotherhood of Hope is a relatively new community of religious brothers. We celebrated our 40th anniversary three years ago. Our main canonical home is the Archdiocese of Boston, but our roots are in New Jersey. A large percentage of our community is from the Garden State and so we were thrilled to be invited to serve as campus ministers at Rutgers University in 2005. We continue to serve students at Rutgers as well as a young adult community at St. Peter the Apostle University and Community Parish, New Brunswick.

What may make us unique in the eyes of some people is that we are a community of men who have been called by God to serve as religious brothers rather than priests. Thus, we are uniquely positioned to reach college students. We can walk alongside them - like a brother would.

That’s how we pursue our mission: to evangelize students on large, secular college campuses at a time in their lives when they most need the love, wisdom, and mercy of Jesus Christ.

There aren’t many communities of religious brothers around anymore. Yet, the Brotherhood of Hope has grown by 60 percent in the last seven years. We will have 24 perpetually vowed men by this July, with another 30 men in various stages of formation. Our community has grown from our beginnings in New Jersey, to serving students and young adults in Florida, Massachusetts, and Minnesota. Thankfully, young men are showing interest in our life from all these locations.

Our mission flows naturally from our charism, which is rooted in the “AllSufficiency” of Jesus Christ. He alone satisfies the deepest desires of our hearts. In turn, we hope to awaken the greatest desire in every person we meet. That desire is enjoying a loving relationship with Jesus Christ and His Church. We have witnessed thousands of college students and young adults discover freedom and

purpose in a friendship with Jesus.

I met the Brothers when I was a student at Rutgers. I attended a retreat that the Brothers hosted and had a profound experience of God’s love and forgiveness. A small spark of my vocation started right there with my first encounter with the Lord. A desire to give back to God emerged in my heart which increased over time.

The Brothers were instrumental in helping me grow and mature in my very young and fragile faith. I was attracted to their passion to bring the gospel to the lost and to their deep bonds of fraternal charity. They also did normal stuff. They played basketball, smoked cigars, and ran a painting business. They were “regular dudes!”

One of the most amazing chapters of my journey as a Brother is that my father, who raised five children and was a New York bank executive, eventually became a Brother of Hope. It is a long and incredible story for another time.

Presently, I am the General Superior of our community. I have served in this capacity for the last 10 years. To say that I was shocked to be elected to such a responsibility is the greatest of understatements. I was overwhelmed when the Brothers began to speak to me about serving in this role. I am quite an ordinary person and “fellow sinner.” To me, the previous general superiors towered over me in gifts and holiness.

Initially, I was very closed-minded to accepting the position. Graced-help came to me through the prayers and intercession of St. Joseph. He too was a simple carpenter, and yet he was asked to bear an enormous responsibility of caring for the Holy Family. He served Mary and Jesus in the only way he could, as himself. Ten years later, I can say that

At left, Brotherhood of Hope Brother Kenneth Apuzzo is pictured tallking with two attendees at the community’s Involvement Fair. The brotherhood’s mission is to evangelize students on large, secular college campuses at a time in their lives when they most need the love, wisdom, and mercy of Jesus Christ. The Brotherhood of Hope, Brother Kenneth said, is uniquely positioned to reach college students because they can walk alongside of them - like a brother would. On top, Brother Kenneth, pictured in the first row, fourth from the right, is joined by members of the Brotherhood of Hope at the community’s summer conference. A relatively new community the Brotherood of Hope has grown by 60 percent in the last seven years. They will have 24 perpetually vowed men by this July and another 30 men in various stages if formation. — Photos courtesy of Brotherhood of Hope

one of my greatest joys has been to help each Brother have more of God’s abundant life that He has planned for them.

In closing, we Brothers are grateful for the invitation that Bishop Paul G. Bootkoski offered us in 2005 to serve in

the Metuchen diocese. We continue to be grateful to Bishop James F. Checchio and the many blessed friendships we have throughout the diocese.

Kenneth

Apuzzo serves as General Superior, Brotherhood of Hope

All jokes aside, comedian drops a truth bomb about abortion

By OSV Editorial Board, OSV News

Joking about abortion is nothing new for Chris Rock. In a 2004 TV special, “Never Scared,” the comedian praised the fact abortion was lawful in America, saying: “It’s beautiful that abortion’s legal, man. I love going to abortion rallies to pick up women.”

Still rebounding from the now infamous Will Smith slap at the 2022 Academy Awards, Rock has garnered attention for the abortion jokes he made in his new Netflix comedy special, “Selective Outrage.” The remarks have drawn comments and criticism from figures as diverse as Live Action’s Lila Rose to the Los Angeles Lakers legend Shaquille O’Neal.

Rock begins his segment on abortion with a statement that, had it been shared on Twitter, would have been identified as “misinformation.”

“In most of the country abortion’s illegal,” Rock said -- though, tragically, throughout most of the country, abortion remains legal. In fact, the Guttmacher Institute, which advocates for abortion policy, reports that only 14 states have laws that the research institute identifies as “very restrictive” or “mostly restrictive.”

Rock then proceeds to get about as crass on the topic as you might expect

Labor of Love

from a Hollywood comedian. “Hey, I’ve paid for more abortions than any woman in this room,” Rock continued. “When I go to the clinic, I say, ‘Gimme the usual.’” Men, he said, can talk about abortion because they do their part by financing them.

Irish actor Ciaran Hinds is credited with saying: “In good comedy, the structure comes from truth and that weird eye that looks at the way life is.” Keep that in mind as you read this next line.

“I believe that women should have the right to kill babies,” he declared. “But let’s not get it twisted, it is killing a baby. ’Cause whenever I pay for an abortion, I request a dead baby.”

Now, we are not saying that Rock’s appalling comments on abortion constitute “good comedy.” But there is something about those comments that is undeniably true.

“Sometimes, I call up the doctor like a hit man: ‘Is it done?’” the comedian said. In these words, we hear a profound truth ring: Abortion is murder, and an abortionist is a hired man. Pope Francis has said much the same. Arguing that abortion is never the answer, Pope Francis has said, “Is it licit to hire a hitman to resolve a problem?”

Is Chris Rock really joking? Despite his assertions that he is pro-choice, is he

Recently, the Mother Seton Knights of Columbus Council 15540, Three Bridges, helped coordinate the delivery of 100 blankets from Quilts for Kids to the Children’s Hospital at Saint Peter’s University Hospital, New Brunswick. The Council has provided financial support to Quilts for Kids for a number of years. From left: Knight Andrew Casella, Sophia Kim and Gabrielle Salzarul, music therapists, Saint Peter’s University Hospital, and Deputy Grand Knight Gerry Enzmann, pose during the delivery of the quilts to the diocesan-sponsored hospital.

Casella’s wife, Gretta, is a longtime volunteer at Quilts for Kids (www.quiltsforkids.org), a nonprofit network of volunteer quilters dedicated to providing handmade quilts to children facing serious illnesses or who have been victims of abuse or other trauma. photo courtesy of Knights of Columbus Council 15540

really waving his pro-life flag by bearing the truth for all to see?

Who knows? Art and artists are fickle about the truth. But there’s no denying that, through his shocking routine, the evil of abortion is made crystal clear. Abortion is the intentional, routine killing of an unborn baby, full stop. And Rock, intentionally or otherwise, leaves its supporters without their lifeboats of twisted obfuscations.

Rock’s sketch even goes so far as to unwind the entire “logic” of the prochoice argument. Asking why we should stop at even the third trimester, Rock provocatively declared abortion should be legal through the first semester of school, quipping “I think you should be able to kill a baby till you get that first report card.”

Truth: If it’s legal to take the life of a preborn child, why not a preschooler?

In another performance, years earlier, Rock joked that women decide frivolously to keep their children or terminate their pregnancies based on whether they think the father is handsome or if they need to fit into a swimsuit for an upcoming vacation. “They have a little abortion tribunal, and they vote on the baby like it’s ‘Survivor,’” Rock said.

By abandoning the once dogmatic axiom that abortion should be “safe,

legal and rare,” proponents have turned abortion into an expression of liberty. And as such, abortion advocates have tossed off their once-solemn refrain that abortion was the last refuge of women in need. Today’s rallying cry for abortion on demand is a far cry from the abortion policy of the past. No longer is abortion a regrettable “necessity;” it must be “shouted” and celebrated.

Wittingly or not, Rock puts his audience face to face with the cold, brutal truth about abortion.

These are the types of frank discussions that need to take place between pro-lifers and supporters of abortion in order for progress to be made, because it strips away the common misdirections -- and misconceptions -- about the abortion debate. Too often, conversations get caught up in issues of viability, when a heartbeat begins, when an unborn child can feel pain, and the like. But science is clear that a new human person is formed at conception. When we can acknowledge that this science is irrefutable, that unborn babies are fully human -- as Chris Rock did -- we can have a truly honest conversation about abortion that isn’t cloaked in the cipher of a comedy routine.

Patriotic Support

From left, Deputy Grand Knight Gerry Enzmann of Council 15540, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish, Three Bridges, presents a $500 check to Rosemary Fleming, president, Operation Jersey Cares; assisted by Pete Grice; Grand Knight Rick Dool and Knight Rusty Williams. Operation Jersey Cares is a nonprofit organization dedicated to honor and support the men and women of the United States Armed Forces, their families and veterans. It includes sending care packages to those who have been deployed overseas. Volunteers from the Council recently helped pack some of the care packages for shipment. Additionally, the Council planned to donate 50 blankets to veterans who live at the V.A. in Lyons. photo courtesy of Knights of Columbus Council 15540

Academy’s leader recognized for outstanding leadership

Mercy Sister Lisa D. Gambacorto, directress, Mount Saint Mary Academy, Watchung, was honored at the borough’s first Women In Business ceremony March 27.

Sister Lisa was one of three other honorees to receive proclamations and to be lauded as outstanding contributors to the borough’s business presence, especially during Women’s History Month.

Councilwoman Sonia Abi-Habib, who initiated and organized the event, underlined the importance of advocating leaders who inspire and advance our young women of tomorrow, who set examples for other women and for our daughters.

After Abi-Habib read Sister Lisa’s bio, Mayor Ronald Jubin presented a proclamation and a bouquet of flowers to her.

“Mount Saint Mary Academy has enjoyed a very special relationship with the borough since it was founded,” said Sister Lisa. “We are proud to educated young women in the name of the Sisters of Mercy for almost 115 years. Our goal is simple yet profound — to empower each student to use their gifts and talents to make our world a better place to live for all people. As the ninth directress/head of

Lasting Legacy

school, I stand on the shoulders of Sisters who, in 1906, began carrying stone up our mountain to build our school.”

Sister Lisa said that she was humbled to stand with the other honorees, who included attorney Jeralyn Lawrence, Anita Nappa (dispatcher for the Watchung Police Department) and Marianne Candiloros (a certified court reporter).

“Thank you so much for this honor,” Sister Lisa said. “I accept it on behalf of all our graduates and students who are taught to live lives of justice, integrity, compassion, service, and dignity. I am thrilled to accept this award in the name of the Academy — I always wanted to say that phrase — thanks for giving me the opportunity. God bless you.”

From left, Watchung Councilwoman

Sonia Abi-Habib; Mercy Sister Lisa D. Gambacorto, directress, Mount Saint Mary Academy, Watchung, and the borough’s mayor, Ronald Jubin, pose for a photo at a Women in Business event.

During a pastoral visit to Our Lady of Mercy Parish, South Bound Brook, Bishop James F. Checchio presided at a Mass at Our Lady of Mercy Church, then led a blessing and dedication of Mary’s Garden behind the rectory. In top photo, Father John Lee (left), administrator, assists Bishop Checchio. The altar server is Austin Chu. Center, the bishop sprinkles holy water on the statue, which is 4-and-a-halffeet high and made of white marble from Italy. The garden, which was installed by Greenview Land Sculpting, includes two benches and lighting for visitors at night. Pavers start at the pedestals, including a crucifix, that allow a visitor to pray the rosary while circling the statue. Ten pavers go around Mary’s statue to help people count their Hail Marys. Parishioners Vincent Han and Jim Sickoria were instrumental in all aspects of the project, which was initiated by Father Namwoong Lee, former administrator, who has since returned to his native South Korea. Father Lee wanted to leave a lasting legacy to the parishioners.

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John Batkowski and Diane Mosko photos

photo courtesy of Mount Saint Mary Academy

By Christina Leslie Correspondent

NEW BRUNSWICK — This year, as college students across the country left their studies behind for fun in the sun and personal pursuits, a group from the Catholic Center at Rutgers continued their Godcentric tradition of prayer and service via their Alternate Spring Break trips.

This year, students had the opportunity to volunteer in France, Alaska and Washington, D.C.

Jesus Our Hope Sister Anna Palka, campus minister, and missionary Anna McDowell, fondly recalled their March 11-17 journey to Juneau, Alaska, with 14 students.

The selection of Juneau, about 3,800 miles from Rutgers, was not as unusual as it may appear at first glance: McDowell’s roots are in Juneau and her immediate family still lives there. The lifelong ballet teacher and performer had relocated to the Garden State in 2018 to join the American Repertory Ballet/Princeton Ballet School; she settled near Rutgers University and began attending Mass at St. Peter the Apostle University and Community Parish, where her long-dormant faith was reawakened.

“I was pulled into the Catholic Center by the Brothers [Brotherhood of Hope],” McDowell said. “I was just getting back into my faith, and learned about what the Gospel message is through their activities.”

When the Center’s Alternative Spring Break programs were due to be restored post-COVID, a trip to Juneau was a logical choice. The group lived and worked at the National Shrine of St. Therese and St. Paul Parish, painted the hallway of St. Vincent de Paul homeless shelter, served meals in the soup kitchen, led retreats and interacted with the poorest of the poor.

`In addition to their physical labor, the group performed service activities of a spiritual nature alongside local Sisters of Christian Charity, ministering to youth, middle and high school students and Catholic women, some of whom had never seen a religious sister dressed in a traditional habit. McDowell introduced her Rutgers family to her parents, and all shared a meal and conversation.

The intercession of the shrine’s patroness, St. Therese de Lisieux, nicknamed “The Little Flower,” was not lost on the group, she continued. “We kept saying, ‘How Therese-ian, it’s just like her to be in the little things.’”

The two words which best summarized the trip, said Sister Anna, were grace and simplicity.

“The area was so beautiful,” said Sister Anna as she shared an outdoor photo of the group with snow-capped mountains in the background. “It was a pristine climate, and you were transported from the hustle and bustle of the Northeast.

“Our service trip and retreat experience in Juneau was one of great peace, simplicity, and wrapped in God’s presence,” she continued. “We were in awe

Students spend spring break serving others worlds away

Above, members of the Catholic Center at Rutgers, New Brunswick, pose for a photo near Juneau, Alaska, during an Alterntative Spring Break trip March 1117. The trip was one of three of the Center’s Alternative Spring Break programs this year — others went to Washington, D.C., and France. Right, participants in the program pray at a holy hour at the National Shrine of St. Therese, Juneau. The Alaska contingent also painted the hallway at a homeless shelter, served in the soup kitchen and led retreats. Below participants of the Alternative Spring Break program in Washington, D.C., pose for a photo at the Saint John Paul II National Shrine.

photos courtesy of The Catholic Center at Rutgers

of God’s beauty in the landscape, and overwhelmed by the hospitality and warm welcome from the people.

