June 24, 2022

The United States Supreme Court’s ruling on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization to overturn the 1973 decision that legalized abortion nationwide recognizes that even the most helpless and dependent human beings have a right to life and possess inherent dignity and worth. 

The Catholic Church teaches that all human life is sacred, from conception to natural death. We must oppose the many threats to human life and dignity evident in contemporary society, including abortion, euthanasia, assisted suicide, and capital punishment. 

Abortion represents a failure to recognize the sanctity of human life and promotes a culture in which human life in its most vulnerable moment is perceived as disposable. It is telling that in the public debate, the unborn child frequently disappears from the moral calculus.

Furthermore, abortion is not healthcare. It is a disastrous attempt to create a false equivalency between the taking of innocent human life and the “reproductive health” of women in our society. It results in inhuman and lethal consequences.

We join with Pope Francis in noting that “it is troubling to see how simple and convenient it has become for some to deny the existence of a human life as a solution to problems that can and must be solved for both the mother and her unborn child” (Pope Francis, address to the United Nations, Sept. 25, 2020). Our Holy Father has repeatedly said that abortion is not a religious issue; it’s a human rights issue.  

We recognize that a woman’s decision to have an abortion is often tragic and painful. A woman who takes this desperate action is often under great duress and is encouraged by social structures that are patently sinful. As people who care deeply for all women struggling with unplanned or unwanted pregnancies, we must ensure that life-giving options are available and our support does not end simply with the birth of a child.

We recognize that a significant number of our fellow citizens are angered by this decision of our nation’s highest Court. We hope that all Americans can discuss respectfully how best to support women who face crucial decisions while recognizing the dignity of the most vulnerable among us.

We agree with the analysis of Pope Francis, who has made it clear that if we fail to protect life, no other rights matter.

Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R.
Archbishop of Newark

May 25, 2022

The disciples of Jesus that form the Archdiocese of Newark join our hearts and prayers for the anguished families of Uvalde, Buffalo, and many other communities across this country, including Newark, the city in which I live and love. The slaughter of children and teachers yesterday in Texas, and the surge of violence in communities nationwide, cannot be easily explained but must not be dismissed as a perverse “new normal.”

Cynically short-sighted solutions that facilely propose turning schools, grocery stores, and shopping malls into armed camps must be rejected. This nation cannot flourish by permitting the unregulated sale of weapons designed to kill. There is no convincing argument to justify the sale or possession of automatic rifles, oversize magazines, folding stocks, and other weapons that are used in an ever-growing number of massacres.

New laws alone will not change hearts. We need civil conversations around all the forms of violence that are tolerated, even celebrated in our culture. The role of social media, especially its indiscriminate use by young people, needs to be questioned. We adults must examine how our speech and slogans and our resignation and apathy contribute to violent death and the disintegration of our communities.

There is much to do, but for now, let us recognize our connection with the grieving families and plead with God to heal their broken hearts.

Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R.

Archbishop of Newark

TerraCycle®is a social enterprise on a mission to eliminate the idea of waste.

This platform offers free recycling programs funded by brands, manufacturers, and retailers around the world to help you collect and recycle your hard-to-recycle waste. For every pound we recycle our parish is rewarded monetarily which will benefit our many outreach programs. Supporting this program is beneficial to our parish and community as well as the philosophy of our St. Francis Ministry.

Presentation is enrolled in the following Terracycle® programs: BIC Stationary & Colgate oral care products. Please bring used or empty products and their packaging to the green recycle bin marked TerraCycle® in the back of the auditorium.

Learn more at www.terracycle.com.

Celebrate the Resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit with our 5-part weekly series!  Together, we will explore the person of the Holy Spirit and examine how the Spirit is alive in our hearts and world.  Join us as we share our own faith stories and as we explore these topics. Invite a friend!! Small Christian Communities can come together, or simply come and make new friends at your table.

This 5-part series will be led by Fr. JC & Catzel LaVecchia

…from 7:00pm-8:30pm on the following Tuesdays: April 26, May 3, May 17, May 24, & May 31

..& from 9:45am-11:15am on the following Wednesdays: April 27, May 4, May 18, May 25, & June 1

Note: No sessions on May 10 & May 11

Click here to sign up for either the evening sessions or morning sessions. Even if you missed a session or two, you’re still welcome! We look forward to seeing you!

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP & RECEIVE THE ZOOM LINK

Email justiceandpeace@churchofpresentation.org with any questions

Pope Francis, united to all the Bishops and Catholic faithful around the world, will consecrate Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on Friday, March 25, the Feast of the Annunciation.
The Act of Consecration will be prayed during the “24 Hours for the Lord” Lenten pentential service in St. Peter’s Basilica, which begins at 5:00 pm Rome time.
The Pope will pray the Act of Consecration around 6:30 pm, and has asked all Bishops and priests to join him spiritually in this prayer, which will be broadcast across our Vatican News channels – radio, website, YouTube, and Facebook – with English-language commentary.  Attached here is the official translation of the Act of Consecration.

