News - January 2022 RSS Feed

Fue en la antigua Isla Española, hoy República Dominicana, donde se plantó la primera cruz, donde se celebró la primera misa, donde se rezó el primer Avemaría y donde se inició el anuncio de la Buena Nueva del Evangelio, que daría origen al nuevo continente de América. En esta tierra se estableció el primer santuario que existió en América, el de Nuestra Señora de la Altagracia, ubicado en la Villa de Higüey.

It was on the former “Isla Española,” today the Dominican Republic, where the first cross was planted, where the first Mass was celebrated, where the first Hail Mary was recited, and where the proclamation of the Good News of the Gospel began, which would give rise to the new continent of America. It was in this land, the first sanctuary that existed in America was established, that of Our Lady of Altagracia, located in Villa de Higüey.

Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney made a pastoral visit to St. Agnes Parish in Paterson Jan. 23 where he celebrated Mass for the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Bishop’s visit also came near the feast day (Jan. 21) of the parish’s patron, St. Agnes, virgin and martyr, who is the patron saint of girls, chastity, Girl Scouts, engaged couples, virgins, and rape victims. Vestments for the Mass were red to mark her death as a martyr.

Every year on Jan. 22 in the U.S. Catholic Church, the day is marked as a Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of the Unborn. On this day, 49 years ago the U.S. Supreme Court made abortion legal with its landmark decision on Roe v. Wade. At St. Philip the Apostle Church in Clifton, Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney was main celebrant of Mass and led a Holy Hour that followed to mark this sad anniversary that came at a poignant moment. Less than two weeks before, Gov. Phil Murphy (D), a Catholic, signed into law the Freedom of Reproductive Choice Act, legislation that codified abortion into state law.

More than 300 Catholics from around the Diocese bundled up against frigid temperatures the morning of Jan. 21 to join Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney for a March for Life on the streets around Our Lady Queen of Peace (OLQP) Church in Branchville. Their hearts were on fire with a love for God’s precious children in the womb and a passion for protecting them. On that day, many participants — from young people to senior citizens — carried the sadness and righteous indignation over the passage of a N.J. law that permanently solidifies the right to an abortion up to birth, which Gov. Phil Murphy (D), a Catholic, signed into law Jan. 13.

Tens of thousands of pro-life advocates marched down Constitution Avenue in Washington, D.C., in the 49th annual March for Life, Jan. 21, but our pro­-abortion Catholic President Joe Biden literally slapped every single one of them in the face the next day, on Jan. 22, the infamous anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision. In a statement released by the White House, Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris pledged to defend a so-called right to abortion.

From the first days that I began serving you as the Bishop of Paterson, I began learning about our Catholic schools. I had attended Catholic schools in my years of schooling. I learned from my brother priests in the Brooklyn Diocese about the schools in their parishes. Those initial experiences barely scratched the surface of what I have learned about Catholic schools in our diocese since I became your bishop.

For four hours each day, Msgr. Bill Naughton is on the phone. In a time, when everyone is connected to technology, his purpose is much more meaningful. He calls it his “phone ministry” and since the pandemic began, he has been giving blessings and encouragement via phone to the service recipients and even the staff of Straight and Narrow (S&N), an agency of Diocesan Catholic Charities. Straight and Narrow is the largest program of its kind in the nation to help those with substance abuse addictions.

As the preparatory phase has begun for Synod 2023, synodal delegates attended a follow-up meeting in person at the Evangelization Center at St. Paul Inside the Walls in Madison Jan. 15. This meeting was for parish delegates who went through the online training that is available on the diocesan website.

In October, Dylan Francis Lysaght, six months old, received a cute blue hand-crocheted cap to wear in the cold weather. He also got a cross and set of rosaries they are displayed around his crib and new religious picture book that sits in his library ready for when his parents, Jeff Lysaght and Kristen Magrath, read to him.