“As St. Therese says, ‘Everything is grace,’ and that’s exactly what we experienced. It was a grace to see God’s grandeur in nature, a grace to encounter him in the people of Juneau, and a grace to enter into deeper relationship with him and one another.”

In summarizing her visit, McDowell said, “We had a chance to take in God’s creation in a different way. We had a deeper outpouring of love. He pulled back the curtain and revealed himself to his people.”

She paused but a moment as she considered her advice to other young adults pondering a mission trip.

“You would be surprised how much God can do when you just give him a week,” she said. “Serving others rejuvenates you. College students might be surprised how present God is with his people.”

“We had a chance to take in God’s creation in a different way. We had a deeper outpouring of love. He pulled back the curtain and revealed himself to his people.”

Anna McDowell

Academy senior to be recognized by charity group at ceremony

WATCHUNG — Dena Mistichelli, a senior at Mount Saint Mary Academy and a resident of Watchung, is scheduled to be honored by Long Hill Township at a ceremony May 10 as a recipient of the Girl Scouts Gold ``Award.

A member of Girl Scouts of Northern New Jersey No. 4581, she officially received the Gold Award designation, the highest honor a Girl Scout can achieve, on January 23.

Mistichelli transformed an overgrown and disregarded outdoor space at The Center for Faith Justice (CFJ) in Lawrence into a spirituality garden, focusing on the issue of mental health and wellbeing. The facility hosts retreatants from the state and throughout the world several times each year.

“They lacked a proper outdoor space, which led to many retreat activities being performed in a parking lot,” said Mistichelli, who has attended several CFJ activities through the JusticeworX program. She has experienced firsthand how critical it would be for CFJ to have a proper outdoor space.

With the help of her troopmates, friends, and fellow JusticeworX participants, Mistichelli created a spiritual labyrinth. She planned the garden’s layout, the required materials, resources, and finances, and coordinated a schedule to facilitate each step. She spoke with busi-

ness owners to obtain the best prices on materials, worked with CFJ to plan the best garden for their use, and learned the proper tools and procedures for weeing, pruning, and preparation of the space.

She was not afraid to do the dirty work and led her volunteers by example. She also learned and strengthened her leadership, creativity, communication, and planning skills.

After researching mental health issues, Mistichelli created a PowerPoint presentation featuring tips and facts which retreatants can be access via QR code posted in the garden. They can also provide feedback about the garden using another QR code posted there. To spread the word, she reached out to several retreat centers within New York and New Jersey, providing information on mental health, spiritual labyrinths, and a “How To” guide so that they could develop their own gardens.

“This entire experience was truly an opportunity for learning and growth,” Mistichelli said. “Not only did I strengthen and gain new skills, but I further expanded my knowledge regarding the importance of mental health and wellbeing. Working with CFJ was a full-circle experience and because of my participation in various retreats there, I was able to give back to them and help them.

ful to have earned my Gold Award and to have created the spirituality labyrinth and garden, promoting mental wellness.”

For more than 110 years, Mount Saint Mary Academy has inspired young women to become their best selves. In an ever-changing world, the Mount remains a place where innovation shapes the learning environment while timeless values serve as the foundation.

A sponsored work of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, Mount Saint Mary Academy is dedicated to the education of the entire person, with high academic standards, an emphasis on spiritual growth, and a multitude of extracurricular opportunities.

D i s c o v e r y o u r m i s s i o n

D i s c o v e r y o u r m i s s i o n .

Dena Mistichelli, above right, holds a certificate she received from Girl Scouts of USA recognizing her as a Gold Award Girl Scout, the highest honor the organization bestows. Below right, Mistichelli, a senior at Mount Saint Mary Academy, Watchung, earned the award for transforming an overgrown and disregarded outdoor space at The Center for Faith Justice, Lawrence, into a spirituality garden, focusing on the issue of mental health and well-being.

B e c o m e a K n i g h t .

B e c o m e a K n i g h t .

Empowering men to live their faith at home, in their parish, at work and in their communities.

photos courtesy of Mount Saint Mary Academy

Empowering men to live their faith at home, in their parish, at work and in their communities.

“I am incredibly proud and grate-

Empowering men to live their faith at h parish, at work and in their communiti

Empowering men to live their parish, at work and in their com

As we begin the renewal season of spring, membership in the Knights of Columbus can offer men an opportunity for growth and a renewal of spirit in service to others by fulfilling our order’s central vision to engage in charitable works, to serve the Church, to support brother Knights, to act for the good of our country, and to give aid to those in need.

For more information visit: kofc.org/join

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Hispanics inspired by Passion Play

On March 29, in preparation for Holy Week, the Office of Hispanic Evangelization invited the Hispanic community to the play “The Passion of the Christ” presented by the theater group “El Sembrador” from St Joseph Parish, North Plainfield. The play is inspired by the visions of Blessed Anna Katharina Emmerick and offers a spiritual environment to reflect about the passion, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. The theater group “El Sembrador” was created in 2007 as a small group of people with a great love for the service of God and the Church.

Julian

Mahecha and Luz Escobar photos

Bishop urges priests to ‘have identity and mission the same’ at annual Chrism Mass

By Christina Leslie Correspondent

METUCHEN – “Brother priests, how we need in our day to have our identity and mission the same,” said Bishop James F. Checchio to the scores of clergy at the annual Chrism Mass April 4. “What a high and privileged and challenging call we share,” he added.

Hundreds of faithful filled the Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi for the Mass at which clergy renew their priestly promises and oils are blessed and distributed to each parish for use in its sacramental rites. Scores of representatives from the Knights of Columbus, Knights of the Holy Sepulchre and Knights of Malta, as well as seminarians, deacons, religious and laity, filled the Cathedral as joyful witnesses and members of the Metuchen Diocese family of faith. Bishop Checchio served as principal celebrant and homilist.

In his homily, Bishop Checchio encouraged his brother priests to emulate St. Maximilian Kolbe, the Polish priest and martyr who died in the concentration camp at Auschwitz during World War II. When asked by his captors why he sacrificed his life to save another prisoner, the future saint answered simply, “I am a Catholic priest.”

“His identity was his mission, and like the Divine Master, he went to his death as priest and victim,” the bishop said. “As we gather to renew promises, in our Gospel we have heard our mission: ‘the Spirit of the Lord is upon me.’ [Luke 4:18] This is fulfilled in us for our people, what we should be doing every day. Our mission is offering this kind of hope for our people.”

Bishop Checchio recalled the words of Pope Francis at a recent Chrism Mass; the Holy Father had warned, “We are not distributors of bottled oil… we anoint by distributing ourselves, our vocation and our heart.”

“Every time we use these oils, let them sink in more and more deeply into our minds, hearts, and souls so that we become who we are, what we do, more and more. may this Mass and renewal of our priestly promises stir into greater flame our priestly life of service to our people.”

At the conclusion of the homily, the bishop invited the priests to stand and reaffirm their vows. Asking them if they were “resolved to be more united with the Lord Jesus and closely conformed to him… to be faithful stewards of the mysteries of God… to discharge faithfully the sacred office of teaching… moved only by zeal for souls,” the priests replied as one, “I am.”

Bishop Checchio then addressed the congregation, imploring them to “pray for your priests that the Lord may pour out his gifts abundantly upon them and keep them faithful as ministers of Christ, the High Priest, so that they may lead you to him, the source of salvation.

“Pray also for me,” their shepherd beseeched them, “that I may be faithful to the apostolic office entrusted to me in my lowliness.”

“Christ hear us, Christ graciously hear us,” the faithful responded.

The rite which gives the Chrism Mass its name was the blessing of three vessels of oils: the Oil of the Sick, to be used on the in-

firm during the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick; the Oil of Catechumens, used to baptize new Catholics, and the oil with an additive of fragrance which would become Sacred Chrism. Chrism is used to anoint the heads of the newly baptized and confirmed, the hands of a priest at his ordination, and the altar and walls of new churches.

The bishop sounded a clarion call to action for his brother priests, saying, “This is the acceptable year of the Lord. Go and be what we are for the people of our diocese. May the words of Maximilian Kolbe always be on our lips and hearts, may our identity always be our mission … Yes, I am a Catholic priest.”

Below, at the annual Chrism Mass held April 4 at the Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi, Bishop James F. Checchio consecrates the Sacred Chrism, which is used to anoint the heads of the newly baptized and confirmed, the hands of a priest at his ordination, and the altar and walls of new churches. In the bottom photo, priests from the diocese stand at the Chrism Mass to reaffirm their priestly vows.

John Batkowski

photos

Catholic convert gives advice to new members of Church

By Jaymie Stuart Wolfe OSV News

Becoming a Roman Catholic was one of the best decisions I ever made, and certainly the most life-changing. But in truth I had only a vague notion of the deep waters I was wading into. What would have been helpful over the past 40 years? Here are a dozen things I wish I had heard and internalized sooner, and some concrete items that established Catholics ought to consider.

1) Formation never ends, but you’ll be (mostly) doing it yourself from here on out. As St. John Paul II said, “All formation … is ultimately a self-formation. No one can replace us in the responsible freedom that we have as individual persons” (“Pastores dabo vobis,” No. 69). The Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (OCIA) is a guided process of intense catechesis and prayer aimed toward baptism, confirmation and Eucharist. After that, the training wheels come off and you are ready to ride. But remember: the best way to keep your own faith growing is to contribute to the formation of others.

2) There are some people who seem ready to canonize new Catholics while the chrism is still wet on their foreheads, and others who are equally ready to view them with doubt. Worse than either, though, are those who will push new Catholics into leadership roles too quickly. Don’t ask. And don’t say yes. New Catholics need to allow themselves some time and space to acclimate.

3) Those who enter the Church through OCIA probably know more about the Catholic faith than at least 75 percent of their co-religionists. If you’re a cradle Catholic, don’t let that discourage you. If you’re a convert, don’t let it make you feel proud -- or frustrated. It’s a sad reality that the formation cat-

echumens and candidates receive is almost always superior to what is provided to everyone else.

4) The Church is even bigger than you thought, and it’s easy to get lost. Newbies would do well to find a few tour guides who can show them around what they know and love, but without pushing it as the best-or-only path for everyone. Each of us should discover our leading grace. That means trying on different types of Catholic spiritualities -- and there are dozens -- until we find one that fits. All of us should be careful not to impose a veneer of monastic spirituality over our secular lives. Our task, as St.

Francis de Sales puts it in his “Introduction to the Devout Life,” is to “be who you are and be that well.”

5) When the Church hurts and/or disappoints you -- and she will -- love her anyway. Popes, bishops, priests, deacons, religious and fellow parishioners will all fall short. Some will admit their errors and do what they can to correct them. Others will ignore bad behavior and continue to justify it or cover it up. Loving the Church doesn’t mean excusing anything that is contrary to the Gospel. It does mean avoiding anger and the desire for revenge. Speaking or acting prophetically can be costly. Integrity,

however, is always worth the price.

6) There are all kinds of self-described Catholics. Resist the temptation to hyphenate yourself and go narrow. Instead, enjoy the fact that there’s room for all valid forms of authentic Christian discipleship in the Church. That’s what makes us Catholic!

7) Find a spiritual director and a posse of go-to saints. Make holiness your goal. Be patient with yourself but persevere. Recognize that the things most likely to keep you from becoming a saint are deficits in human formation, and we all have them.

8) Root yourself in a parish and decide to live with the things you don’t like. In the great scheme of things, personal preferences, tastes and opinions don’t matter.

9) Keep praying. When it seems like no one is listening, pray more.

10) Don’t expect Catholic life to be easy. Remember: we are following someone who was persecuted and put to death when he didn’t deserve it.

11) Don’t become a Sacristy Rat. Participate in the mission of the Church to be Christ in the world. Those who never leave the loft will always be preaching to the choir.

12) Faith is personal, not institutional. Keep Jesus first. Not even the Church can (or should) take his place. The Eucharist draws people to the Church and the Eucharist is what keeps us here. Nothing else comes close.

Sometimes we forget that while the Church is a treasury of God’s grace, it was meant to be lived in. Welcome home, new Catholics, (and sorry about the mess).

Jaymie Stuart Wolfe is a Catholic convert, freelance writer and editor, musician, speaker, wife and mother of eight grown children in New Orleans.

Supreme Court justices to decide religious accommodations case

WASHINGTON (OSV News) -- The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in a case April 18 that could have broad implications for employees seeking religious accommodations from their employers.

The high court heard oral arguments in Groff v. DeJoy, a case concerning Gerald Groff, an evangelical Christian and former U.S. Postal Service worker, who was denied an accommodation to observe his Sunday Sabbath by not taking Sunday shifts. Federal law prohibits employers from firing employees seeking religious accommodations unless the employer can show those accommodations cannot be “reasonably” met without “undue hardship.”

In a 1977 decision in Trans World Airlines v. Hardison, the high court found that the “undue hardship” standard is met

even at a minimal cost. Groff alleged in federal court that USPS failed to provide him with reasonable accommodations for his religious practices after he sought a religious accommodation not to work Sunday shifts.

During oral arguments, the justices were inquisitive about the facts of the case, with some pondering whether Groff’s accommodation was possible for a large employer like USPS, but would place an undue burden on a small business open seven days a week, such as a rural grocery store. They also questioned how such an accommodation for some Christians who observe the Sabbath like Groff might impact other Christians who wish to attend church services on Sundays, but feel they don’t meet the requirements for a similar accommodation.

Washington Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory baptizes Andre Gouyet during the Easter Vigil April 8, at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington. — OSV News photo/Mihoko Owada, Catholic Standard

The U.S. Supreme Court is seen in Washington March 27. The court heard arguments in a case April 18 that could have broad implications for employees seeking religious accommodations from their employers. OSV News photo/Evelyn Hockstein, Reuters

At top, Bishop James F. Checchio carries palms as he processes into St. Thomas the Apostle Church, Old Bridge, to celebrate Palm Sunday Mass which begins Holy Week. The palms are a reminder to us of Christ’s joyful entry into Jersulem. In the middle photo, the bishop prays before he blesses the palms that were distributed to the congregation. In the bottom photo, a parishioner distributes the blessed palms, which are taken home to be put behind a crucifix. In Churches, last year’s palms are burned and used on Ash Wednesday. —

Marlo Williamson

photos

At top, at Mass on Holy Thursday at the Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi, Bishop James F. Checchio washes the feet of a parishioner, which symbolizes Jesus’ washing the feet of his Apostles at the Last Supper. In the middle photo, at that Mass, the bishop raises the host during the Consecration. Behind him, to the left, is Father Timothy A. Christy, rector of the Cathedral. In the bottom photo, after Mass, the bishop carries a chalice containing the Blessed Sacrament to a side altar where it will be exposed for Eucharistic Adoration. — Mike Ehrmann photos

He is risen, indeed!

