News - October 2023 RSS Feed

This year during the month of October we celebrate the 50th Respect Life Month! Here in our Diocese, we opened the month with seven life chains in different towns where many lined the streets giving witness to the sanctity of life. I was able to participate in the life chain in Somerville. There I met and gave witness to life with wonderful parishioners from Somerville, Raritan, Bridgewater, Hillsborough and other towns in the area. There were students from Immaculata High School, too. The dedication of all the good people in life chains was certainly inspiring.

What about cases where general confession and absolution are offered in parishes? Are they valid? Yes, without a doubt, these confessions affect what they signify - provided those who are in mortal sin go to individual confession shortly after the time of general absolution. Is the sacrament of reconciliation using the third rite fruitful? Yes it is, provided the person who attends is at least attrite upon arrival and contrite upon leaving - satisfying his collective penance and confessing his or her mortal sins, if any, as soon as possible. However, there is more to a sacrament than validity and fruitfulness, there is the whole question of liceity, that is, the lawfulness of what is being done. It is the bishop’s privilege to decide what is best for the spiritual welfare of his diocese. It is the decision of our Bishop that general confession and absolution not be administered in the Diocese of Metuchen, except in emergency situations.

It has been nearly a year since my friend Elizabeth died. Elizabeth and I were friends all our lives. You could even say that we were friends before we were born because our mothers were friends before they married our fathers. Elizabeth’s mother was Russian Orthodox, and her father was Episcopalian. This made for an ecumenical richness in the bond that linked our two families.

On the evening of Sept. 15, the Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows, a kneeling congregation that filled the Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi, Metuchen, was led in reverent prayer of the Rosary by Contracorriente, the youth group from Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, New Brunswick, to prepare for the Diocesan Hispanic Mass.

The Office of RCIA is pleased to announce that it is hosting an RCIA Formation Event this November 10-11 at Immaculate Conception in Annandale. This two-day Making Disciples Institute will be run by Nick Wagner and Diana Macalintal from TeamRCIA and will provide our RCIA team members a comprehensive overview of the entire catechumenate process, focusing on each period.

Saturday, October 21 at 7:00pm. Cathedral Concerts at Saint Francis is pleased to present its first concert of the 2023-2024 season…City Winds Trio, featuring Crispian Fordham, Meredyth Coleman, and Jack Bender.

On May 30, 1862, Saint John Bosco, the founder of the Salesian Order, had a prophetic dream. In it, he describes seeing a naval battle, with numerous enemy ships in battle formation armed with cannons, bombs and firearms of all sorts, headed towards one great ship with the desire to destroy and set it aflame.

PERTH AMBOY – During Mental Illness Awareness Week, Oct. 1- Oct. 7, a dedicated time to spotlight the profound impact of mental health on individuals and communities, Catholic Charities, Diocese of Metuchen, one of the largest nonprofit social service providers in New Jersey, offers hope and unwavering support for those in need.

Driven by Catholic social teaching, Catholic Charities, Diocese of Metuchen, provides quality services with dignity and respect to the poor, vulnerable, and all people in need and partners with families and communities to improve the quality of life. For those who live in the counties of Hunterdon, Middlesex, Somerset and Warren, Catholic Charities offers a variety of services to help those in need to meet mental health challenges.

Legions of saints who have performed public miracles have enriched the faith of Catholics throughout the ages, but the simple efforts of a young, ailing Carmelite novice intent on living “the little way” continues to enrich followers with spiritual roses to this day.

On Saturday, Sept. 23, the Diocese of Metuchen’s African American, African and Caribbean Apostolate held an “Informative Day” in follow-up to July’s National Black Catholic Congress XIII in Washington D.C.

Life Choices Resource Center, Metuchen, hosted its First Annual Clergy Wine and Cheese/Meet and Greet night Sept. 22. Bishop James F. Checchio and some two dozen priests, deacons and volunteers gathered at the center’s Main Street offices for refreshments and a tour of the facility located across from the Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi.

On Respect Life Sunday, Bishop James F. Checchio, along with parishioners and Immaculata High School students, gathered at Immaculate Conception Parish, Somerville, to give witness to life at the annual Life Chain, a peaceful and prayerful public witness of pro-life individuals standing for 90 minutes praying for the nation and for an end to abortion. Life Chains, at locations across the Diocese, stood as a visual statement of solidarity by participants of all faiths, especially the Christian community, that abortion kills children and that the Church supports the sanctity of human life from the moment of conception until natural death. Since 1987, believers have gathered nationwide on the first Sunday of every October, Respect Life Month, to prayerfully stand for Life.

A woman once wrote me a letter describing the priestly kindness and fatherly care that I demonstrated toward her more than 10 years before when I was serving as her parish priest. She and her fiancé had approached me with a “holy” request – to prepare to receive the Sacrament of Matrimony. The woman was in her early 40’s and her boyfriend was in his 20’s when they came seeking marriage preparation. That was not the problem. The problem was that the young man had just gotten out of prison for armed robbery and kept busy spending the hard earned funds of his fiancée while refusing to seek gainful employment for himself. All of these things, coupled with the shabby way this man publicly treated his fiancée, made it clear to me as God’s priest that, in conscience, I could not officiate at their wedding or provide my blessing for them to get married. They left my office that day, screaming and shouting obscenities at me.

A sign on Main Street in front of Annunciation Church, Bloomsbury, welcomed Bishop James F. Checchio, parishioners and guests – a visible example of the pride and excitement parishioners felt as they celebrated the 75th anniversary of the founding of Annunciation Parish on Sept. 24.

Raritan’s Holy Trinity Parish, which, in the words of Bishop James F. Checchio, “sees what needs to be done and meets those needs,” celebrated 75 years of such faith-filled service Sept. 30 with a jubilee Mass.

Denise Metzgar, Kelly Craigle, Maggie Marcinko, and Alice Fogarty

Summer has ended, autumn is upon us, and parish catechetical programs are now in full swing.  For the average volunteer parish catechist, the task of partnering with parents to provide an age appropriate systematic presentation of the Catholic Faith can be daunting.  Whether you are a seasoned catechist or a newbie, getting to know your class while at the same time striving to provide engaging lessons can be a challenge.  To avoid being overwhelmed, sometimes it is helpful for us to take a step back and remind ourselves what our main objective really is.

Catechetical Sunday, which this year fell on Sept. 17, is an opportunity to celebrate catechists – those who share the Gospel and the teachings of the Church with others, especially the young.