Calling it “an opportunity to try to listen to God’s call,” Father John D. Gabriel, vocations director for the Archdiocese of Newark, is urging men 18 years and older to attend the annual “Weekend Vocation Discernment Retreat,” which will be held early in the New Year.

Registration is under way for Rachel’s Vineyard weekend retreats for post-abortion healing. Two retreats are planned: Jan. 18-20, 2013 and March 8-10, 2013. Each retreat begins on a Friday at 6:30 p.m. and ends on a Sunday at 5 p.m. Sponsored by the archdiocesan Respect Life Office, the retreat registration is $100 per person, which covers related materials, accommodations and meals.

On Sept. 1 I lost a very good friend, Bernardine Franciscan Sister Mary Reginald Zajac, who died at the age of 101 and six months. After her burial, my good friend, Thomas Collinson, turned to his daughter Patti and said, “You can say you knew a living saint.” That one line perfectly captures the reason we mark the Feast of All Saints, a holy day, on Nov. 1.

Jan. 25, 1959, was almost as important a day in aviation history as that long-ago date in 1903 when the Wright Brothers flew the first airplane at Kitty Hawk, NC. That same Sunday also saw the beginnings of another entirely new era in the Catholic Church. That new era began with a three part announcement from Blessed Pope John XXIII at the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls in Rome.

In the fall of 1963 a very bright, friendly and somewhat reserved farm boy from Illinois arrived in Rome to begin his theological studies. He did not hide that he missed his parents and his six siblings as well as the quiet life of the prairie.

As we approach the beginning of another exciting school year, I thought I would share with you some of the thrust contained in the soon-to-be-published executive summary of the document, “Lighting the Way: Building a New Era in Catholic Education.” Many people have spent tireless hours putting together this important work.

In our prayers at RENEW International, we thank God for those who have gone before us. We stand on the shoulders of giants. But if one name comes first in our prayers, it’s Archbishop Emeritus Peter L. Gerety, aptly called “the father of RENEW.’’

SOUTH ORANGE — The Salesians of Don Bosco youth ministry is hosting New Jersey’s ninth annual Pro-Life Youth Rally Friday, April 27, 8:30 a.m.-2 p.m. on the campus of Seton Hall University, 400 South Orange Ave.

CALDWELL—Caldwell College’s third annual 5K “Run/ Walk for Autism” will take place Saturday, April 21. WCBS TV meteorologist John Elliott once again will kick off this year’s event, which will be held rain or shine.

The forces of dark and light are a lifelong movement, a tension that’s inherent in human nature. The challenge for Catholics is to recognize how evil can distort the truth through flawed, cumulative patterns of self-righteous justification.

Nineteen fifty one. Harry S. Truman was president of the United States. A bitter military conflict on the Korean peninsula, in its second year, reflected the global Cold War tensions. “ Newark’s Sacred Heart Cathedral was still three years away from being completed and dedicated. It also was the year the Archdiocese of Newark launched a new newspaper called “The Advocate,” which rolled out its first edition on Dec. 30, 1951.

NEWARK—The Choir of the Diocese of Rome will perform at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart, 89 Ridge St., on Friday, June 10 at 7:30 p.m. The Livingston Symphony Orchestra will accompany the choir with a repertoire featuring original pieces specifically composed for the late Pope John Paul II. The choir performed at the late pontiff’s beatification May 1 at the Vatican. Theologian and director, Rev. Msgr. Marco Frisina, founded the Choir of the Diocese of Rome in 1984. The group was created to accompany major diocesan liturgies, many of which are presided over by the Holy Father. Although the choir has 250 members, only about 50 made the trip for the American tour.

NEWARK—Catholics in the Archdiocese of Newark will have the opportunity to “Share in the Care” of senior Religious by participating in the annual collection for the Retirement Fund for Religious (RFR), to be held Dec. 11 and 12 at parishes throughout Bergen, Hudson, Essex and Hudson counties.

The RFR collection is coordinated by the National Religious Retirement Office (NRRO), Washington D.C., and provides financial support for the daily care of thousands of elderly Catholic Sisters, Brothers and religious-order priests.

