Will Provide School Children with Access to Fishing and Outdoor Activities

September 21, 2012

ARCHBISHOP CHAPUT\’S WEEKLY COLUMN:

Writing in about the year 116, the pagan historian Tacitus described a fringe group of religious blasphemers who lived in Rome under the emperor Nero. They refused to honor the gods. They engaged in \”superstitious abominations\” and worshiped a crucified criminal. They were blamed for Rome\’s great fire in A.D. 64, and as a result, they were hunted down and put to death.

Three hundred years later, they were the official religion of the Roman state.

Numbers can be misleading. They\’re never the best way to measure the health of the Christian faith. The Church in Rome\’s catacombs was small. But she was stronger than any of her critics or persecutors. And that\’s as true today as it was in the time of Tacitus. A century ago, sub-Saharan Africa had fewer than 2 million Christians. Today it has more than 130 million. That\’s a growth rate of nearly 7,000 percent. We live in a supposedly \”post-Christian\” age. But Christianity is alive and growing rapidly across the entire Southern Hemisphere – arguably faster than any other religion in the world, including Islam.

That\’s the good news. Of course, there\’s another side to history.

In A.D. 600, the Mediterranean world had hundreds of thriving Christian communities. Around that time, two Greek monks, John Moschos and Sophronius, began a pilgrimage. They went to Egypt, Jerusalem and around the great Middle East heartland of Christianity. They wrote a journal called The Spiritual Meadow. A best seller in its day, and still a Christian classic, it was a kind of spiritual travelogue — a record of the wisdom, visions and stories from the historic center of the Christian faith.

John Moschos died in the year 619, unaware of an obscure Arab holy man named Mohammed. Within a hundred years, Muslim armies had overrun all of the Middle East, North Africa and most of Spain. Today, St Augustine\’s diocese of Hippo is a Muslim town in Algeria. In Iraq, Saddam Hussein\’s hometown of Tikrit was once a center of Christian scholarship. In the birthplace of Christianity, after centuries under Islam, Christian minorities face discrimination and frequent violence. They barely manage to survive.

Here\’s my point. Jesus said the gates of hell would never prevail against his Church, and his word is good. But he didn\’t promise anything about our local real estate and institutions. The Canadian scholar Douglas Farrow once wrote that \”St. Peter will have his successors until the Lord comes, but his successors may not always have St. Peter\’s.\” In other words, God is faithful — but he makes no guarantees about infrastructure or the status quo or even our next breath.

Human beings make history, not the other way around. This is why each of our lives matters. God is love; a God of life and deliverance and joy. He made us to be happy with him; to be loved by him; and to bring others to know his love. That\’s the glory of being alive. That\’s the grandeur of being a disciple of Jesus Christ.

The task of preaching and teaching, growing and living the Catholic faith in our time, in this country, belongs to you and me. No one else can do it. The future depends on God, but he builds it with the living stones we give him by the example of our lives.

So today, tomorrow, and in the coming Year of Faith — which begins in just a few weeks — we need to remember the words of the Epistle of James: \”Be doers of [God\’s] word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves\” (Jas 1:22).

We live for the glory of God, and we prove it in the love we show to each other.

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As the days get shorter and the nights get cooler, our work in Trenton begins to pick up once again. 

Governor Needs to be Straight with NJ After Rise in Unemployment and S&P Downgrade

Unfortunately, yesterday we saw the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics announce that New Jersey’s unemployment rate rose in August for the fifth month in a row. The 9.9 percent jobless rate is the highest in 35 years, topping the previous 35-year high of 9.8 percent set in July. Meanwhile, the U.S. unemployment rate dropped again in August from 8.2 percent to 8.1 percent, showing that New Jersey’s recovery continues to lag behind the nation as a whole.

Surrounded by his loving family who cared for him, on September 22, 2012. Age 75. Of
Gloucester City. Loving and devoted husband of 24 years to Helen P. (nee Grandizio). Loving father of Kenneth G. Turing, Jr. (Lynda), Kathleen Greene (Jerry), Kara Silvestri (Jim) and Kristine Dyson. Loving step-father of Robert Gaff (Wendy) and Lauri Baldi (James). Cherished grandfather of 14, great grandfather of 2 and 1great-grand \”on the way.\” Dear brother of Charles Turing (Laura), Ronald Turing (Mary Ellen), the late Frank Turing and the late Robert Turing (surviving Mary). Also survived by his sister-in-laws, Mary Smith, Theresa Taylor, Gloria Grandizio and brother -in-law Frank Grandizio and many nieces and nephews.

The NJDEP Division of Fish and Wildlife is reminding saltwater anglers about two up-coming recreational regulation changes.

Date passed by Gloucester City council September 4, 2012

New Law Makes Automated External Defibrillators (AED) and Cardiac Emergency Action Plans a Requirement in All New Jersey Schools

Friday, September 21, 2012 Trenton, NJ – Acting to safeguard the lives of New Jersey’s K-12 students, Governor Chris Christie today signed \”Janet’s Law,\” requiring all public and nonpublic schools to have automated external defibrillators (AED) on site. In addition, the new law (A-1608), calls for schools to establish emergency action plans to respond to sudden cardiac events, in order to be as prepared as possible to deal with life-threatening emergencies. The law is named in memory of Janet Zilinski, an 11-year-old resident from Warren who died of sudden cardiac arrest following cheerleading squad practice.

HOBOKEN, N.J. (September 22, 2012) – The Stevens Institute of Technology field hockey team improved to 3-0 in the Empire 8 and 5-3 overall with a thrilling 4-3 win over Ithaca College Saturday evening at the De Baun Athletic Complex. Junior midfielder Chelsea Cresci (Wilmington, Del.) and junior forward Marguerite Chavez (Oceanport, N.J.) each totaled three points for the Ducks.

Despite dominating the first half on the stat sheet and in terms of field position and possession, Stevens went into the intermission with a one-goal lead. The Ducks jumped on top 1-0 at the11:26 mark when Cresci was able to put home her own rebound. It was her second score of the season.

Ithaca came out strong in the second half, nearly tying the game 7:20 in, but senior backSamantha Weisman (Fairfax, Va.) was able to step in front of a 2-on-1 break, keeping Stevens in the lead for the moment.

After another diving denial by McClymont, the Stevens keeper fell on the ball giving Ithaca a penalty stroke. The Bombers were unable to convert and the score held at 4-2 with 4:17 left. With1:20 left, McClymont again made a diving save but covered the ball to give Ithaca another stroke. This time Ithaca converted to get within one goal (4-3), but Stevens was able to do enough to hold on for a thrilling win – its third-straight one-goal win in as many outings.

Stevens is now 3-0 in conference play, a half-game ahead of Hartwick College (2-0) and one game ahead of St. John Fisher College (2-1). The Ducks will return to action Sunday in Alexandria, Va. against Christopher Newport University in a non-conference showdown. CNU is the 13th-ranked team in the nation.

www.StevensDucks.com

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Gloucester Catholic celebrated an Opening Liturgy and Installation of Student Council Officers on Tuesday, September 18. New Student Council officers include Julia Pedersen, Kathleen Golden and Kelly Coppola. Proud Parents attended the liturgy and ceremony along with the entire GC student body.

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