At top on Good Friday members of St. Joseph Parish, Carteret, reenact the Via Crucis or Stations of the Cross. In the middle photo, at the Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi during Good Friday services when the Church mourns the death of Christ, priests and deacons prostrate themselves in response to the sorrow. At the conclusion of the Good Friday services recalling the passion of Jesus, a cross was placed in the sanctuary for the faithful to venerate. — Chris Donahue and Mike Ehrmann photos

At top, at Sacred Heart Church, South Amboy, Bishop James F. Checchio blesses baskets filled with Easter food. It is a tradition carried on by many families. In the middle photo, after lighting the paschal candle outside the cathedral, the bishop and Father Timothy A. Christy, rector of the cathedral process to the altar where the bishop presided at the Easter Vigil Mass. In the bottom photo, the bishop baptizes one the cathedral’s seven catechumens.

John Batkowski and Frank Wojciechowski photos

At top, before Mass begins on Easter Sunday at St. Matthias Parish, Somerset, Bishop James F. Checchio blesses the congregation with holy water reminding them of their baptism. In the middle photo the bishop raises the host, while Deacon John Radvanski raises the chalice during the Consecreation. Behind them is Father Abraham Orapankal, pastor of St. Matthias. In the bottom photo the parish’s Childrens and Adult Choirs sing joyous Easter hymns.

John Batkowski photos

At A Glance: The Heart of Our Mission

The Diocese of Metuchen proclaims the Gospel of Jesus Christ, cele brates His Sacraments and exercises His works of mercy so that all might participate in His salvation and discover the lasting joy of a relationship with Him.

The Diocese of Metuchen encompasses the New Jersey counties of Middlesex, Somerset, Hunterdon and Warren. Here is an ‘at a glance’ view of the Diocese in 2022

What’s New

Our Mission in 2021-2022

National Eucharistic Revival:

Launched in June 2022, the National Eucharistic Revival is a three year movement to deepen our relationships to the Eucharist. The first year (June 2022- June 2023) the diocesan phase, witnessed a series of lectures and other events sponsored by the Diocese of Metuchen.

In the second year, the parish phase, which will begin in June 2023, each parish, having turned to the Holy Spirit for prayer and guidance, will foster Eucharistic devotion in our own communities, strengthening our liturgical life through reverent and faithful celebration of the Mass, Eucharistic Adoration, parish missions, and providing catechesis through talks, resources, and preaching.

Stewardship And Development:

The Office of Stewardship and Development converted to Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge, as the main database for the Bishop’s Annual Appeal. This system will help the Diocese of Metuchen manage our parishioner records. Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge is also a data analysis and reporting tool, which will help the Office of Stewardship and Development be more transparent with the parishes regarding the Bishop’s Annual Appeal.

Furthermore the Office of Development has increased its focus on marketing planned giving, for the Diocese of Metuchen and the individual parishes.

Catholic Schools:

The mission of our schools is to form Disciples of Christ in a Catholic atmosphere where children can grow in faith, excel in academics and serve others. Our students have reaped the benefits of consistent, rigorous, in person instruction over the past few years and perform

above the national average in reading and mathematics as seen in standardized testing results. Our dedicated teachers and administrators work tirelessly to ensure the growth of all students in mind, body and spirit by providing an education that combines Catholic faith and teachings with academic excellence.

Child And Youth Protection:

After undergoing an extensive independent audit of its compliance with child and youth protection policies, the Diocese of Metuchen was found to be compliant with all audited Articles within the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People for the audit period of July 1, 2018 through June 30, 2021. The Diocese submits to an onsite audit by an independent auditing firm every three years and submits yearly to a data collection audit by the USCCB. The audit report for the time period July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2022 has been submitted to both the USCCB and the independent auditors and is currently under review.

The Diocesan Phase - Synod On Synodality:

Beginning in January 2022, a Diocesan Synod Planning Committee began the journey of planning and conducting local meetings as part of the diocesan phase of the Synod on Synodality. In addition to the 25 deanery and parish listening sessions, 8 sessions were held for the Spanish-speaking community with 245 people participating. Listening sessions were also held for teachers in 17 of the 23 Catholic elementary schools and both diocesan High Schools with approximately 422 participants. High School students, college students and youth group members had approximately 256 participants. There were 128 on-line questionnaire respondents.

A total of approximately 1,800 peo ple from across the diocese participated in the diocesan phase of the synod process resulting in more than 3000 pages of results which the Planning Committee synthesized into a Diocesan Report. Many ideas and thoughts were expressed during the local phase of the synod process. The Diocesan Report was submitted to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in June 2022.

Healing, Truth and Hope

A pastoral response to past abuse

Through our procedures, through our outreach, and through our prayers, the Diocese of Metuchen continues to work to prevent abuse and to facilitate healing for survivors of abuse.

The Diocese of Metuchen has:

0% Of credibly accused priests in public ministry *Any accused priest is subject to an extensive and thorough investigation under the scrutiny of Law Enforcement and the Diocesan Review Board, consisting of a survivor of clergy sexual abuse, a former Attorney General and Supreme Court Justice of NJ, a former County Prosecutor, a Superior Court Judge, medical and psychiatric professionals, educators and other qualified professionals

24/7 Availability to report abuse

5,480 Adults who were background checked and trained to recognize and report signs of supspected abuse

*Number reported from July 1, 2021June 30, 2022 and includes priests, deacons, candidates for ordination, educators, employees and volunteers working or ministering to children and young people.

appropriate training to guard against abuse. *Number reported from July 1, 2021- June 30, 2022 and includes Catholic school students and students in parish religious education programs.

93 Parish background coordinators to facilitate background checks

27 School background coordinators to facilitate background checks

$2.9 Million paid in settlements since the founding of the diocese in 1981; $1.27 Million of that was paid through the independent victim compensation Program. *No gifts to the Bishop’s Annual Appeal, to Catholic Charities, to Catholic Schools, nor monies given for a specific ministry or apostolate are used to fund settlements. The total funds paid reflects all settlements through June 30, 2022.

More information about the measures in place to prevent abuse in the Diocese can be found by visiting: diometuchen.org/ healing

How to Report Abuse

If you suspect abuse by a member of clergy, an employee, or a volunteer for the Catholic Church, please:

• Immediately notify local law enforcement

• Notify the New Jersey Division of Child Protection and Permanency by calling 1-877-NJ ABUSE (652-2873) or 1-800-835-5510 (TTY/TDD for the deaf), available 24/7

• Contact the Diocese of Metuchen’s Director of Child and Youth Protection by calling (908) 930-4558 or visit diometuchen.org/healing to file a report.

How to report abuse by a bishop

In response to Pope Francis’ Motu proprio, Vos estis lux mundi, or “You are the light of the world,” the U.S. Bishops launched the Catholic Bishop Abuse Reporting service, which ensures all levels of Church hierarchy are held to the same level of accountability. A similar independent reporting structure had already been established by Bishop James F. Checchio in the Diocese of Metuchen. Complaints of sexual abuse and related misconduct by bishops can be submitted to the independent service by visiting ReportBishopAbuse.org or by calling (800) 276-1562.

This third-party service does not replace existing reporting systems for complaints against Bishops, priests, deacons, religious brothers or sisters, or lay persons working or volunteering for the Church, which were established in 2002 with the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People. The reporting of sexual misconduct by anyone in diocesan ministry should continue to be reported in accordance with the Diocese of Metuchen’s child protection policy outlined above.

“The implementation of the Catholic Bishop Abuse Reporting service reaffirms the commitment of Bishop Checchio and his brother bishops to live according to the Gospel and to place themselves under the same high standards applied to their priests, deacons, and lay personnel,” said Anthony P. Kearns, Chancellor for the Diocese of Metuchen. He further said, “this service is another step forward in ensuring accountability is maintained on all levels and is the latest in a long history of actions taken by the Diocese of Metuchen to ensure to protection of all of the faithful.”

Financial Summary Fiscal Year Ended June 30,

By Deacon Patrick J. Cline Correspondent

RARITAN BOROUGH — A Mass celebrated on the Solemnity of St. Joseph, commemorated March 20 this year, at the Shrine Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, concluded with a candlelight procession a few blocks on Somerset Street to St. Joseph Church.

Oratorian Father Jeffrey M. Calia, pastor, Church of the Holy Trinity, Bridgewater, was the principal celebrant of the Traditional Rite Mass. Father Gregory J. Zannetti, parochial vicar, St. James Parish, Basking Ridge, gave the homily.

In his homily, Father Zannetti highlighted the essential role of St. Joseph being the “universal patron and protector of the universal Church.” (Pope Pius IX) Father Zannetti cited St. Thomas Aquinas, who said that “saints are usually given a patronage to help us in some cases, but not in others.” However, St. Joseph, according to St. Thomas Aquinas, “has the power to assist us in all cases, and in every

Faithful honor universal patron, protector of Church at liturgy, veneration

necessity, in every undertaking.”

To emphasize the importance and power of St. Joseph to intercede, Father Zannetti also cited St. Teresa of Avila, who wrote: “I cannot remember ever having asked him for anything which St. Joseph did not obtain for me. If I could only convince all men to prove [by their own experience] the advantage of devotion to this glorious saint…. If I could induce ALL to be devout to this glorious Saint, from the experience I’ve had of his great power with God! For many years now, I have asked of him some favor on his Feast Day, and he has never failed to obtain it for me; only if what I asked for was not for my good.”

Father Zannetti continued, “It is clear that after Our Lady’s Annunciation, it was St. Joseph who was given the greatest mission, called to be the head of the Holy Family as their provider and protector.

“Just as the Scriptures tell us with the patriarch Joseph [who is a prefigurement of St. Joseph], ‘Go to Joseph, and do whatever he tells you to do’ (Gen 41:55), so the saints tell us to do with St.

Joseph. ‘Ite ad Ioseph! Go to Joseph!’”

Father Zannetti noted that “the heavenly Father entrusted his only-Begotten Son and the Blessed Virgin Mary to [St. Joseph]. That is the absolute trust the Father has in [him]. We must do the same . . . for no one who goes to Joseph will be left unaided. No one who entrusts himself to St. Joseph will ever be lost!”

And, he reminded the congregation, St. Joseph appeared with the Child Jesus and the Blessed Mother at Fatima in 1917.

At the altar rail at St. Joseph Church, Father Zannetti and Oratorian Brother Steven Bolton presented relics of St. Joseph’s staff and cloak for veneration.

After the services at St. Joseph Church, a procession went back to the Shrine Chapel.

Both processions were facilitated and escorted by members of the Raritan Borough Police Department.

At the Shrine, blessings were given with St. Joseph Oil from the Oratory of St. Joseph in Montreal. St. Andre Bessette, a lay brother of the Congregation of Holy

Above, a statue of St. Joseph is carried from the Shrine of the Blessed Sacrament, Raritan Borough, to St. Joseph Church a few blocks away after a Mass was celebrated on the Solemnity of St. Joseph. Left, Frank Bruno, a member of the Shrine Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, prepares to walk in the procession by lighting a candle. After services at St. Joseph Church, the faithful venerated relics of his cloak and staff at the altar rail, then processed back to the Shrine. There, b lessings were given with St. Joseph Oil from the Oratory of St. Joseph in Montreal. Pope Pius IX named St. Joseph the “universal patron and protector of the universal Church.”

John Batkowski photos

Cross with great devotion to St Joseph, is considered the founder of the oratory, which began as a small roofless hut. He was assigned to be the porter for the congregation and was known for his holiness and willingness to pray for people who came to him with aliments. He always told them to go to St. Joseph. Eventually, he began the tradition of offering them oil from a lamp burning in front of a statue of St. Joseph. This tradition of St. Joseph Oil continues today across Canada and the United States.

After the blessings, the relics were placed on the altar of St. Joseph for further veneration.

Jeremy Ghaly, a weekly communicant at the Shrine, described the St. Joseph celebration as beautiful and eye opening. The processions on the main thoroughfare of the borough was “a very good opportunity for a public display of our Catholic Faith.”

Deacon Cline exercises his ministry at St. Bernard of Clairvaux Parish, Bridgewater

Parish mission features presentations on ‘Mystery of Eucharist’

To help promote the Church’s three-year national Eucharist Revival, Our Lady of Mount Virgin Parish (OLMV), Middlesex, recently hosted a 2023 Lenten parish mission entitled “Encountering Jesus: A Journey into the Mystery of the Eucharist.”

The mission speaker was Dr. Ian Murphy, a Catholic writer known for his two appearances on EWTN’s “The Journey Home” as well as an appearance on CFN’s “Conversation with Cardinal Dolan.”

A specialist in the New Evangelization, Murphy’s first book was an Ignatius Press offering entitled “Dying to Live: From Agnostic to Baptist to Catholic,” which includes a foreword by Dr. Scott Hahn, the well-known convert and author of “Rome Sweet Home.” Interestingly, Murphy’s second book, “The Road to Self-Awareness: A Therapy Book for Christians,” was released by Sophia Press days prior to his visit to OLMV. And, Murphy’s initial interview about the book aired on Domestic Church Media’s Friday Live! — hosted by New Jersey’s Jim and Cheryl Manfredonia.

Murphy, a ’s visit native of Hackensack, made headlines nationwide in 1993 when his valedictory speech about Jesus — and the controversy surrounding its attempted censorship — inspired a bill, later signed into law, from the desk of Pennsyl-

vania Senator Arlen Specter. Although his ministry has taken him to California, Miami, the Twin Cities, Pittsburgh, San Antonio, and London in the past year alone, Murphy testified (and everyone could tell) that New Jersey holds a special place in his heart. After all, not long before he entered the Catholic Church, the former Baptist preacher attended his very first Catholic Mass in New Milford. He also reported that, across all his travels, he has become convinced that no one else makes pizza and bagels quite like the Garden State.

After attending the weekend Masses in order to worship with the OLMV community and extend his personal invitation to the parish mission, Murphy offered presentations on March 27 to March 29 at two available times each day.

In the evening session of March 27, which included a surprise visit from his father-in-law and mother-in-law, Murphy shared his conversion story.

On March 28, he dove deep into the Eucharistic mystery by exploring its “marvels” as sacrifice, as sacrament, and as the source and summit of our spirituality.

He also helped equip people with some effective ways to lovingly respond to common misconceptions, some of which were once his own.

On March 29, the presentation was less of an end and more of a beginning, as Murphy discussed how “you are what

you eat” — Catholics consume the Body of Christ to be transformed into the image of the One they’ve received.

Accordingly, the session featured what our graced transformation process looks like at a practical and daily level, finishing off a mission that was rich in humor and memorable insights.

Together, as we celebrate our participation in the Eucharistic Revival with the whole Diocese, it is our hope and prayer that each of us would receive the Blessed Sacrament worthily — not “because it’s an obligation” and not “in order to avoid hell,” but because we are in love with Christ truly present.

