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PISCATAWAY – As pews sit empty in churches around the four-county Diocese of Metuchen because of social distancing due to the coronavirus, Catholics in the diocese are finding new ways to stay connected to their faith.

“When evening had come” (Mk 4:35). The Gospel passage we have just heard begins like this. For weeks now it has been evening. Thick darkness has gathered over our squares, our streets and our cities; it has taken over our lives, filling everything with a deafening silence and a distressing void, that stops everything as it passes by; we feel it in the air, we notice in people’s gestures, their glances give them away. We find ourselves afraid and lost. Like the disciples in the Gospel we were caught off guard by an unexpected, turbulent storm. We have realized that we are on the same boat, all of us fragile and disoriented, but at the same time important and needed, all of us called to row together, each of us in need of comforting the other. On this boat… are all of us. Just like those disciples, who spoke anxiously with one voice, saying “We are perishing” (v. 38), so we too have realized that we cannot go on thinking of ourselves, but only together can we do this. 

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — People who cannot get to confession because of the coronavirus lockdown or another serious reason can go to God directly, be specific about their sins, request pardon and experience God’s loving forgiveness, Pope Francis said.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — As more and more countries start to feel the economic pinch due to the coronavirus pandemic, Pope Francis urged business leaders to seek solutions that will not hurt employees and their families.

WASHINGTON (CNS) — As people throughout the U.S. self-isolate and retreat from daily life amid the COVID-19 pandemic, priests and women religious have become beacons of hope globally as they mobilize in unconventional ways.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Defending life is not an abstract concept but a duty for all Christians and it means protecting the unborn, the poor, the sick, the unemployed and migrants, Pope Francis said.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The Vatican has asked Catholic bishops around the world, both in the Latin rite and the Eastern Catholic Churches, to provide their faithful with resources to support personal and family prayer during Holy Week and at Easter, especially where COVID-19 restrictions prevent them from going to church.

BALTIMORE (CNS) — Catholic ethicists and legal experts are sounding the alarm that the scarcity of resources such as ventilators and hospital beds during the current coronavirus pandemic could prompt health care decisions based only on age and disability — and in some cases already is.

The coronavirus’ relentless global rampage intensifies daily. Nations have been forced to seal borders. Within communities, many find their horizons likewise reduced to the confines of their living spaces. And if residents can still venture forth, it’s often to limited destinations and perhaps under curfew. Apart from these current dire circumstances, and for many centuries, in fact, there has always been a world – the monastic world – of those who have freely chosen such enclosure as integral to fostering a contemplative way of discipleship.

The man born blind displays no arrogance whatsoever. He refuses to pass judgment on Jesus. He’s still not ready for a full confession of faith but there is one thing he does know: “I have received my sight,” an unquestionable fact. The Pharisees, though, leave the man with one choice: if you follow Jesus, then you are no longer a disciple of Moses. This counteraction of Moses to Jesus is seen by the Pharisees as the worst possible sin: to no longer be a disciple of Moses made the man born blind guilty of apostasy.

ALEXANDRIA — About 100 students from Rutgers University, New Brunswick, participated in an annual retreat sponsored by the college’s Catholic Center at Camp Tecumseh Feb. 21-23.

METUCHEN — An hour before the diocese’s annual Rite of Election and Call to Continuing Conversion began March 1, there was standing room only for visitors in the Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi.

Dear Readers, Due to the coronavirus, many of the scheduled events of the Diocese of Metuchen have been cancelled or postponed. The papers originally slated for April 2 and April 16 issues are cancelled. The next paper will appear on April 30. Your understanding is appreciated. God bless you all, Fr. Glenn J. Comandini, S.T.D. Managing Editor

Third Sunday of Lent (A) Our Gospel reading this Sunday is the well-known story of Jesus and the Samaritan Woman. In this passage, St. John provides a theologically and spiritually rich commentary on the person of Jesus and the process of coming to salvation. Placed on this Third Sunday of Lent, this Gospel is intended to whet the thirst of those preparing for the life-giving water of baptism, and to remind those already baptized of the ultimate source of their strength, the streams of life-giving water already flowing within them.

METUCHEN — “Courageous Love” was the theme at the annual diocesan Youth Day Celebration Feb. 8 at Saint Joseph High School. More than 250 students between grades seven and 12 from the diocese gathered in the school’s gymnasium to participate in activities, listen to speakers and worship at a Mass celebrated by Bishop James F. Checchio.

FORDS — Bishop James F. Checchio and Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Newark, were joined by civic and community leaders at a groundbreaking ceremony for the St. Paul the Apostle Senior Residence Feb. 25.

NEW BRUNSWICK — Catholic Charities’ Unity Square held an open house event: “Martin Luther King Jr. and Paul Robeson: Continuing Their Legacy” at its Community Center.

SOMERSET — Though the liturgical calendar declared Feb. 16 the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, the evening’s Mass in St. Matthias Church was anything but ordinary. Instead, the preaching, prayers, native costumes and, above all, the music, blended into a diverse yet unifying celebration of black history and Catholic faith.

Article 135 - Catechism of the Catholic Church Series Paragraphs 1776 -1794 Isn’t it true that there is much in our lives that we forget or perhaps simply suppress? I recalled one such memory recently when I heard the word “glockenspiel” mentioned on a television show...In my mind, I was suddenly transported back to the days of my youth when, throughout grammar school and into high school, I played the guitar and the clarinet. A tragic accident during my teenage years, however, caused me to break both arms and wrists; and, as a result, I no longer enjoyed the dexterity (fine motor skills) to play these instruments. Realizing my disappointment, my band instructor showed up at my house one Saturday morning with a musical instrument unfamiliar to me. He suggested that I could participate in the upcoming concerts for the current academic year with a new instrument called the glockenspiel, a percussion instrument easy to learn because it is composed of a set of tuned keys arranged in the fashion of the keyboard of a piano or organ. The added advantage was that the two wooden mallets used to play the instrument would also help strengthen my wrists and arms.

Last night, I watched a movie entitled “Captain Correlli’s Mandolin.” There I was amazed to find a minor theme which dovetails a major lesson projected through the Gospel account of the woman at the well. In the movie, situated on a Greek island during World War II, we find the Italian army, led by Nicholas Cage as Capt. Antonio Correlli. At this time in history, Mussolini and Hitler were allies. As such, after taking Albania, the Italians descended into Greece so, naturally, we find bitterness between the Italian soldiers and the villagers. This is underscored by the bitter attitude of a Greek physician’s daughter, portrayed by Penelope Cruz. In the film, she initially spurns the romantic advances of the musically-gifted Capt. Correlli because he is too light-hearted about the seriousness of war. It seemed his soldiers were more interested in having a good time than in fighting.