On Monday, March 25, A1504/S1072, the Aid in Dying bill will be voted on in both the Senate and the Assembly. This assisted suicide bill is a direct threat to anyone viewed as a cost liability to an insurance company. In an era of cost control and managed care, patients with lingering illnesses may be branded as an economic liability, and decisions to encourage death could be driven by cost.

The Diocese of Trenton has issued an alert regarding reports of email and text scams that will use the name of a pastor to solicit funds in the form of gift cards or cash donations.

Jesus, Bread of Life Cemetery and Mausoleum, Mount Laurel, will hold Stations of the Cross for the Souls in Purgatory during the six Fridays of Lent beginning March 8 at 3 p.m. Sponsored by the Department of Catholic Cemeteries, faithful are invited to pray and reflect on the suffering journey of Christ as he traveled on the Way of the Cross to his Death on Calvary.

In rites and celebrations across the Diocese over the past few weeks, more than 700 adults and young people seeking full communion in the Church were formally recognized and lifted up in prayer.

Students selected as first-place winners and runners-up in the diocesan Respect Life contest were recognized during Masses March 3 in each of the Diocese’s four counties.

Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., has issued the following prayer request: The U.S. Senate recently failed to pass the Born-Alive Survivors Protection Act – legislation that prohibits infanticide by ensuring that a child born alive following an attempted abortion would receive the same degree of care to preserve her or his life and health as would be given to any other child born alive at the same gestational age.

This Ash Wednesday, March 6, parishes in the Diocese of Trenton will be taking up the annual collection to support the Catholic Church in Central and Eastern Europe. The funds collected are used to support seminaries, youth ministry, social service programs, pastoral centers, church construction and renovation and Catholic communications projects in 28 counties in Central and Eastern Europe.

The liturgical season of Lent will begin Wednesday, March 6. To commemorate this new season, Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M. has recently issued his 2019 Lenten Reflection and instructions to his flock on the faithful observance of Lent. In his message, Bishop O’Connell shares how Lent is not just a time for us to “give up” things, but also a time to simply “give.”