Through its upcoming Pentecost Project, the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson seeks not only to motivate Catholics to become “missionary disciples” as part of the New Evangelization, but also aims to inspire parishioners to preach the Gospel by reaching to the unchurched in the cathedral community and out in the surrounding neighborhoods in Pater­son and beyond.

Lawmakers in New Jer­sey voted to pass the most pro-­abortion legislation in the state’s history Jan. 10 that expands abortion access in the state and codifies “abortion rights.” On Jan. 6, this last-minute bill was introduced to the lame-duck legislature and bishops of the state immediately called on Catholics to contact their lawmakers. Large numbers of Catholics called their legislators to vote “no” on this legislation. Despite these efforts, lawmakers, along strict party lines with every Dem­ocrat but one voting “yes,” passed the bill on Jan. 10, the last day of the lame-duck legislative session. It was signed into law last week by Gov. Phil Murphy (D), who pushed for its passage.

As the 49th annual March for Life steps off down Constitution Avenue in Washington, D.C. tomorrow and Marches for Life happen around our Diocese, we are learning that pro-life legislators in several states are calling for laws similar to Texas’ Heartbeat Law. “Bills with language similar or identical to the Texas law have been introduced in Alabama, Florida, Missouri, and Ohio so far this year,” according to The Hill.

On Jan. 10, the N.J. State Senate (by a 23–15 vote) and Assembly (by a 46–22 vote, with eight abstentions) passed a new law (S 49), called by some, the “Freedom of Reproductive Choice Act.” Gov. Phil Murphy signed that bill into law on Jan. 13. On Jan. 17, we marked, as a nation, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The law (S 49) that was passed by our state legislators and signed by our governor is a terribly unjust law, as it fails to recognize the “personhood” of an unborn child.

When we adore the Eucharist outside of Mass, “we remain in intimate contact with Jesus, the wellspring of all grace.” Eucharistic Adoration “leads to a more perfect reception of Holy Communion. It deepens the mystery of our union with Christ” and “makes us one with Christ in loving all others,” Bishop Emeritus Arthur J. Serratelli asserts in his latest book, “Eucharistic Adora­tion: Scriptural Reflections and Prayers.”

On Friday, Jan. 21, the 49th annual March for Life will take place in the nation’s capital to let the nation know that all life is sacred from the womb to the tomb. This year’s theme is, “Equality Begins in the Womb.” The March for Life marks the Jan. 22, 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision on Roe v. Wade, which made abortion legal.

On Jan. 22, citizens of United States will mark a grim anniversary — 49 years ago, abortion was made legal when the U.S. Su­preme Court made its landmark decision on the Roe v. Wade case. For almost five decades, Catholics and pro-life advocates have continuously fought this decision in the hope that one day that the right to life is protected for all babies in the womb, and the evil that is abortion will end.

Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney officially launched the Year of the Eucharist in the Diocese for 2022 on Jan. 9, the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, at a Mass at the Evangelization Center at St. Paul Inside the Walls in Madison, followed by Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. The Bishop declared the yearlong celebration to encourage local Catholics to deepen “their appreciation of Jesus — body, blood, soul, and divinity — in the Eucharist”: the “source and summit” of our faith.

The 49th annual national March for Life — with a rally on the National Mall and a march to the Supreme Court on Friday, Jan. 21 — will go on as scheduled this year despite the surge in the omicron variant in the nation’s capital. This year’s theme is “Equality Begins in the Womb.” This year’s march is as important as the first march, which was held Jan. 22, 1974, a year to the day after the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion.

Once again, we approach the sad anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision on Jan. 22, 1973, 49 years ago, that legalized abortion throughout our country. When we think of the millions of innocent lives that have been taken over these past 49 years and the damage done to Moms and all those involved in the “abortion industry,” we must ask ourselves what this says about us as a society and nation? As people of faith, we have to ask whether, as in the teachings of St. Pope John Paul II, a Culture of Death is winning the battle in our effort to promote and build a Culture of Life?