Shrine Event Calendar 2023

106th Anniversary of the Apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima

SUNDAY, APRIL 16 - Divine Mercy

Sunday and Annual Volunteer

Appreciation Mass Celebrant &

Speaker: Rev. Luke Fletcher, CFR

FIRST FRIDAY, MAY 5 - May Crowning

Celebrant: Rev. Luke Mary Fletcher, CFR

FIRST SATURDAY, MAY 6

Celebrant: Rev. Matthew Mauriello

SATURDAY, MAY 13 - 106th Anniversary of the First Apparition of Our Lady of

Fatima

Speaker: David M. Carollo

• Celebrant: Raymond Leo

Cardinal Burke

MAY 14-22 - Our Lady of Fatima

Novena for Mothers

MONDAY, MAY 29

35th Annual Portuguese Memorial Day Pilgrimage

FIRST FRIDAY, JUNE 2 & FIRST SATURDAY, JUNE 3

Celebrant: Rev. Luke Mary Fletcher, CFR

SUNDAY, JUNE 11

Feast of Corpus Christi

TUESDAY, JUNE 13 106th Anniversary of the Second Apparition of Our Lady of Fatima

• Speaker: Rev. Msgr. Eugene Morris

• Celebrant: Rev. Msgr. Eugene Morris

JUNE 16-17

Feast of the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts

FIRST FRIDAY, JULY 7 & FIRST SATURDAY, JULY 1

Celebrant: Rev. Luke Mary Fletcher, CFR

FRIDAY, JULY 7 - SUNDAY, JULY 9

Eucharistic Reparation Weekend

THURSDAY, JULY 13

106th Anniversary of the Third Apparition of Our Lady of Fatima

• Speaker: Rev. Joshua Caswell, SJC

• Celebrant: Most Rev. James F. Checchio

SUNDAY, JULY 16

Latin Liturgy Association

FIRST FRIDAY, AUGUST 4 & FIRST SATURDAY, AUGUST 5

Celebrant: Rev. Luke Mary Fletcher, CFR

SUNDAY, AUGUST 13

106th Anniversary of the Fourth Apparition of Our Lady of Fatima

Speaker: Br. Pius Marie Gagne, CFR

• Celebrant: Most Rev. Kevin J. Sweeney

TUESDAY, AUGUST 15

The Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

TUESDAY, AUGUST 22

The Feast of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary

SATURDAY, AUGUST 26

44th Annual Padre Pio Day

Celebrant: Most Rev. Nicholas A. DiMarzio

FIRST FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 1 & FIRST SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 2

Celebrant: Rev. Luke Mary Fletcher, CFR

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 9 Marian Festival for Mary’s Birthday

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13

106th Anniversary of the Fifth Apparition of Our Lady of Fatima

• Speaker: Sr. Angela de Fatima Coelho

• Celebrant: Most Rev. Frank J. Caggiano

SEPTEMBER 15 - 23

Saint Pio Novena

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 24

Seventh Annual Appreciation Mass for First Responders

OCTOBER 4 - 12

Our Lady of Fatima Novena

FIRST FRIDAY, OCTOBER 6 & FIRST SATURDAY, OCTOBER 7

Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary

Celebrant: Rev. Luke Mary Fletcher, CFR

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 13

106th Anniversary of the Sixth Apparition of Our Lady of Fatima

• Speaker: Rev. Conrad Osterhout, CFR

Celebrant: Rev. John Anthony Boughton, CFR

(Please note that the schedule is subject to change.)

Father David V. Skoblow, pastor, Our Lady of Mount Virgin Parish, Middlesex, poses with Dr. Ian Murphy, a Catholic writer and speaker, at Our Lady of Mount Virgin Church. Murphy gave presentations at the parish’s three-day mission entitled “Encountering Jesus: A Journey into the Mystery of the Eucharist.”

photo courtesy of Our Lady of Mount Virgin Church

Award-winning physician joins staff of diocese-sponsored hospital

NEW BRUNSWICK — Saint Peter’s University Hospital, a member of Saint Peter’s Healthcare System, recently announced that Dr. Lindsay Grier Arthur III is the new chair of the Department of Surgery and surgeon-in-chief for The Children’s Hospital at Saint Peter’s.

A well-known and widely respected minimally invasive pediatric surgeon, educator, author and researcher, Arthur comes to Saint Peter’s from St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children, Philadelphia.

Arthur’s pediatric minimally invasive surgical expertise includes general, thoracic, and oncologic surgery, such as laparoscopic pyloromyotomies, Nissen fundoplications, Hirschsprung’s pull-throughs, hernia and pilonidal diseases, thyroid disease and branchial cleft remnants, trachea-esophageal fistulas, neonatal intestinal obstructions, ovarian surgery, adrenalectomies and thoracoscopic lobectomies for congenital lung anomalies, among many others.

Arthur has a special interest in pediatric oncology, having been involved with St. Christopher’s Oncology Group for 15 years.

“I believe that the Department of Surgery at Saint Peter’s University Hospital is a hidden gem within the state and that we can deliver outstanding surgical expertise for both adults and children without the need for patients to travel to New York City or Philadelphia to have their care,” Arthur said. “After nearly 16 years in clinical practice in pediatric surgery, my goal is to grow the pediatric surgical practice at The Children’s Hospital at Saint Peter’s University Hospital [SPUH] and to develop the Department of Surgery into a well-rounded tertiary referral center that competes with any

Book of the Month

Upon graduating cum laude from Princeton University, Arthur studied at medical school at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, where he also graduated cum laude. He remained at Jefferson for his general surgical residency and then continued his medical education as a pediatric surgical research fellow at the A.I. duPont Hospital for Children, Wilmington, Del., now Nemours Children’s Hospital, Delaware. Immediately following, Arthur embarked on his pediatric surgical residency at Columbus Children’s Hospital of Ohio State University, now Nationwide Children’s Hospital, one of the busiest children’s hospitals in the country. While there, he was recognized with the prestigious Surgical House Officer of the Year award.

Arthur has made numerous national presentations, one of which was recognized with the Peter Paul Rickman Prize for most outstanding presentation at the British Association of Pediatric Surgeons Meeting. This was the first and only time

the award was given to someone from the United States.

“We proudly welcome Dr. Arthur to Saint Peter’s and look forward to expanding our surgical capabilities under his leadership,” said Leslie D. Hirsch, president and chief executive officer, Saint Peter’s Healthcare System. “His academic achievements are notable and his experience as an educator will benefit our pediatric residency program. We are most excited about the clinical expertise Dr. Arthur brings to our existing pediatric surgical team. He is just one of several highly qualified physicians who recently chose to join the Saint Peter’s surgical team, making us a destination for adult and pediatric surgical services.”

Saint Peter’s University Hospital, a member of Saint Peter’s Healthcare System, is a 478-bed acute-care teaching hospital sponsored by the diocese. Saint Peter’s, which received its sixth consecutive designation as a Magnet® hospital for nursing excellence by the American Nurses Credentialing Center in 2020, is a state-designated children’s

Since he was beatified in 2020, Carlo Acutis has been the subject of widespread interest across the globe. The typical Italian teenager who lived a life of extraordinary virtue has captivated countless millions. And yet, even with the worldwide attention on this millennial saint, we’re left wondering and wanting more. What was Carlo really like? How did he interact with those closest to him in daily life? What was it like to live in the same home as him?

In My Son Carlo, Antonia Salzano Acutis shares for the first time the intimate, private moments of her son’s life, including his final days in vivid detail before he died from leukemia at the age of 15. In her own words, Antonia shares stories and memories as a mother who lost her son too early but was forever shaped by his remarkable life.

Carlo has quickly become a favorite patron in heaven, changing the lives of those who pray for his intercession.

In this book, Antonia shares how Carlo desires to bring people to Jesus, like he did for her, helping her rekindle her faith: “This was his secret: that he had a constant, intimate relationship with Jesus. He wanted everyone he encountered to have this kind of relationship like he did. He did not consider it to be something just for him. He was convinced that this relationship was accessible to all.”

hospital and a regional perinatal center, and is a regional specialist in diabetes, gastroenterology, head and neck surgery, oncology, orthopedics, and women’s services.

Saint Peter’s is the recipient of the Beacon Award for Excellence from the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses for the adult intensive care unit, neonatal intensive care unit, cardiac progressive care unit and the pediatric intensive care unit. The Children’s Hospital at Saint Peter’s University Hospital provides families with access to a full range of pediatric specialties, including a nationally recognized Level IV Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, pediatric surgery and orthopedic surgery featuring innovative anterior scoliosis correction. SPUH offers a midwifery service and the brandnew state-of-the-art Mary V. O’Shea Birth Center.

SPUH is a sponsor of residency programs in obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, and internal medicine, and is a major clinical affiliate of Rutgers Biomedical and Health

FURTHER READING

Carlo Acutis was a little “different” at school, in the pizzerias, and on the soccer field. What set Carlo apart was his constant pursuit of holiness. In addition to his fun hobbies, he spent time teaching catechism classes and serving in soup kitchens. Carlo loved to attend daily Mass and frequent Eucharistic adoration. The Word of God and the Eucharist were the center of his life. Carlo’s unwavering devotion to the Eucharist inspired him to tell the story of Eucharistic miracles through a website he created just for fun.

Carlo died from a sudden and violent illness in 2006 at the age of fifteen. In less than a decade, his story spread across Italy and around the world. After Pope Francis declared him venerable in 2018, his beatification was celebrated in Assisi on October 10, 2020. The next step will be canonization, making him the first millennial saint.

Sciences.

“After nearly 16 years in clinical practice in pediatric surgery, my goal is to grow the pediatric surgical practice at The Children’s Hospital at Saint Peter’s University Hospital and to develop the Department of Surgery into a well-rounded tertiary referral center that competes with any surgical department in the region.”

—Dr. Lindsay Grier Arthur III

Dr. Lindsay Grier Arthur III, chair of the Department of Surgery and surgeon-in-chief for The Children’s Hospital at Saint Peter’s. photo courtesy of Saint Peter’s Healthcase System

New employee brings wealth of experience to her new position at St. John Neumann Pastoral Center

after she graduated from the university. COVID, however, closed many borders, so the couple decided to find a place where they could fly together. In September 2020, when she had four days off from work, Anna and Youssef spent that time in the United Kingdom. It was there that Youssef proposed to Anna and she accepted. Youssef then started the process of obtaining a K1, fiancé, Visa for Anna.

In 2021, when Anna received her visa, Youssef bought her a ticket to the United States. She bid her family and friends goodbye and in May arrived at Newark Airport. Her fiancé visa required that Anna and Youssef marry within 90 days. They met with a priest in Clifton where Youssef’s family lived. He advised them to get married in court, wait a year, and then marry in the Church.

Poland remembers, defends beloved saint on anniversary

KRAKOW, Poland (OSV News) — Eighteen years after the death of St. John Paul II on April 2, 2005, his native Poland remembered him with vigils and marches. While endless crowds gathered for the first anniversaries of the pope’s death, in recent years celebrations of the date have been rather modest in Poland after the pope was declared a saint in 2014. But since a March 6 television station’s report accusing the Polish pope of covering up abuse when he was archbishop of Krakow from 1964 to 1978, the year he was elected pope, the faithful and the Polish hierarchy are demonstrating their love and loyalty to Karol Wojtyla. Palm Sunday celebration in Lódz, 80 miles west of Warsaw, the Polish capital, started in front of John Paul’s statue by the Cathedral of St. Stanislaw Kostka that was vandalized during the night. “I came to this monument today at 7 a.m. I stood there for the first 15 minutes and

didn’t know what to do. And then I heard the question inside me: What would John Paul II do? The answer is obvious -- John Paul II would have prayed for the perpetrators,” Archbishop Grzegorz Rys of Lódz said in his homily.

In Kraków, where Cardinal Wojtyla was archbishop from 1964 to 1978, the year he was elected pope, people gathered at a march and then a vigil at Franciszkanska 3 in Kraków, the address of the Bishop’s Palace that became the title of the documentary.

“We praise the Lord for the fact that we have been given the opportunity to live in times illuminated by his holiness. This is a great gift, but at the same time an obligation and a task to watch over this heritage, whose name is John Paul II, to pass on the truth about him to future generations,” Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, the pope’s longtime personal secretary, said April 2.

law clerk in Warsaw, Poland. On January 17 of this year, she started a new career in the United States in the Diocese of Metuchen as the Administrative Assistant for the Secretariat for Family and Pastoral Life.

Anna was born and raised in Augustow, a small town in Poland. After graduating Augustow High School in 2015, she enrolled in The Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University, Warsaw in a five year program which led to her receiving a Master of Law degree.

While working for her degree, Anna also worked as a client advisor in a highend clothing store and as an assistant manager in her family’s cabin rental business. During an internship in her junior year, she served in a district court in Warsaw. “At the end of that year, I also joined a Christian dating app and started texting a young man in New Jersey,” she said.

As a law clerk in Poland, Anna was responsible for researching and assisting in legal preparation, documents, and legal cases. That position together with her previous jobs provided her with the skills to deal with people in a variety of situations. These skills she is now using as she provides administrative support to the diocese’s Office of Discipleship Formation for Children, the Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry and the Office of RCIA.

Anna’s journey to the United States actually began in November 2019 when the New Jersey man, Youssef Kallini, she was texting decided to visit Poland. He told her he loved John Paul II, now Pope St. John Paul II, and always wanted to visit his country. “During his two-week vacation in Poland, I showed him the country and introduced him to my family,” she said, then added, “Before he returned home our relationship became serious.”

Anna had planned on meeting Youssef, an Army Reservist, in May 2020

The Kallinis did marry in court on June 26, 2021 and on Aug. 15, 2022 mar ried in St. Paul’s Church, Clifton. Today, the Kallinis are members of St. Cecelia Parish, Iselin.

By this time they married, Youssef, still in the Army Reserves, had moved from Clifton to Highland Park. He was employed and still is an IT support person for JFK Hospital, Edison. Anna was in the process of getting a green card. In May 2022, just before receiving a green card, she started to look for a job. “I sent my CV to places and talked to people,” she said.

“I always liked office work; orga nizing things, writing emails and dealing with clients and customers, so that is the type of work I wanted,” she recalled.

It was in Petros, a New Brunswick community for young adults that led Anna to the diocese. The Kallinis had joined Petros at the end of 2021. “It was there that I met Jerry Wutkowski Jr., (As sistant Director, diocesan Office of Com munications and Public Relations) who works at the diocese,” Anna said. She shared her CV with him. After reviewing it, he suggested changes which she made. He also told her about the Administrative Assistant position open at the diocese. She applied and eventually was offered and accepted the position.

“I love this job and the people I work with,” Anna stated. All the directors I help are “amazing and understanding.” I am still learning English but everyone in the diocese has been very helpful,” she added.

In commenting on her new adminis trative assistant Jennifer Ruggiero, who heads the diocesan Secretariat for Family and Pastoral Life, said, “Anna is truly a delight to work with! Her organizational skills and her eagerness to help are qualities that make her a real asset to our team. Her deep faith always shines through, and we feel blessed to have her working alongside us.”

