Beginning Friday afternoon, 24 Hours for the Lord

GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP — From Friday, March 4, to Saturday, March 5, seven parishes in the Diocese of Camden kept their doors open for 24 hours, offering the sacrament of reconciliation and Eucharistic adoration to any visitor wishing to encounter Jesus Christ.

The diocesan locations united with Catholic communities around the world in offering time for reflection, prayer and penance, consistent with Pope Francis’ call to experience, and model, Jesus’ love during this Jubilee Year of Mercy.

At Stockton’s Campus Ministry Center, the young church began to gather Friday evening, with Father James King, chaplain of Stockton, offering Mass before hearing confessions.

In this, the third year of 24 Hours For the Lord, the fact that it fell during the Year of Mercy was “particularly important” now, Father King said.

He believes it was not only an opportunity for confession, but emphasized to students that they “should be praying for those who may be away from God and need to experience his mercy.”

At the same time, “We are all called to be the merciful face of God to others through our very lives.”

As he prepared to hear confession for the next 24 hours, Father King was joined in the center by students, who would spend that same time in adoration, prayer, and watching the Mel Gibson film “The Passion of the Christ.”

“Stockton’s students are engaged, and are a witness to Christ by the way they live and by the way they pray,” Father King said.

Amanda Dupras, Stockton sophomore and service chair of the campus ministry, was one of the students planning to spend all of the 24 hours in the center on Pomona Road.

“For this entire period of time, we are all joining together with everyone in the world in prayer and confession, not only hearing God’s mercy, but praying that others experience it, as well.”

In addition to Stockton’s Campus Ministry Center, the churches in the diocese that kept their doors open all 24 hours were Saint Rose of Lima, Haddon Heights; Holy Child Parish, Saint Teresa Church, Runnemede; Holy Angels Parish, Saint Patrick Church, Woodbury; Saint Gianna Beretta Molla Parish, Saint Bernadette Church, Northfield; Holy Cross Parish, Saint Teresa of Avila Church, Bridgeton; and Saint John of God, North Cape May.