News - November 2023 RSS Feed

November is a wonderful month, despite the arrival of winter, of which I am not a huge fan. The colder weather makes my morning walks tougher, especially when the winds pick up or snow comes. Sometimes I am forced to use the treadmill instead! I enjoy being outside and in our neighborhoods as the day’s activities start, but the treadmill gets me moving, too and I can still pray the Rosary and organize my day during that time. 

During this Year of Parish Revival, consider spending some time visiting and praying at the Eucharistic Miracle Exhibit to be on display Nov. 28 – Dec. 10 at St. Jude Parish.

During his Oct. 18 general audience, Pope Francis declared Friday, Oct. 27, to be a day of fasting, penance and prayer for peace, and encouraged “the various Christian confessions, members of other religious, and all who hold the cause of peace in the world at heart to participate.” In response to that call, on Oct. 27, St. Mary-Stony Hill Parish, Watchung, hosted an Interfaith Service for Peace in their church.

Bishop James F. Checchio spoke on behalf of the hundreds of faithful filling the Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi Oct. 25 when he told the uniformed police personnel seated before him, “Thank God for you. We pray for your safety.”

Being away from home is never easy.  Whether it be for a work trip, college, or even while travelling – there is always something within us that loves home and wants to return to it.

The ancient truism, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church,” was truly evident the weekend of the Eucharistic Congress held Oct. 20-22 at the Shrine of Our Lady of Martyrs in Auriesville, N.Y. In spite of the wet, chilly weather roughly 8,500 people flocked to the holy grounds, once the 17th century Mohawk village of Ossernenon, where three of the eight Jesuit missionaries, today known as the North American Martyrs, gave their lives while spreading the Gospel to Native American peoples.

Saturday, December 16 at 7:30pm. Come join the Metuchen/Edison/Middlesex County community for the Saint Francis Chamber Orchestra and Chorus’s annual presentation of George Frederik Handel’s timeless oratorio.

One of the many joys of my priesthood has been celebrating the Sacrament of Penance – listening to Confessions and imparting absolution in persona Christi (in the person of Christ). As a young seminarian preparing for the priesthood, however, I often felt a little apprehension anticipating my role in this sacrament. I couldn’t imagine how I could hear so much about sin and darkness, doom and gloom, and then be able to function with a clear mind and heart without being affected by this shadow side of humanity, especially on the occasions when I left the confessional to immediately begin offering a public Holy Mass.

God always goes first. Salvation history teaches us that Almighty God, out of his own gracious and loving goodness, freely decided to share the life and love of the Trinity with humanity, the capstone of his creation. God stepped out of mystery and revealed himself to us. Even when humanity responds as God wills, it is always God who has gone first, who has reached out, prepared, invited, and, in fact, loved each and every human person so that we might know him, love him, and serve him. Christians respond to that call, when either by themselves, or through their parents, they are Baptized. Another term for this “call” is our “vocation (from the Latin word ‘vocare,’ which means ‘to call’).”

Priests from throughout the Diocese of Metuchen gathered to refresh body and soul while celebrating their fraternal bonds during the annual convocation Oct. 10-12 in The Breakers on the Ocean, Spring Lake. The convocation addressed both the spiritual and the sacred, with the priests participating in Morning and Evening Prayer, Eucharistic Adoration and the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

The statistics tell the story – and they are significant and sobering. The Diocese of Metuchen has 158 active priests serving 90 parishes, according to Bob McMorrow of the nonprofit Vocation Ministry, which has studied the issue of priest shortages while helping about 50 dioceses nationwide since its formation about a decade ago.

In September, Bishop James F. Checchio met with Prioress Mother Beatriz Aguirre Oros, of the Augustinian Recollect Nuns in Belvidere. While no longer a cloistered community, their contemplative status allows them to host individuals and small group retreats throughout the year. With the gift to receive individuals, the community now hopes to establish a gift shop to sell their baked goods, homemade jams, and religious artwork.

In October, 1948, six spiritual daughters of St. Teresa of Avila journeyed from their monastery in Morristown to establish a new Carmelite foundation in what was then the Diocese of Trenton. Mother Mary Magdalen of Jesus Crucified was the foundress of the monastery, originally located in New Brunswick. In 1972 the Carmel of Mary Immaculate and St. Mary Magdalen found a home at 26 Harmony School Road, Flemington.

On Oct. 22, 2023, three seminarians from the Diocese of Metuchen at the Immaculate Conception Seminary, Seton Hall, South Orange, were instituted into the Ministry of Acolyte in the Chapel of the Good Shepherd. Bishop Manuel A. Cruz, Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Newark, was the principal celebrant joined by several concelebrating priests from the various dioceses and religious orders in New Jersey, including Msgr. John Fell, diocesan director of seminarians. Pictured, from left, are seminarians James Prumos, Thomas Pluhar, and Patrick Rasimowicz.

Three years in the planning – that’s how long it took Reverend Canon Robert Lynam, pastor, St. Augustine of Canterbury Parish, Kendall Park, to arrange a visit to Rome for an audience with Pope Francis for Father Thomas Lanza and his parents as a gift from the parish in honor of Father Lanza’s ordination by Bishop James F. Checchio Aug. 29, 2020.

“If we really knew Jesus the world would be a different place,” said John Edwards, founder of PEW Ministries and host of the “Just A Guy in the PEW” podcast. Edwards was the keynote presenter for the first Men’s Leadership Summit for the men of the Somerset Hills Deanery held Oct. 27-28 at St. James Parish, Basking Ridge.

Though hundreds watched them intently, the couples celebrating 25, 50 or more years of marriage only had eyes for one another.