People march in Warsaw, Poland, in defense of St. John Paul II on the anniversary of his death April 2, 2023. The Polish faithful, clergy and hierarchy showed their bond with the late pope in the wake of a television station’s report March 6 accusing the pontiff of a “cover up” of abuse when he was archbishop of Krakow 1964-1978, the year he was elected pope. Poland’s bishops and others have disputed the TV report, saying it was based on unreliable sources. —OSV News photo/Kacper Pempel, Reuters

3 from diocese sink competition at state-level hoops tournament

By Chris Donahue Editor-In-Chief

Perfect and near-perfect shooting by Cristian Ferrer, Luke Cottrell and Susan Oshinski netted state titles in their respective groups at the annual New Jersey Knights of Columbus Council Free Throw Championship March 25.

In the final round, Cristian, 9, a member of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, Milltown, sank 25 of 25 attempts; Luke, 10, a member of Immaculate Conception Parish, Spotswood, sank 23 of 25 attempts; and Susan, 12, a member of Sacred Heart Parish, South Amboy, converted 21 of 25. (Susan was unavailable for comment.)

The trio’s combined conversion rate of 92 percent (69 of 75) tops the 77 percent average of players in the National Basketball Association.

Since 1972, Councils have sponsored the Free Throw Championship for boys and girls ages of 9 to 14. The “Faith in Action” program is intended to provide an athletic outlet and encourage the values of sportsmanship and healthy competition.

Beginning in January, participants compete and progress from the local level to district, regional and state/province competitions.

The program also introduces the fraternal Order to the community and fosters the recruitment of faithful family

men of service.

Cristian, who sank 23 of 25 shots in the diocesan tournament, entered the state tournament at St. Thomas the apostle Parish, Old Bridge, with some added pressure — his brother, Michael, won the 11-year-old state title last year, according to their mother, Nicole.

“It feels great to have a state champion in our household,” she said. “It was great to see all of Cristian’s hard work and dedication pay off. It’s great for Cristian to now have his turn to shine! We are so proud of both our boy’s accomplishments.”

Cristian, who is an honor roll student at Joyce Kilmer School, Milltown, said he was inspired to play basketball by watching his father, Mike, and brother. They practice in their driveway and at a YMCA.

Although Cristian declined to share the “secrets” of his success, he did reveal he takes one bounce of the ball and a deep breath before shooting.

In the first round of the state tournament, contestants shoot 15 shots and the highest score advances. In the last three rounds, contestants shoot 25 shots and the best score is named the champion. When he sank 25 of 25 attempts, Cristian said he felt relaxed before each one.

“When the guy [rebounder] said five more shots, I knew I was going to make five more shots,” he said.

After the 25th, Cristian said, “I

looked at my dad and we both smiled at each other.”

His favorite player is Memphis Grizzlies guard John Morant because he likes “his style and how he dunks on everybody.

Cristian, who plays for the New Jersey Bulldogs and Central Jersey Legacy teams, added that he tries to be as accurate as he can from the foul line because so many games are decided there.

He does not want to have to think after a loss, “If you made one more foul shot we would have won.”

As for any advice he would give to someone seeking to become more proficient taking free throws, Cristian suggested having “good rhythm and practice — a lot.”

Cristian said his faith goes with him wherever he goes because he wears a blessed cross around his neck.

Luke’s father, Chris, said he was not surprised his son win a state title because of his talent.

Luke, who began playing when he was about 6, currently compete with a travel team from Monroe Township and other youth squads, including Central Jersey.

“Year-round — basketball is all he wants to do. At home, he wants to play one-on-one.”

Luke was also inspired to compete by his older sister, Halley, who also competed in Knights’ free throw tournament.

Luke, whose favorite player is NBA

Winners in their respective age group and gender from the diocese pose with their trophies, family and Knights of Columbus at the annual New Jersey Knights of Columbus Free Throw Tournament. From left, in the finals, Cristian Ferrer, 9, a member of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, Milltown, sank 25 of 25 attempts; Luke Cottrell, 10, a member of Immaculate Conception Parish, Spotswood, sank 23 of 25 attempts; and Susan Oshinski, 12, a member of Sacred Heart Parish, South Amboy, converted 21 of 25.

photos courtesy of the New Jersey Knights of Columbus

Hall of Fame guard Pete Maravich, said he enjoys playing basketball because of the “competition, the grind and having fun.”

As for what routine helps him succeed from the foul line, it consists of “three dribbles, a back spin and then two more dribbles” and aiming “just above the rim.”

As for what advice he would give to someone seeking to become a better free throw shooter, Luke said, “Shoot with one fluid motion and feel comfortable.”

When asked if faith plays a part of his daily life or while competing, Luke replied: “I thank God for giving me the ability to play this sport.”

College to offer in person, remote learning classes in summer

SOUTH ORANGE -- Seton Hall University is offering a myriad of courses this summer that give students, from teens through adult learners, an opportunity to try something new – from calculus to cultural anthropology, from economics to mobile app development.

Often in as little as three weeks, students can conquer organic chemistry, human anatomy, or calculus without the pressure of a full course load. They can travel abroad for programs to glorious destinations such as Italy, Japan and France. And, online classes make it possible for students to study anywhere and easily manage their other commitments, like a summer job and a family vacation.

Starting in mid-May, students can take classes on Seton Hall’s South Orange, Interprofessional Health Sciences (Nutley) and Law School (Newark) campuses. Visiting college students can be found working side-by-side with peers who are happy to share their Pirate pride. Home for the summer, many students like the idea of staying busy and catching up on credits.

Delaware, Loyola, Temple, Tulane, Scranton and Villanova are among the universities typically represented by students enrolled in summer classes at Seton Hall. Staff from the Division of Continuing Education and Professional Studies and the university registrar help students navigate their summer courses to ensure that credits are transferred back to their home institutions.

“Our summer academic sessions offer courses in a variety of disciplines that can help students progress towards degree

Cans for Lent

completion or simply enrich their knowledge in an area of interest,” said Mary Kate Naatus, assistant provost and dean of the Division of Continuing Education and Professional Studies. “Students can select in person, hybrid or fully remote courses, and can enjoy learning from faculty experts in many different fields. Summer learning in condensed academic sessions can be especially rewarding and allow for even greater interactions in the classes.”

Popular undergraduate courses include Art and Design, Asian Studies,

The Knights of Columbus Council 15540, Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish, Three Bridges, recently donated almost 1,200 pounds of food to the Flemington Area Food Bank. The total is 10 percent more than last year’s donation. The Council participated in the Knights of Columbus’ worldwide “40 cans for Lent” charitable endeavor, which encourages each Knight to donate 40 cans of food to their local food banks during the 40 days of Lent. Charity is a core tenet of the Knights of Columbus. In photo, Flemington Food Bank workers accept the donation from Knights Frank Lieto, Jack Sullivan, Ed Koch, David Saus and Deputy Grand Knight Gerry Enzmann.

photo courtesy of Knights of Columbus Council 15540

American Journalism, Cognitive Psychology, History of African Civilization, Legal Studies, Principles of Marketing, Research in Nursing, Social Work, United States Politics, and World History. Science-loving students may want to consider Seton Hall’s Astronomy, Biol-

ogy, Human Anatomy and Physiology, Genetics, General Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Calculus, Statistics for Science Majors, and Physics.

Among the numerous faith-based web courses available are Introduction to Catholic Theology, Creation and Science, Religions of the World, Modern Women of Faith, and Philosophical Ethics.

Graduate students can take courses such as Foundations of Athletic Training, Curriculum Development and Evaluation for education leaders, Introduction to Applied Behavior Analysis, Management Science, and United Nations Insider’s View.

Summer session at Seton Hall isn’t just for current undergraduate and graduate students. High school students have the opportunity this summer to participate in academically rigorous, college preparation coursework. Visiting summer school students will have the opportunity to network with current Seton Hall undergraduates and faculty members, enhance their college applications and increase their SAT/ACT test scores. A few pre-college offerings include college prep classes and the Summer Entrepreneurship Institute with Greater Newark Enterprises Corporation.

Registration is open now. Students can visit www.shu.edu/summer-23 for details on courses, schedules and the registration process.

Deepen your faith.

Graduate programs and certificates that nourish the heart, mind and spirit.

• M.A. in Theology

• M.A. in Pastoral Ministry

• Certificate in Christian Spirituality

• Certificate in Catholic Evangelization

NOT SURE WHICH PATH TO TAKE?

Our Summer and Fall 2023 schedules are now available. www.shu.edu/spirit

Starting in mid-May, students can take classes on Seton Hall University’s South Orange, Interprofessional Health Sciences (Nutley) and Law School (Newark) campuses. —photo courtesy of Seton Hall University

We too are wounded – who isn’t in life? And they are often hidden wounds we hide out of embarrassment. Who does not bear the scars of past choices, of misunderstandings, of sorrows that remain inside and are difficult to overcome? But also of wrongs suffered, sharp words, unmerciful judgements? God does not hide the wounds that pierced his body

and soul, from our eyes. He shows them so we can see that a new passage can be opened with Easter: to make holes of lights out of our own wounds. “But, Your Holiness, you are exaggerating”, someone might say to me. No, it’s true. Try it, try it. Try doing it. Think about your wounds, the ones you alone know about, that everyone has hidden in their

heart. And look at the Lord and you will see, you will see how holes of light come out of those wounds. Jesus does not incriminate on the cross, but loves. He loves and forgives those who hurt him (cf. Lk 23:34). Thus, he converts evil into good; thus, he converts and transforms sorrow into love.

Learning to Do Nothing: The Art of Sacred Silence

By Dr. R. Jared Staudt

“All of man’s misfortune comes from one thing, which is not knowing how to sit quietly in a room.” Blaise Pascal, who offers this insight, also notes in his Pensées that we fear silence more than anything else and seek constant distraction. No one in the past had as many distractions as we do today, making it entirely possible to spend the whole day immersed in images, text, and noise. Without the ability to sit quietly, we cannot perceive the deeper things of life as we live an unreflective life. Hence Pascal’s warning on our misfortunate.

Almost no one would willingly give up a smartphone or return to our pre-WiFi days, even though we are beginning to feel unsettled in our new digital landscape. We want peace and quiet, even as we are addicted to our devices. In fact, our tools increasingly govern our life. We can’t drive anywhere without them. They now manage our houses and the flow of information. We constantly receive new alerts and notifications. Everything is at the tip of a finger; everything, except peace.

Even young people who have grown up in this constant saturation are looking for something else. For instance, TIME Magazine featured Professor Constance

Kassor for running Lawrence University’s most popular class: Doing Nothing. This is how she describes the course “One of the things that we really want students to get out of this class is that we want them to have a space where they can be fully themselves, where they can be present— not just physically, but also mentally and emotionally. Because I think this is kind of antithetical to what’s being asked of them a lot of the time. It’s really designed as a way to give students the space to slow down a little bit. . . . And that’ll make them better people, more empathetic people, more creative people, deeper thinkers.” The class’s success points to something that we’ve lost in education and life more broadly.

Rather than take a course on doing nothing, Catholics have ready answers to the domination of technology. We do not seek silence for its own sake (even if that is a start), but as an opportunity for encounter with God. Cardinal Robert Sarah’s amazing book, The Power of Silence (Ignatius 2017), teaches us that silence is the language of God, which we need to learn to converse with him: “At the heart of man there is an innate silence, for God abides in the innermost part of every person. God is silence, and this divine silence

dwells in man. In God, we are inseparably bound up with silence. … God carries us, and we live with him at every moment by keeping silence. Nothing will make us discover God better than his silence inscribed in the center of our being. If we do not cultivate this silence, how can we find God?” (22). We have to learn the practice of silence, although it won’t come from a college course as much as time spent before the Blessed Sacrament.

Silence is a battle in a culture of busyness. Josef Pieper famously reminded us that external activity does not constitute life’s goal. Rather, we find our fulfillment in leisure, which is both the basis and height of culture. His book, Leisure: The Basis of Culture, points to internal activity, particularly contemplation, as the source of our happiness and fulfillment, especially when directed to God in worship and prayer. Leisure is not an absence of activity, or mere recreation and entertainment. It enters into the highest goods; it is drawn into them as if receiving them as a gift. Pieper clarifies: “Leisure, it must be remembered, is not a Sunday afternoon idyll, but the preserve of freedom, of education and culture, and of that undiminished humanity which views the world as a whole.” It withdraws from distraction so

John Paul II and me (and the Poles)

In the first chapter of “Profiles in Courage,” John F. Kennedy quoted an exasperated Congressman, John Steven McGroarty, who wrote an irritating constituent in these neatly acerbic terms:

“One of the countless drawbacks of being in Congress is that I am compelled to receive letters from an impertinent jackass like you in which you say that I promised to have the Sierra Madre mountains reforested and I have been in Congress two months and haven’t done it. Will you please take two running jumps and go to hell.”

In his March 18 “Letter from Rome” in “La Croix International,” Robert Mickens not only disserves his readers by displaying a deep ignorance of what is afoot in Rome these days (or, perhaps worse, a refusal to write about it); he also denounces me as “the self-promoting ‘official biographer’ of John Paul II.” This is false; it slanders me, and, worse, it slanders John Paul II. Such slanders require a public response, which may also serve to

clarify some things.

First: I have never, ever, on any occasion or in print, described myself as John Paul II’s “official biographer.” In fact, I have always tried to correct that misimpression when well-intentioned but ill-informed people use that phrase (or “authorized biographer)” in introducing me. An official or authorized biography is one that has been vetted, even edited, by the subject or his or her heirs, in return for access to the subject and his or her records. There was absolutely none of that in my relationship with John Paul II, as Mickens would have learned had he bothered to read p. 101 of my memoir, “Lessons in Hope: My Unexpected Life with St. John Paul II.” There, I describe a dinner meeting with the Pope on March 7, 1996, in which I explained to John Paul that he could not see a word of what I would write until I handed him the published book — to which he replied, “That’s obvious. Now let’s talk about something interesting.”

Second, to suggest that John Paul II wanted a vetted biography is to suggest that he wanted a dishonest, or at least less-than-fully-honest, account of his life and pontificate. No one who actually knew the man could ever imagine him wanting any such thing (although it’s entirely imaginable — because it’s true — that some curialists preferred something other than the complete liberty the Pope gave me to write what I judged to be the truth).

Mickens, however, is not the only miscreant attacking John Paul II these days. Some of his fellow Poles are, on the basis of a recent “documentary” film, “Franciszkańska 3,” by Marcin Gutowski, and a new book, “Maxima Culpa,” by Ekke Overbeek. Gutowski and Overbeek are agenda-driven, and they display their agenda without much subtlety: they seem less interested in the reform of the Church than in trying to demolish the reputation of Poland’s greatest son, who was also the country’s 20th-century lib-

as to appreciate the goodness of the world, inspiring us to “waste” our time relating to the source of all goodness in God.

