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It was a beautiful summer evening Thursday July 22 as the priests of the Diocese of Trenton gathered together in St. Robert’s Co-Cathedral Parish for dinner!  Over 100 priests from the four counties joined together in wonderful priestly fraternity as the mid-point of summer (FYI, August 7!) quickly approaches.

As Bishop of the Diocese of Trenton, I encourage all our Catholic clergy, religious and lay faithful to sign a petition to protect congressional legislative provisions in support of life...

At the recent virtual meeting of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), the Apostolic Nuncio to the United States His Excellency Archbishop Christophe Pierre addressed the bishops assembled online.

Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus can be traced back to the 12th and 13th centuries in the Catholic Church. Inspired by more than 500 years of tradition, this devotion became part of the Church’s liturgy in 1670, with Mass and prayers composed by French priest St. John Eudes (1601-1680).

This weekend, when the Catholic Church in our Diocese celebrates the Solemn Feast of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, seems like the perfect occasion to welcome all the faithful of the four counties to return to full participation in the Holy Eucharist by lifting the dispensation from the Sunday/Holy Day Mass...

The Easter Season for 2021, like 2020 before it, is unlike any others in our memory due to the impact of the worldwide pandemic. This season comes to an end on May 23 as the Church celebrates the Solemn Feast of Pentecost, traditionally called the “birthday of the Church.”

Although the liturgical celebration of the Solemnity of the Ascension has been transferred to this coming Sunday in the Dioceses of New Jersey this year, I can’t help but reflect about its meaning on Thursday, May 13, 40 days after Easter. 

“The loveliest masterpiece of the heart of God is the love of a mother.” St. Therese of Lisieux

St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) was a French Cistercian monk, theologian, preacher and reformer in the early Middle Ages who was well known – among many things – for his great devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

I do not consider myself to be a Scripture “scholar” but, rather, a Scripture “reader.”  I do enjoy reading the Bible, especially the Gospels, and coming to know the Lord Jesus through the sacred texts.  I encourage you to do the same.  As often as I have read Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, I always seem to pick up something new, something different, something I didn’t notice before.

Today, Friday April 16, is Pope Benedict XVI’s 94th birthday, making him the oldest Successor to St. Peter in history.

In addition to the Ten Commandments given by God to Moses as found in the Old Testament (Exodus 20:2-17 and Deuteronomy 5:6-21) that oblige Jews and Christians to this very day, the Catholic Church has established its own set of particular commandments or “precepts” that bind the baptized Catholic faithful.  

Is there any more powerful expression of love on earth than showing mercy to others? Such love reflects the ultimate love shown by our Divine Lord during the days of his Passion, Death and Resurrection which we just celebrated in the Church.

The three days before Easter Sunday are, indeed, instructive.  They speak of commitment to something great, of sharing our very selves with one another, of the sacrifice that comes with love, of the precious yet limited time we have on this earth, of the hope that beyond this life, there is even more, even better — in fact, an eternity of joy for those who have faith in God and live their lives in love! 

As the Holy Season of Lent draws to a close and Holy Week begins, it is time for all Catholics to prepare deeply for the Church’s annual commemoration of the Lord Jesus’ Passion, Death and Resurrection.

If it were not for the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Lord Jesus Christ, and her “yes” to God, the world would have never heard of Joseph, the “carpenter of Nazareth.” And, yet, this man of whom the Holy Scriptures say so very little is the Universal Patron of the Catholic Church.

On this first anniversary of the World Health Organization’s March 11, 2020, declaration of COVID-19 as a world-wide pandemic, we continue to confront the challenges it has imposed.   I ask the clergy, religious and faithful of the Diocese of Trenton to pray for all those who have died from COVID-19 this past year and their families and loved ones; to pray for all those who still suffer from the pandemic and those caring for them; to pray for all health care professionals, support staff and first responders who have been and continue to be truly heroic throughout this difficult time; to pray for all those who are working to prevent COVID-19 from spreading further.  May God help us all remain healthy and safe.

Here we are at the midpoint of our Lenten journey with the finish line now in sight.  How has it been going? Living our Catholic faith takes practice all the time, even more so with the challenges imposed upon us by the COVID-19 pandemic.  But when we trip or fall, the true believer picks himself/herself up, dusts himself/herself off and carries on where he/she left off. 

Our experience of the pandemic this past and current year has introduced a new phrase into our everyday vocabulary: “social distancing.” As it is commonly understood, social distancing is the practice of increasing the physical space between individuals and decreasing the frequency of physical contact to reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19. Social distancing is being promoted, advocated and even required at virtually every place people are accustomed to gathering together, including churches.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that influenza in the United States was associated with over 35.5 million confirmed illnesses and more than 34,200 deaths during the 2018–2019 influenza season. Data for the 2019-2020 influenza season have not yet been finalized; estimates for confirmed illnesses, however, are between 39 and 56 million; estimates for deaths are between 24,000 and 62,000.