Our Diocese Today

LISTEN TODAY TO “THE SHEPHERD’S VOICE” which airs on First Fridays at 3 PM and encores Saturdays 4 PM, Sundays 10 AM and Mondays 8 AM on Domestic Church Media.

During these high holy days celebrated by our Jewish brothers and sisters, our Holy Father has called upon all Catholics to pray and, if possible, to fast on October 7, 2024, the first anniversary of the terrorist attack on Israel. Days of fasting and prayer for warzones have been a constant throughout the pontificate of Pope Francis. “On October 7,” the Holy Father pleaded, “I ask everyone to live a day of prayer and fasting for peace in the world. … There is a need for this, especially in this dramatic hour of our history, while the winds of war and the fires of violence continue to disrupt entire peoples and nations.”

I was driving back from a priest’s funeral on Long Beach Island last week. Now those of you who have made that trip know that you pass through a long, monotonous stretch of New Jersey called “the Pinelands.” Driving along, my attention was drawn to a huge billboard ---appearing out of nowhere --- reaching across the pine trees, posting a picture of a mother holding her newborn child with the words, “Duty to Protect” printed across the picture in big, white letters. For the last week, knowing that this Mass was coming, I could not get that image and those words out of my mind. “Duty to Protect.”

CATHOLIC FAITHFUL AND PRO-LIFE ADVOCATES FROM ACROSS THE STATE will gather in St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral Sept. 26 for the first statewide Mass for Life ahead of the NJ March for Life in Trenton. Thousands are expected to convene in the state’s capitol to pray at Mass, hear speeches at a rally and offer peaceful witness to the sanctity of unborn life while they march along a one-mile trek through the city.

Anticipation is growing as pro-life advocates from across New Jersey prepare to convene in the state capitol as peaceful witnesses for New Jersey’s first annual Mass for Life and March for Life Sept. 26.