Silence may save your soul. It will enable us to pull back from the craziness of life, gain peace, become reflective, and make space for God. We realize that we need it but don’t want to accept it because the sacrifice of time and convenience that comes from putting down technology may be painful. It is worth it, as Cardinal Sarah exhorts us: “Through silence, we return to our heavenly origin, where there is nothing but calm, peace, repose, silent contemplation, and adoration of the radiant face of God” (54). If we are overwhelmed by the noise of life, it is possible to find healing and peace. God can repair the damage of modern culture within us, but we need to turn to him ardently in prayer. This healing may come to us most fully in the silence of adoration and the encounter with Christ the healer in confession. There he gives us his peace and makes us new once again. He can help us to overcome our dread of silence by making us whole with his saving presence.

Dr. Staudt’s column is syndicated by the “Denver Catholic,” the official publication of the Archdiocese of Denver

erator. No social and cultural projects, no dismay at the too-close identification of the Polish episcopate with one political party, and no anger at clerical arrogance can justify the calumnies against John Paul II that these critics and others have committed — calumnies to which longtime friends of Karol Wojtyła have too often responded tepidly and, it seems, fearfully; calumnies that are now being exported to the world.

Wasn’t one assassination attempt against John Paul II enough? John Paul II, who called Catholicism to “cleanse its memory,” would want nothing less.

Jesus is true shepherd of flock, committed to its well-being

Fourth Sunday of the Year (A)

By Msgr. John N. Fell

The Fourth Sunday of Easter is also known as Good Shepherd Sunday because one of the Gospel passages portraying Jesus as the Good Shepherd is read on this day each year. Jesus’ title as “The Good Shepherd” is one of the most ancient ways of describing him; in Scripture Jesus is referred to as a shepherd both by himself and others. Christian art, as early as the catacombs, is full of portrayals of Jesus as a youth with a sheep lovingly settled upon his shoulders.

Jesus’ entire earthly ministry can be outlined in reference to this title. First, his mission is understood as being initially to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (see Matthew 10:6-15 and 15:24). Next, he is portrayed as caring so much for each individual sheep, that he leaves the 99 to go seek after the lost one, rejoicing when this lost one is found (see Matthew 18:12-13). Then, going beyond the Old Testament expectations of shepherds, Jesus describes himself as the truly caring shepherd who is willing even to lay down his life for his sheep (see John 10:11). With him gone, the sheep are scattered; he re-gathers them together again upon his return (see Matthew 26:31-32). Finally, at the end of time Jesus will fulfill the shepherd’s task of separating the sheep from the goats (see Matthew 25:32-45).

shepherd and gate to the sheepfold, Jesus is contrasting himself with the false prophets and leaders of the people of his day (as well as with the Hellenistic shepherd gods). These are shown up by Jesus’ image of the Good Shepherd to only feign concern for their followers. The “blind guides” of St. John’s ninth chapter are now further exposed in his 10th; Jesus harshly describes them as “thieves and marauders who come only to steal and destroy.” Jesus explains the role of the Good Shepherd as one totally committed to the well-being of his flock. He knows each of his sheep, and spends so much time with them (Pope Francis’ oft-mentioned call for Church leaders is to be so united with their flocks that they acquire the “smell of the sheep”) that they recognize him immediately; this mutual knowledge reflects the mutual intimacy of Jesus and his Father. He walks in front of his flock to guide them along the path and protect them from wandering into danger. In these characteristics, Jesus is also establishing the qualities of good sheep, that is, sheep of his flock — they must respond to his voice and heed his leadership; being a member of Jesus’ flock is not an accident of birth, but a reciprocal entering into the covenant, “I will be your God, and you will be my people.” The safety of his flock is the shepherd’s chief concern, and he will defend them, even at the price of his own safety. Jesus concludes this section saying, “I came that they might have life and have it to the full” (Jn 10:10), a final statement of the difference between the Good Shepherd and false shepherds. Jesus’ commitment to his followers includes bringing them not only life, but the fullness of life, that is, entry into the loving relationship which exists between him and his Father in Heaven.

Zita

c. 1218-1278

April 27

At age 12 Zita began working as a domestic in the household of a wealthy weaver in Lucca, Italy, and remained there her entire life. Initially, the devout and punctilious Zita antagonized her fellow servants, and drew the ire of her employers for lavish gifts of food to the poor. But she gradually won over everyone by her goodness, and was put in charge of the house. Later in life, she spent much time visiting the sick and imprisoned. At her death, she already was acclaimed a saint in Lucca and her cult spread to England through Lucchese merchants in London.

Saints

SCRIPTURE SEARCH®

Gospel for April 23, 2023

Luke 24: 13-35

Following is a word search based on the Gospel reading for the Third Sunday of Easter, Cycle A: The road to Emmaus. The words can be found in all directions in the puzzle.

SEVEN MILES EMMAUS JESUS THEIR EYES CLEOPAS PROPHET PEOPLE ISRAEL MORNING A VISION ANGELS ALIVE FOOLISH ENTER MOSES STAY WITH US TABLE BROKE IT HEARTS ELEVEN SIMON

In this Sunday’s Gospel, the image of the shepherd is joined with the image of Jesus as the door to the sheepfold, the safe pasture where the flock was bedded down for the night. One true measure of the shepherd was his ability to let only his own sheep into his sheepfold, keeping out other sheep as well as those who might do harm to his charges. Echoing Ezekiel (34:11-22), this passage portrays Jesus’ role as that of keeping the flock unified and safe through his intimate knowledge of them. Jesus establishes himself as the way of entering into God’s fold.

In setting himself up as the true

From the beginning, the early Church understood the role of its subsequent leaders as continuing the shepherding task perfected in the ministry of Jesus. Church leaders were to assume this pastoral character of Jesus in leading the flock entrusted to their care. The word “pastor,” the most common title of those who exercise Church leadership, is borrowed from the Latin word meaning shepherd. In this vein, the Church also marks its Annual Day of Prayer for Vocations this Sunday. As we consider the image of Jesus, the Good Shepherd, let us join together in prayer for our current shepherds and for those who will follow in their footsteps, asking Almighty God “to raise up worthy ministers for your altars and make them ardent yet gentle heralds of [your] Gospel” (From the Mass for Vocations to Holy Orders).

Msgr. Fell is a Scripture scholar and director, diocesan Office for Priest Personnel

EMMAUS VISIT

Echoing Ezekiel (34:11-22), this passage portrays Jesus’ role as that of keeping the flock unified and safe through his intimate knowledge of them. Jesus establishes himself as the way of entering into God’s fold.

Ohio State University students assist those in need right here in New Jersey

By Tiffany Workman

Maria Hunter, Program Director for Catholic Charities Office of Parish Social Ministry, and Brother Patrick Reilly, from the Rutgers Catholic Center, talked about a group of students coming to New Jersey from The Ohio State University. These young men are members of Men of Saint Paul’s Outreach (SPO Ohio) who planned a mission trip to our Diocese. They were interested in finding opportunities to help the poor, and Maria and Brother Patrick went to work identifying opportunities for them to fulfill their mission.

St. Paul’s Outreach from The Ohio State University says, “We train full-time missionaries and student leaders to build these communities — communities that

reach out and invite college students and young adults into a transformative encounter with Christ, into deep relationship with him and with his people . . . into a lifelong adventure of mission.”

Gavin Gunkel, a Missionary at Saint Paul’s Outreach, shared, “We came out to New Jersey to serve those in need and to encounter Jesus through the poor. Our mission for SPO Ohio: We turn boys into men so their future wives and bishops don’t have to.” Members of the group did not waste any time reaching out to help! They volunteered at St. Peter the Apostle University and Community Parish, providing overnight hospitality to men that are homeless. The group then volunteered at the St. Vincent de Paul Food Pantry on Abeel Street, stocking and organizing shelves.

The men of SPO Ohio were also able to connect with Jennifer Hinton, Program Director at the Unity Square Community Center in New Brunswick, to provide assistance. Since it was a Tuesday, the men were able to assist with Unity Square’s Choice Food Model distribution. Clients arrive at Unity Square and shop with a volunteer, following the Choice Food Model. Jennifer welcomed their offer of service and said they were a great addition in helping the food distribution run smoothly.

Maria Hunter said, “Our Diocese was blessed with the presence and service of the Men from St. Paul’s Outreach from The Ohio State University, particularly the community of New Brunswick. I hope their faith was deepened through their experience of service and outreach to those in need. Their witness surely provided hope and inspiration for all those they encountered!”

Catholic Charities, Diocese of Metuchen is always grateful for volunteers who want to donate their time to help our clients in need. There are many opportunities and locations to volunteer within Catholic Charities. In addition to Unity Square, volunteers are welcomed at the Mobile Family Success Center in Edison, the Phillipsburg Thrift Store & Food Pantry, and both the Ozanam Men’s Shelter and the Ozanam Family Shelter.

Anyone interested in volunteering with Catholic Charities is encouraged to call 732-387-1315.

For more information about Catholic Charities, Diocese of Metuchen, please visit ccdom.org. LIKE and visit us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter @ ccdom1 to stay updated on upcoming events and ways we help clients get the services and assistance they need.

Left: Young Men from Saint Paul’s Outreach, Ohio State University at Unity Square Community Center. — Gavin Gunkel photo. Right: Maria Hunter, Program Director for Catholic Charities Office of Parish Social Ministry. —Chris Donahue photo

Prayerful intimacy with Christ is part of our existence, if we allow it

of the Catholic Church Series

Paragraphs 2650-2660

As a child I often compiled my favorite prayers or spiritual poems, those closest to my heart, into a scrapbook. Back then there were no computers or IPads or IPhones, so I used my dad’s old Remington typewriter to prepare each page with a hint of professionalism which I felt the content deserved. Family members would ask why I spent so much time preparing typed pages of these prayers. I recall telling them that these prayers and poems were only meant for my own personal enrichment and spiritual growth.

Years later I did something similar. However, this time, I intentionally called upon the Holy Spirit as I composed each prayer in preparation for my new book: “Good and Generous God: Catholic Prayers for All Occasions.” Published this past October, many keep asking me, “Why did you write a book of prayers?” My answer….Because when people asked me for a particular prayer for a special need I could not always find a prayer to fit the occasion. Also, I could not find a Catholic prayer book that included prayers for public and private use.

Earlier in life it was difficult for me to write a prayer for a particular need or occasion. What changed everything was the setting in which I composed the prayer. For example, what worked well was writing in the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist (in the church where He is perpetually present in the tabernacle). Another setting that worked was following my daily rosary or following the recitation of the Liturgy of the Hours (which includes several psalms and other passages from Sacred Scripture that priests, monks and consecrated religious – as well as some lay people – pray several times a day). In each of these settings, my heart and soul seemed more receptive to the workings of the Holy Spirit. No wonder the Catechism advises: “Prayer should accompany the reading of Sacred Scripture, so that a dialogue takes place between God and man. For we speak to him when we pray; we listen to him when we read the divine oracles” (ccc 2653).

We are told to never use the occasion of personal prayer, which takes place within the deep recesses of one’s heart, or an item associated with prayer, to attack or undermine another. Christ instead summons us to “love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us” (Mt 5:44). As the Catechism puts it: “Prayer cannot be reduced to the spontaneous outpouring of interior impulse” (ccc 2650). Nor can it be reduced, as an exterior motive, to inflect anything that might be associated with negative matters. It should come as no surprise then that “the spiritual writers sometimes compare the heart to an altar” (ccc 2655). This point

is intimately and succinctly made by St. John Vianney: “My God, if my tongue cannot say in every moment that I love you, I want my heart to repeat it to you as often as I draw breath” (ccc 2658).

God, our loving Father, is always close, mostly within us waiting to be found. “It is in the present that we encounter him, not yesterday nor tomorrow, but today” (ccc 2659). The Book of Psalms points the way: “O that today you would hearken to his voice! Harden not your hearts” (Ps 95:7-8). Time and again we notice how “the psalms especially, with their concrete and varied language, teach us to fix our hope in God” (ccc 2657). Psalm 40:2 provides one example: “I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry.” As St. Paul prayed: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope” (Rm 15:13).

The hope referred to by St. Paul is not the same as optimism. Hope is Scriptural, a constant expectation and gift from the Holy Spirit. It is a miracle of renewal that never lets us down. It involves the expectation of something to be fulfilled which has no right being fulfilled in the natural order of things. It is a “holy hope” that we can bank on because it has a supernatural dimension. As an aspiration and desire for God’s love and grace, hope inspires us and grounds us. No wonder “the Holy Spirit, who instructs us to celebrate the liturgy in expectation of Christ’s return, teaches us to pray in hope” (ccc 2657). The fact is that “the prayer of the Church and personal

prayer nourish hope in us” (ccc 2657). In the words of St. Thomas Aquinas, “hope is the sure and steadfast anchor of the soul” (Summa Theologiae I).

Christ has given us certain hope through His teachings on the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven and eternal life. Through our prayer life, we share in this communion with Christ that provides absolute hope. The Catechism tells us: “His Spirit is offered [to] us at all times, in the events of each day, to make prayer spring up from us” (ccc 2659). Our prayerful intimacy with Christ is part of our very existence if we allow it to be. The Catechism further states that: “Prayer in the events of each day and each moment is one of the secrets of the kingdom revealed to ‘little children’ to the servants of Christ, to the poor of the Beatitudes” (ccc 2660). Church teaching confirms this hope-filled perspective that speaks of prayer as both an activity in which we plan, as well as a disposition of which we hold. As the Catechism explains: “It is right and good to pray so that the coming of the kingdom of justice and peace may influence the march of history, but it is just as important to bring the help of prayer into humble, everyday situations; all forms of prayer can be the leaven to which the Lord compares the kingdom” (ccc 2660).

Hope, like the other virtues, remains both the source and goal of our prayers.

Father Hillier is director, diocesan Office of Pontifical Mission Societies, the Office for Persons with Disabilities and Censor Luborum

New children’s book features rodent nuns as role models for all ages

By Elizabeth Scalia, OSV News

Award-winning writer Haley Stewart, editor of “Word on Fire Sparks” (a children’s literature interest at “Word on Fire”), mother of four and longtime host of the recently ended “Fountains of Carrots” podcast, chatted with OSV News about the origins of her children’s book, “The Pursuit of the Pilfered Cheese” (Pauline Books and Media, 2022).

OSV News: What inspired the story? Was it one of those things you just woke up with? And why mice-nuns?

Stewart: Initially it was just because that was part of my dream, but the more I thought about it, the more I liked having the nuns be inspired by Father Brown’s detective skills so they could solve local crimes and mysteries. I also really love British children’s literature from Chesterton’s era, so having the story set in England in the first half of the 20th century just felt right.

to show how there is no such thing as a personal sin — sin always affects the community, and this seemed like a good way to show how greed hurts everyone, not just the greedy person.

OSV News: Without spoilers, what can children and their families learn about how to address complex dilemmas from your story, and about mercy, too?

What could possibly bring G. K. Chesterton, a religious order of female mice and a prize wheel of cheese together? Perhaps just some human imagination and a gifted mom’s wish to give young readers an adventure — one that helps to both hone deductive reasoning skills and burnish the faith in a delightful way.

