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.”