ROSELLE-Hauling wheelbarrows, meticulously painting a gymnasium and tilling stubborn soil are not activities most high school students look forward to as they embark on summer vacation.

However, instead of basking in the sun at the shore, over 150 students at Roselle Catholic High School gave back to the community and their school during Summer Service Days June 16-18.

Here we are approaching the end of Lent, anticipating the Church-filling solemnities of Palm Sunday and Easter. Hopefully the days between the blackened cross of Ash Wednesday and the fresh-cut scent of the new palms to be blessed next weekend, come the praiseworthy stories of people's Lenten sacrifices and interior conversions.

Parish scrutinies relating to the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) should have helped the larger parish community to reflect on their own journeys of faith: where they've come from, where they are now, and, most especially, where they are going.

NEWARK-As he prepared for last weekend's three-day discernment retreat, Father John D. Gabriel, director of vocations for the Archdiocese of Newark, was guided by his vision of the experience as a time for men considering the priesthood "to discern, to listen, to speak and to enjoy the presence of Christ."

Reflecting on the essence of a retreat, Fr. Gabriel said "often in life, it seems to us that we are the ones making the decisions, that we guide our lives according to our own wishes and desires. Yet sometimes, even without knowing it, we are in fact being led by forces outside of ourselves." That, the former pastor of Saint Thomas More Parish, Fairfield, stressed, is what the retreat was all about.

NEWARK-The New Jersey Catholic Conference (NJCC), Trenton, will join forces with the New Jersey Knights of Columbus, the New Jersey Family Policy Council and other faith groups to stage a "Protect Marriage" rally Sunday, Oct. 25, 2-3:30 p.m. on the steps of the Statehouse, 121 West State St., Trenton.

Patrick Brannigan, NJCC executive director, said the purpose of the rally is to send a clear message to the New Jersey Legislature that the vast majority of New Jersey residents support traditional marriage, defined as a union of one man and one woman. He said NJ legislators have given notice that a vote to allow same-sex marriage would be taken after the November election.

Fate Knocks at Door One Morning in Gettysburg
Born in 1834 in Gettysburg, PA, Mary Virginia (Jennie) Wade was witness to one of the greatest battles of the American Civil War (July 1-3, 1863). During the morning of July 3, Jennie was baking bread to feed hungry soldiers. Tragically, a stray bullet mortally wounded Jennie as she was mixing dough. Earlier that day, unknown to Jennie, her fiancé was wounded. He would die nine days after Jennie was killed. The two are buried together in Gettysburg's Evergreen Cemetery. Jennie is believed to be the only civilian to have been killed in the historic Battle of Gettysburg.

Reporters Murray, Friedman Plan to 'Blog' All About It



ROSELLE - Among the thousands of young people attending World Youth Day in Sydney, Australia (July 15-20), 11 students from Roselle Catholic High School will be part of a contingent representing the Archdiocese of Newark at the international event.

The group from the Marist Brothers-led Union County high school-15 in total including chaperones-has many activities to look forward to as they head "down under" from July 6-20. Prior to World Youth Day, a Marist International Youth Festival will be held at a Marist high school in Sydney, gathering together over 700 students from the order's schools worldwide.

Keynote Speaker Describes her Abortion-Survival Saga



Traveling from all five dioceses throughout the Garden State, 750 high school students attended the fifth annual New Jersey Pro-Life Rally on Friday, April 18 on the South Orange campus of Seton Hall University (SHU).

When we look at the whole Easter tridiuum (the three days leading up to Easter) and the event of the Resurrection, what we would see is the greatest motivational story of all time. Beginning from Palm Sunday (the Sunday we celebrate Christ's triumphant entry into Jerusalem), everything looked bleak for Christ, the Son of God.

LINDEN-It was a powerful confession reflecting the life of a woman who was at the heart of the historic legal decision that ignited the abortion controversy in the United States 34 years ago.

"I am sorry that I listened to the lies. I was part of the court case that brought the holocaust of abortion into this country and for that I deeply apologize."

Parishioners across the Archdiocese of Newark began the charity work of their Lenten season by contributing to a very worthy cause: retired priests.