Haley Stewart: As strange as it sounds, it really was one of those things you just wake up with. I awoke one morning from a vivid dream about an order of mouse nuns who live under G.K. Chesterton’s house. The more I thought about the rodent nuns the more I fell in love with them. The idea simmered for a few months, and then I finally started writing it out during the COVID lockdown.

OSV News: Is there any particular reason why this active mouse world exists under the floorboards of Chesterton’s sitting room?

OSV News: Lord Reginald wanting to buy the prize cheese seemed a “tidy” resolution that would have solved all their problems but would have also been a loss to the community. Can you go into that a little bit?

Stewart: I wanted to highlight the difference between someone who was guided by love and charity, like the abbess, and someone guided by greed, like Lord Reginald. He doesn’t even necessarily want to eat the cheese; he just wants to collect it and to protect it from being enjoyed by those he considers less worthy or less discerning than himself. He’s such a snob, and I think Chesterton would be disgusted by him! I also wanted

Stewart: There are several moments in the story when it would be easy for the nuns to jump to conclusions, make accusations and understandably respond with anger. While they find the whole situation of the theft highly distressing, they don’t react this way. The Sisters of Our Lady Star of the Sea are so compassionate, even to people who become entangled in the crime. But they are also just; they refuse to allow powerful people to harm the mice of the village. They put all their faith and creativity into trying to do the right thing, and in the end it all works out!

Elizabeth Scalia is culture editor for OSV News. Follow her on Twitter @ theanchoress.

ACROSS

7 We praise you, we bless you, we ___ you”

8 Eastern name given to the Assumption

10 St. ___ Merici

12 First word in the title of a 19th century encyclical

13 “___ my sheep.” (Jn 21:17)

16 To do this is forbidden by the seventh commandment

18 Diocese on the French Riviera

20 Abner’s father

21 Mother of Augustine

22 Catholic author of How the Irish Saved Civilization

25 Wedding vow

26 “O Mary! We crown ___ with blossoms today”

27 It was thought to be the abode of unbaptized but innocent

28 “___ have mercy”

29 Pope St. Pius X’s surname

31 Elijah’s successor

34 Having to do with the Church in general

35 Common biblical harvest

DOWN

1 Home of Adam and Eve

2 ___-dieu

3 Site of Marian apparition

4 Biblical dry measure

5 Follows 2 Thess

6 Chant, as a monk

9 McLuhan, Catholic convert and communications theorist

11 19D, in Ordinary Time

14 Grandson of Adam

15 St. Frances of Rome is the patron saint of people who do this

17 Read at Mass

18 ___ obstat

19 Liturgical season designator

23 False gods

24 Sinful

26 The 12 ___ of Israel

29 Lot’s wife was turned into a pillar of this 30 “On the third day he ___ again” 32 Bk. after 2 Kings

33 Influential Catholic Hollywood costume designer

Answers can be found on page 39

Costello - Runyon Funeral Homes

Mercy Sister Joanmarie McDonnell, formerly Sister Mary Paschal, 89, who served as a teacher at Mount Saint Mary Academy, Watchung, and the now-closed St. Mary High School. Mary school, South Amboy, died April 6 at McAuley Hall Health Care Center, Watchung.

Sister Joanmarie donated her body to science, so there was no viewing at her funeral Mass April 22 at St. James Church, Red Bank.

Sister Joanmarie was the elder of two children born to John and Helen Monaghan McDonnell, both deceased, and raised in South Amboy, where she received her education from the Sisters of Mercy at the now-closed St. Mary School and St. Mary High School.

After graduating, she earned a bachelor of arts degree in English at Georgian Court College (now University), and a master’s degree in English at Catholic University, Washington, D.C.

On Sept. 24, 1955, Sister Joanmarie entered the Novitiate of the Sisters of Mercy at Mount Saint Mary in Watchung. She began her teaching career

while in the novitiate, teaching English to her own class of novices at Mount Saint Mary.

After the novitiate, Sister Joanmarie taught secondary English at Notre Dame High School, Lawrenceville, and in 1969, at Mount Saint Mary Academy, before becoming assistant principal in 1971 at Notre Dame.

In 1977, she returned to teaching secondary English, this time at St. Mary High School, Perth Amboy, and then at Red Bank Catholic High School from 1981 to 2019. Her students became the parents of the students she taught over her 38 years in Red Bank.

In August 2019, Sister Joanmarie became a resident of McAuley Hall Health Care Center, where she served as lector at Masses.

As her health began to decline, she still enjoyed the many activities offered, and especially enjoyed anything that involved singing. Her generous and prayerful spirit resulted in her decision -- to quote her: “I’d like to allow the medical world to use me so that others might benefit. That would be my gift –the donation of my body to Robert Wood Johnson Medical School… that means I can continue to contribute to society in a meaningful way.”

Sister Joanmarie is survived by her brother John, nieces Sue, Coleen and Kelly, and cousins Mercy Sister Christine and Gail Triggs.

A memorial service was held at St. James Church, Red Bank, April 22. Arrangements were handled by Higgins Home for Funerals.

Donations may be made to the Sisters of Mercy, 1645 US Highway 22, Watchung, NJ 07069.

Impact of ‘medical aid in dying’ laws on West discussed by panel

WASHINGTON (OSV News) — The reality of legalized euthanasia often doesn’t correspond to hypothetical debates over the practice, according to a panel of experts convened at The Catholic University of America. CUA’s Institute for Human Ecology hosted a March 28 panel titled “What is Euthanasia Doing to the West?” examining where so-called “medical aid in dying” laws have been adopted, and where they have not, and how Catholics can respond to arguments in favor of these practices. Panelists included Ross Douthat, a columnist at “The New York Times” and a media fellow for the Institute for Human Ecology; Ari Schulman, editor of “The New Atlantis;” Leah Libresco, Catholic writer at the “Other Feminisms” substack; and Charles Camosy, a professor of medical humanities at the Creighton University School of Medicine. Schulman said there is data showing that the adoption of the practice can be a “slippery slope,” calling Canada “an incredible slippery slope.” Canada first legalized physician-assisted suicide and physician-assisted euthanasia in 2016 for adults with terminal illness. The 10,000 “Medical Assistance in Dying” deaths in 2021 represented a 32 percent jump over the previous year, and accounted for 3.3 percent of all deaths in Canada. Schulman noted the rate was 20 times California’s assisted suicide requests, and that the people who elect the practice are often vulnerable, lacking family or other social support.

A photo illustration shows tools used in euthanasia. The reality of legalized euthanasia often doesn’t correspond to hypothetical debates over the practice, a panel of experts at the Catholic University of America said March 28.

OSV News photo/Norbert Fellechner, www.imago via Reuters

Recently released film on exorcism is ‘story of hope’

By Carol Glatz, Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY — The Jesuit priest who helped produce “The Pope’s Exorcist” said horror movie fans will be in for “a fun ride” with the new film that stars Russell Crowe.

Jesuit Father Edward J. Siebert, founder and president of Loyola Productions, told Catholic News Service that the film “relies upon familiar biblical, literary and cinematic images to personify the lure of evil against the power of good.”

“Any story that ends with the enemy’s defeat is ultimately a story of hope. And if you are a fan of horror films, this is a fun ride,” he said in an email response to questions April 13.

Father Siebert, who is also rector of the Jesuit community at Loyola Marymount University and teaches at its School of Film and Television in Los Angeles, served as an executive producer for the film, released in theaters across the United States April 14.

The movie, billed as a “supernatural horror thriller,” was inspired by the life and ministry of the late Pauline Father Gabriele Amorth, a longtime and well-known exorcist for the Diocese of Rome who performed tens of thousands of exorcisms until his death in 2016 at the age of 91.

Father Siebert said Loyola Productions acquired both the book and life rights to Father Amorth’s story. “I was drawn to the story of Father Amorth because it is primarily a story of good and evil.”

Serving as the executive producer for the film, the Jesuit said he helped “to shape the project along the way.”

While “the film is written and directed in the style of historical fiction,” he said, it is based on the Italian priest’s two memoirs “An Exorcist Tells His Story” and “An Exorcist: More Stories.”

The writers and director took creative liberty to visualize internal “struggles as external events,” he told CNS. “None of the supporting characters, especially Church officials, represent actual historic figures. They illustrate the ecclesial structure and system in which an exorcist would work.”

Before the film’s release, the International Association of Exorcists, headquartered in Rome and co-founded by Father Amorth, released a statement after viewing the film’s trailer lamenting what it believed was going to be a “splatter film” heavy on “exaggeration” and “unreliability on such a sensitive and relevant subject.”

Any overly sensationalized depiction of the ministry of exorcism “distorts and falsifies what is really lived and experienced” by Catholic exorcists and “is insulting in regard to the state of suffering experienced by those who are victims

The Pope’s Exorcist

By John Mulderig OSV News

Initially promising but ultimately overheated possession tale based on books published by high-profile exorcist Pauline Father Gabriele Amorth (Russell Crowe). Summoned from Rome to attend to an American boy (Peter DeSouzaFeighoney) temporarily living in Spain who shows strong signs of being under the dominion of a demon (voice of Ralph Ineson), the cleric teams with a local priest (Daniel Zovatto) to deliver the lad. Their investigation of the case eventually leads to revelations about the past of the former abbey into which the youth’s recently widowed mother (Alex Essoe) has moved him and his sister (Laurel Marsden) while she supervises its renovation. Crowe brings verve to his portrayal of the genial but never frivolous protagonist and screenwriters Michael Petroni and Evan Spiliotopoulos successfully make the case for taking the power of evil seriously. Yet, as directed by Julius Avery, the film eventually degenerates into a muddle, in part because extraneous elements ranging from contemporary divisions within the Church to the legacy of the Spanish Inquisition are thrown into the mix and depicted ineptly. Mature themes, disturbing images, an attempted suicide, brief aberrant sexual interaction, glimpses of upper and rear female nudity, a few mild oaths, numerous rough terms, occasional crude language, an obscene gesture. The OSV News classification is L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. The Motion Picture Association rating is R -- restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

CNS

of extraordinary action by the devil,” it said in its March 7 statement.

CNS asked Father Siebert about how the horror genre would be helpful in illustrating the ministry of an exorcist and how Catholics and the public should approach the film and discern what is pure entertainment and what is more instructive or accurate.

“Today’s audiences are savvy enough to glean the wheat from the chaff, if you will, in mainstream entertainment,” he said.

“Anyone watching ‘The Pope’s Exorcist’ will see that this is a work of historical fiction in the horror/thriller genre, which is not your typical faith-based film.

“What is more accurate and instructive for viewers is that the film reflects on some of the most challenging aspects of faith. When we shed light on sin and evil, it reflects back the pain of our past and present.

“While the demons in the film may seem extreme and exaggerated, the movements of disturbance and evil inside of us have the power to overtake us. I have always believed that the power of prayer, the naming of demons, the forgiveness of sins and the conquering of evil are central to faith.”

The late Pauline Father Gabriele Amorth, a longtime exorcist for the Diocese of Rome who died in 2016, is pictured in this undated photo.

photo/courtesy Gruppo Editoriale San Paolo

“While the demons in the film may seem extreme and exaggerated, the movements of disturbance and evil inside of us have the power to overtake us.”

Jesuit

Father Edward J. Siebert

Spike in hate crimes mainly targeted Catholics, Jews, Muslims

MONTREAL (OSV News) — In 2021, Canadian police services received 3,360 statements related to hate crimes, a 27 percent increase compared to 2020, with a 260 percent growth against Catholics, according to a new study by Statistics Canada. In 2020, 2,646 hate crimes had been reported to police.

According to the federal agency, this spike in hate crimes is largely due to more incidents “targeting religion, sexual orientation and race or ethnicity.”

The number of hate crimes aimed at religion or the faithful of a given religious group reached an all-time high in 2021, after decreasing for a few years.

In 2021, 884 hate crimes targeting a religion were reported. According to analyst Warren Silver, of Statistics Canada, this is an increase of 67 percent compared to 2020 figures.

The majority of offenses in 2021 were nonviolent ones such as mischief against religious property or places of worship. These represented 707 reports while 177 other crimes were violent offenses, notably assaults (52) and threats (74).

Statistics Canada’s report doesn’t specify what 2021 events were considered to be motivated by hate aimed at religion. However, the report recalls that following the discovery in May 2021 of the remains

events, they would have been considered hate crimes.

“We can’t make direct connections,” Silver told Présence. But it is probable that such events may have contributed to an increase in mischief aimed at places of worship.

The various religious groups in Canada are all likely to be targets of hate crimes, but Statistics Canada closely ex amined mischief committed against three groups: Catholics (not Christians), Jews and Muslims. In 2021, there was an in crease of 47 percent of hate crimes target ing Jews, 71 percent against Muslims and 260 percent aimed at Catholics.

However, in considering numbers rather than percentages, out of 3,360 hate crimes in Canada, there were actually 487 hate crimes against Jews, 144 against Muslims and 155 against Catholics.

Stephen Brown, president and chief executive officer of the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM), was not surprised to learn of the 144 hate crimes reported against Muslims in 2021. “We, too, are seeing a big rise in hate crimes. And, I don’t hesitate to say that Statistics Canada’s numbers are under the mark,” he told Présence.

The NCCM leader believes that many members of the Muslim commu-

their complaints, according to Brown. Regarding crimes against Muslims in 2021, the NCCM can’t “point to any one event” to explain a 71 percent increase. But Brown laments “the increasingly harsh media discourse when it comes to Muslims.” For example, since the adoption of Quebec’s Bill 21, secularism law, which contains statements of principle declaring the province’s commitment to secularism, or “laïcité,” Brown notes that some of the debates, especially in the media, are prejudicial to members of his community.

Young women light candles at a makeshift memorial at the fatal crime scene where a man driving a pickup truck jumped the curb and ran over a Muslim family in what police say was a deliberately targeted antiIslamic hate crime, in London, Ontario, June 8, 2021.

OSV News photo/ Carlos Osorio, Reuters

of events on the international scene, Canadian Muslims are sometimes impacted even if they have nothing to do with a situation far away from Canada.

For example, after the death of Mahsa Amini Sept. 16, 2022, a few days after she was arrested by the vice police in Iran, “Shiite mosques here were vandalized while others were forced to close their doors because of fairly aggressive demonstrations in front of their entrance,” he said.

Brown added, “I myself have been to a mosque in Toronto. I saw women being

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LOYOLA JESUIT CENTER

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Retreats for lay men, women, priests, religious; days/evenings of prayer. Groups planning their own programs are welcome.

MALVERN RETREAT HOUSE

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An oasis of peace set on 125-acres of wooded countryside. Retreats for men, women, families, youth, religious and clergy.

MOUNT ST. MARY HOUSE OF PRAYER

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A Redemptorist Spiritual Center overlooking the Atlantic Ocean offering preached retreats, days of prayer and use of the facility for outside groups.