Church of the Presentation will offer the 9am Mass on March 25 to this intention.

January 21, 2022

No one is unwanted. God’s love embraces all.

Every human life is sacred. Every person is a child of God who possesses incomparable dignity and worth—no matter what his or her state in life or personal gifts and talents. Regardless of who we are; or what our background is; or the state of our physical, emotional or mental health; or our accomplishments; or our race, religion or cultural heritage; or our age; or our social status; every individual human being is precious in the sight of God and, therefore, should also be valuable in the eyes of his or her fellow human beings.

No one is unwanted. God’s love embraces all.

Think for a moment of the power of that statement. Can it really be true that God—who made the universe in all its vastness and complexity—knows and loves each and every one of us, including (or perhaps especially) those of us who have been rejected by parents, families, communities or society as a whole? 

Yes! God sees in us (all of us, every one of us) something that is worth more than we can possibly imagine—something that far exceeds silver or gold, power or prestige, fame or fortune. 

When Pope Francis formally began his ministry as bishop of Rome and as pope, he pledged to protect the dignity of each person and the beauty of creation, just as St. Joseph protected the Blessed Virgin Mary and her son, Jesus.

“To protect creation, to protect every man and every woman, to look upon them with tenderness and love is to open up a horizon of hope,” the Holy Father said. During his first World Day of Peace message, Pope Francis expressed it this way: “New ideologies, characterized by rampant individualism, egocentrism and materialistic consumerism, weaken social bonds, fueling that ‘throw away’ mentality which leads to contempt for, and the abandonment of, the weakest and those considered useless. ”

Despair is a consequence of the radical devaluation of the human person. Hope comes when human dignity is recognized and affirmed. 

Every human being is wanted by God because every single person has been given the gift of life. This gift is a share in God’s own being that is more precious than anything we can possibly imagine. Life itself is the treasure given to us by God to be nurtured and protected and shared generously with others. Nothing on Earth is more valuable than human life. That’s why deliberately taking a human life by murder, abortion, euthanasia, infanticide or any other means is such a grave sin. God alone gives life, and only he can take it back again.

No one is unwanted by God. That’s why we reverence all life, why we help the handicapped and care for the infirm and the elderly, why we encourage and assist women with unplanned pregnancies and why we speak out forcefully against all attempts to treat society’s unwanted human beings as somehow less valuable than they truly are in the sight of God. 

No one is unwanted in God’s family. We don’t always show it as clearly as we should, but all are welcome. All are valued. All are members of the Body of Christ. All life is sacred—especially those who feel unwanted or who have been rejected by the unjust, unloving and inhuman laws, policies and social practices of this and every other age.

Just last year, in his 2021 World Day of Peace message, Pope Francis said:

As Christians, we should always look to Our Lady, Star of the Sea and Mother of Hope. May we work together to advance towards a new horizon of love and peace, of fraternity and solidarity, of mutual support and acceptance. May we never yield to the temptation to disregard others, especially those in greatest need, and to look the other way; instead, may we strive daily, in concrete and practical ways, “to form a community composed of brothers and sisters who accept and care for one another”.

No one should ever have to wonder, “Does God really want me?” God wants everyone. That means he wants you and me, and every human being who has ever lived, and everyone who is yet to be conceived. 

“Therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice, and cleaving to him; for that means life to you and length of days” (Dt 30: 19-20).

Sincerely yours in Christ the Redeemer,
Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R
Archbishop of Newark

Download our Adult Faith Formation Winter 2022 Offerings Flyer

Why come to the table? Jesus had a thing about tables. He loved them, and he sat with so many people sharing a meal, talking, and giving Himself to them. It is our heritage almost, to do the same! We gather here at “the best table in town” which provides the setting for the divine sacrifice and gift of the Eucharist. We come together in less formal ways to share a meal, a cup of coffee or a glass of wine and we celebrate milestones and revisit memories and share life together. At all of these tables, all of these sacred spaces, Jesus is with us.  

Join us this year as we explore what it means to Come to the Table.  Join us as we explore the ordinary sacred ritual of gathering around the table in our homes and together as a parish community. Join us for formation opportunities that invite us to come to the table of justice, peace, fellowship, joy and love. Let’s see how Jesus reveals Himself to us. He knew the graces of the table and used it as sacred space as He proclaimed His kingdom… and He wants us to do the same.