Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, This edition of “The Catholic Spirit” is published a week before Thanksgiving and this year we indeed, have so many reasons to be thankful! We just recently finished our 40th anniversary celebration of the diocese, which was a time to remember the graces that have come to us throughout these 40 years. The diocese has grown so much over the years as the population increased and generations of faithful responded by building parishes, new churches, and parish centers to serve their spiritual and pastoral needs. Recently, I also participated in some parish celebrations for anniversaries, 175, 150 and 100 years, parishes that existed well before our diocese, and 40 years at St. Charles Borromeo Church in Skillman, the first parish established after our diocese was founded. They were wonderful, spirit-filled and crowded celebrations. Times to thank God!

METUCHEN — “You [youth] are heralds to the Gospel. You are today’s new missionaries,” said Father John G. Hillier at the Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi Oct. 23.

On November 13, we celebrated the feast of a woman who left a comfortable life in Lombardy, the most prosperous area of Italy, in order to help others on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. I’m talking about Francis Xavier Cabrini, the youngest of 13 children in her family who became a religious sister and, in fact, founded an order of nuns known as the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart. Mother Cabrini, as she was known, weathered the rough waters of the North Atlantic to minister to the needs of migrants and immigrants in the United States and South America. Over the course of 28 years, she established almost 70 institutions — including many schools, hospitals and orphanages. She died in Chicago, a naturalized citizen of the United States in December 1917. Almost 30 years later, Mother Cabrini became the first naturalized citizen of the U.S. to be canonized a saint with a capital “S.”

When I was a kid, I was fascinated by magnets. I loved to watch the little magnetic skaters glide across a mirror in our family’s Christmas village at the flip of a switch and I enjoyed doing science experiments with magnets and iron shavings in school.

Since it was founded in 1847, members of St. Mary’s-Stony Hill Parish, Watchung, have been witnesses to monumental and mundane events in the history of New Jersey and the United States.

On Oct. 16, St. Stephen Protomartyr Parish celebrated major milestones at a Mass: its 115th anniversary; the 100th anniversary of the current church edifice, and the 15th anniversary of the founding of its Hispanic ministry that has revitalized the faith community.