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ST. FRANCIS RETREAT HOUSE

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ST. JOSEPH BY THE SEA

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Pontiff criticizes insinuation by missing girl’s brother

QRegarding the people Jesus raised from the dead, where were their souls while they were dead? (Location withheld)

AAmong the many miracles Jesus performed as part of his public ministry, some of the most remarkable include his raising several recently-deceased people from the dead. In the Gospels we read of the raising of Jairus’ young daughter, (see Mt 9:18–26; Mk 5:21–43; and Lk 8:40–56), as well as the only son of a widow in the city of Nain. (Lk 7:11-17) Perhaps most famously, chapter 11 of John’s Gospel recounts the raising of Jesus’ friend Lazarus, brother of Martha and Mary.

While each of these were indeed truly raised from the dead in a miraculous way, it would be more appropriate to speak of their “revival” rather than their “resurrection.” That is, Jairus’ daughter, the widow’s son, and Lazarus would all eventually die a second time, and definitively. In contrast to this, when Jesus was “resurrected” in the proper sense of the term, he moved totally beyond death and could never die again. (See the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 646)

To your question, it’s notable that in accounts of Jesus raising these people from the dead, the Gospels give us plenty of what we might call “human interest” details; Jesus tells Jairus to give his newly-raised daughter something to eat (Lk 8:55), and Jesus wept upon hearing of his friend Lazarus’ death. (Jn 11:35) But they do not tell us clearly where these people’s spirits went or what was experienced in death. Likewise, as far as I have been able to find, the church doesn’t give us a direct, specific answer to the question. But we may take into account the Church’s traditional understanding of what happened on Holy Saturday, namely that Jesus descended into “hell” (understood in this sense as simply the underworld or the realm of the dead, rather than a freely-chosen state of separation from God), in order to triumphally open the gates of heaven to all of God’s faithful who were awaiting their redemption from his sacrifice on the cross.

The Office of Readings from the Liturgy of the Hours for Holy Saturday includes an ancient homily which contains an imaginative meditation on Jesus’ descent to the underworld during the time between his death and resurrection: “He has gone to search for our first parent, as for a lost sheep. … At the sight of him Adam, the first man he had

created, struck his breast in terror and cried out to everyone: ‘My Lord be with you all.’ Christ answered him: ‘And with your spirit.’ He took him by the hand and raised him up, saying: ‘Awake, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.’ … Rise, let us leave this place, for you are in me and I am in you; together we form only one person and we cannot be separated.’”

So, if we wish to speculate a little, my own guess is that Lazarus and the others would have — for however brief a time — shared in the hope and longing of all the other souls of the dead who were awaiting their salvation in Christ.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis called insinuations that St. John Paul II played a role in the 1983 disappearance of Vatican schoolgirl Emanuela Orlandi “offensive and unfounded.” After reciting the “Regina Coeli” prayer April 16, the pope told people gathered in St. Peter’s Square, “Certain I am interpreting the feelings of the faithful around the world, I express a thought of gratitude to the memory of St. John Paul II, who in these days has been the object of offensive and unfounded insinuations.” Emanuela’s brother, Pietro Orlandi, in a television interview April 11 alleged that St. John Paul was involved in his sister’s mysterious disappearance. Emanuela Orlandi, the daughter of a Vatican usher who lived inside the walls of Vatican City, disappeared in Rome June 22, 1983, when she was 15. The Vatican recently opened a new investigation into her disappearance, which also was the subject of a 2022 Netflix documentary. In the television interview, Pietro Orlandi played an audio recording of someone he said was close to a mafia group allegedly linked to his sister’s disappearance. The speaker said that St. John Paul was involved in bringing young girls to the Vatican to be sexually exploited.

QA Protestant minister (formerly a Catholic) said that the church’s authority to grant absolution in confession expired upon Christ’s death. What authority does the Catholic Church rely on that requires confession to a priest?

AGod is all-powerful and can extend his grace even beyond what he has promised. But when we confess our sins to a priest in the sacrament of penance, we can know with confidence that our sins are forgiven, because of Jesus’ own words.

In the Gospels, Jesus tells us that he intends to share his authority to forgive sins with the Twelve Apostles. This is perhaps stated most directly toward the end of John’s Gospel, when Jesus tells the Apostles: “Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” (Jn 20:23) With respect to the minister’s assertion, one interesting thing about this passage is that the promise comes from Jesus “after” he had already died.

John 20 recounts some of Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances, one of which was his sudden apparition to many of the Apostles (notably minus Thomas, whose absence sets the stage for his later confession) as they were gathered in hid-

ing behind locked doors. This is the first instance when the risen Jesus sends the Apostles on mission, telling them: “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” (Jn 20:21) Clearly, part of this mission was the forgiveness of sins.

Catholics believe in “apostolic succession,” meaning that the power and authority Jesus gave to his original apostles — including the sacramental power and authority to forgive sins — were in turn handed down by the apostles to their successors though the centuries, right up to our modern-day bishops and the priests who assist them in their ministry. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, alluding to the above-mentioned passages from the Gospel of John, describes the succession like this: “Thus the risen Christ, by giving the Holy Spirit to the apostles, entrusted to them his power of sanctifying: they became sacramental signs of Christ. By the power of the same Holy Spirit they entrusted this power to their successors. This ‘apostolic succes-

sion’ structures the whole liturgical life of the church and is itself sacramental, handed on by the sacrament of Holy Orders.” (ccc 1087)

So far from this authority expiring with Jesus’ death, it might be more accurate to say that the church’s authority to forgive sins only “began” after Jesus died and rose from the dead.

This might prompt the question of when exactly the church first came into being. Jesus does refer to his Church — albeit in a future tense — during his time of active ministry, when says to the Apostle Simon Peter: “…you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.” He follows by mentioning again the authority to loosen or to bind when he notes the role Peter would hold as the earthly leader of the church: “I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (Mt 16:18-19) Traditionally, we call the feast of Pentecost “the birthday of the church.” But there is also a beautiful theme running throughout the theological writings of an early Father of how the church was born from Christ’s wounded side. As the catechism puts it, referencing St. Ambrose: “As Eve was formed from the sleeping Adam’s side, so the church was born from the pierced heart of Christ hanging dead on the cross.” (ccc 766)

Jenna Marie Cooper, who holds a licentiate in canon law, is a consecrated virgin and a canonist whose column appears weekly at OSV News. Send your questions to CatholicQA@osv.com.

DIOCESAN EVENTS

NJ Catholic Youth Rally at Six Flags Great Adventure, 9 a.m to 8 p.m. The NJ Catholic Youth Rally is a day-long event that gathers teens from across the state of New Jersey for a day of fun, fellowship, Mass, and more held at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, N.J. The day starts with a dynamic opening ceremony hosted by the Diocese of Metuchen. Teens then get the day to enjoy the park and all the rides. The day concludes in the Batman Stunt Arena with a Mass. Open to all Jr. High, High School & Young Adult Ministry, Scouting Parish/School Athletic Programs, and families! For more information and to register, visit: https://www.diometuchen.org/youth-rally

Life-Giving Wounds Retreat for Adult Children of Divorce or Separation, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., The Shrine of St. Joseph, Stirling. This retreat is a unique opportunity for young adults (18+) and adults with divorced or separated parents to reflect intentionally on the wounds caused by their family’s breakdown, together with others who know this pain and are knowledgeable, compassionate retreat leaders. General Admission is $75, Student Admission is $25. To register visit: www.diometuchen.org/familylife. If you have any questions, please contact: cdaverso@ diometuchen.org or amarshall@diometuchen.org

Mass-Centered Catechesis – Deidre Nemeth will present a workshop for Parish Catechetical Leaders on how to design and orchestrate a Mass and family-centered catechetical program. She will discuss bringing families to Mass, family faith sessions, and how to create 30-minute class sessions and education/community-building opportunities for adults. Part A will be held, June 6 and Part B on June 13. The workshops are different. Each will be held, 10 to 11:30 a.m. To register and for more information, RSVP to Anna by Friday, May 26 at adkallini@diometuchen.org or send your questions to cmascola@diometuchen.org

PCL Basic Certification and Appreciation Event. 7 to 8:30 p.m., St. John Neumann Pastoral Center, Piscataway. The evening will include Mass, a certification ceremony, and light refreshments.

DIOCESAN PROGRAMS

Eucharistic

Adorers Wanted

Now that the pandemic is over, Bishop Checchio would like to offer Eucharistic adoration at the St. John Neumann Pastoral Center, Monday through Friday, from 9:00-11:45 a.m. As St. Pope John Paul II noted. “The Church and the world have a great need of Eucharistic adoration.” Anyone who is interested in signing up should contact Angela Marshall at amarshall@diometuchen.org

Catechism in a Year for Women

This virtual Women’s Group will meet each week on Sundays at 2:30 p.m. on Zoom for discussion of Fr. Mike Schmitz’s “Catechism in a Year” podcast which began on January 8. For details, contact Cristina at cdaverso@diometuchen.org

“The Chosen” Study Series

All young adult engaged and married couples are invited to join in a virtual study series based on the hit series, “The Chosen.” A different episode will be discussed each meeting and virtual watch parties will be planned sporadically. Meetings take place every other Monday evening at 7 p.m. on Zoom. For details or to join, please contact Cristina D’Averso-Collins at cdaverso@diometuchen.org.

Blue Rosary Guild

The Office of Family Life is pleased to announce the creation of the Blue Rosary Guild. The purpose of the Guild is for community members of all ages to make pocket Rosaries for law enforcement officers, providing them with support and spiritual strength and promoting devotion to the Rosary among all the faithful. All materials and instructions will be provided and a Zoom virtual tutorial will also be scheduled. Anyone interested should contact Cristina D’Averso-Collins, Director of the Office of Family Life at cdaverso@diometuchen.org.

AROUND THE DIOCESE

School Concerts

April 29, 8 p.m., and April 30, 3 p.m. – The Music Department at St. Thomas Aquinas High School, Edison, will hold its annual Spring Concert. Weather permitting, the April 29 concert will be held outside

Holy Hour

May 7, 4 p.m. – Carmel of Mary Immaculate and St. Mary Magdalen, 26 Harmony School Road, Flemington. Holy hour to pray for priests on the first Sunday of every month in the chapel. During the liturgy, a priest or deacon exposes the Blessed Sacrament, then prayers for priests, a homily, recitation of the rosary, and short periods of adoration follow.

Fundraisers

May 12, 9.m. -- Our Lady of Lourdes Knights of Columbus Council 6930, Whitehouse Station, will hold its 19th Annual Charity Golf Event at High Bridge Hills Golf Club. Proceeds benefit organizations such as Starfish Food Pantry, Hunterdon ARC, Clinton ARC, Lyons VA Hospital and Shannon Daley Memorial Fund. The scramble, foursome event has a shotgun start. The cost is $150 per person, which includes green fees, carts, breakfast, lunch, refreshments, gift bags and prizes. Lunch and prizes at 2 p.m. COVID health care worker discounts. To registers, make check payable to “Knights of Columbus Council 6930.” For Information call or e-mail Bill Murphy at (908) 500-2999 or wkmurphy@att.net , Gerry Boylan 908-500-2999 or gboylan@embarqmail.com

May 14, 9 am. -- Our Lady of Peace Knights of Columbus Council 9199, Fords, will sponsor a “Mother’s Day Breakfast” at the Our Lady of Peace Church Parish cafeteria. The cost is $20 for adults; $10 for children under 12; children under 5 are free. The menu includes:

SELLING YOUR HOME?

Willing to buy your home or townhouse in as-is condition. Quick 30 day cash closing.

I’m a Licensed realtor in the State of NJ.

Eugene “George” Pantozzi 908-392-2677 (call or text) georgepantozzi@hotmail.com

WINDOW & DOOR SCREEN REPAIRS

Installation of Fiberglass screens for your doors and windows. Pick-up and drop off services available. George & Sons: (908) 392-2677

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY - EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

The Catholic Spirit, the official newspaper of the Diocese of Metuchen, seeks an Editor-in-Chief to assist with the production of the monthly periodical. The ideal candidate will be responsible for planning, directing, and coordinating the conception, design, production, and distribution of The Catholic Spirit. A background in communications and public relations is preferred. Interested candidates should forward their resume to hr@diometuchen.org.

ADVERTISING SALES REPRESENTATIVE

The Catholic Spirit, the official newspaper of the Diocese of Metuchen, seeks an Advertising Sales Representative to assist with the sale of advertising space. The ideal candidate will be responsible for initiating, developing, and closing sales of print media advertising in The Catholic Spirit by creating and building effective client relationships with area businesses and organizations. Interested candidates should forward their resume to hr@diometuchen.org.

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY - GRAPHIC DESIGNER

The Catholic Spirit, the official newspaper of the Diocese of Metuchen, seeks a Graphic Designer to assist with the layout and design of its publication. The ideal candidate will have Adobe InDesign and Photoshop experience in a PC environment, be familiar with all aspects of electronic publishing, be well-organized and reliable, and have a proven track record of meeting deadlines. Interested candidates should forward their resume to hr@diometuchen.org.

DIRECTOR OF SACRED MUSIC

The Director of Sacred Music position is open at St. Joseph Church, High Bridge, NJ. Detailed Job Description is available upon request. Please e-mail (dasavare72@gmail.com) or mail a cover letter and resume to St. Joseph Church, 59 Main Street, High Bridge, NJ 08829

GIVE THE GIFT OF LIFE

One of our Diocesan parishioners is in urgent need of a kidney transplant. If you, (or anyone you know) have “O” blood type you may be able to save a life! The procedure would be performed at St. Barnabas in Livingston with no cost to the donor. All general questions can be answered by the “Living Donor Institute” at rwjbh.org/ldi. If you think you can be an angel on earth, please email KidneydonorNL@gmail.com God bless you!

Do you want to know more about • Being Catholic in today’s world • The teachings of the Church • Protecting human life • Engaging youth in the Church • Living your faith every day Find out by subscribing to

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Subscribe today, call (732) 529-7934

pancakes, scrambled eggs, sausage, coffee, tea and orange juice. An RSVP is strongly recommended. Make any checks out to: “K of C 9199.” For additional information or to reserve a table of eight, contact Tony at (732) 233-4473 or e-mail Bigt9199@yahoo.com

Men’s Workshop

May 23, 7 p.m. – Mount Saint Mary House of Prayer, Watchung, and via Zoom. (Fourth Tuesday of the month.) Men have unique roles in life: husbands, fathers, grandfathers, single and religious. Where can they find time to reflect on loss and gain in their lives? Workshop is for men of all ages. Join the group over coffee or tea for life affirming discussions and prayer to find God and make a difference in the world. Freewill offering. For more information, call Jerry McKenna at (908) 472-3969.

Crossword Puzzle Answers:

Top 15 in the nation

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In our state-of-the-art facility, surgeons perform same-day breast, colorectal, gynecologic, orthopedic, plastic and reconstructive and urologic surgeries, and procedures to treat conditions of the eyes, feet, ear, nose and throat.

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To learn more about the CARES Surgicenter, call 732.565.5400 or visit saintpetershcs.com/caressurgicenter That’s treating you better...for life.

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Sponsored by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Metuchen