News - February 2024 RSS Feed

It feels like we just finished Christmas and here we are in Lent already! Ash Wednesday began our Lenten season, and we heard the Lord beckoning us to return to Him with our whole hearts! How do we do that? The Church provides us with a new opportunity to focus ourselves anew on Christ through the three Lenten practices of prayer, fasting and almsgiving.

Bishop James F. Checchio celebrated the Mass of Christian Burial for Rev. Msgr. William J. Capik at the Church of St. James in Basking Ridge on Feb. 5. Msgr. Capik was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Trenton on June 4, 1955, in the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption, Trenton.

If the 47 teens seated in the pews of the Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi, Metuchen Feb. 3 are any indication, the future of the Diocese of Metuchen is in good hands.

Several years ago, a Pew research study revealed 69 percent of all self-identified Catholics said they believed the consecrated bread and wine used at Mass are not Jesus, but instead “symbols of the body and blood of Jesus Christ.” Although shocking, this probably does not come from a place of skepticism or malice, but more from a place not knowing how the Church arrived at the conclusion that the Eucharist is truly the Body and Blood of Jesus in the form of bread and wine.

What is your idea of God? Christian art and symbolism use imagery to aid the human mind in forming a concept of God. For example, painters portray God as wise and dignified, while some artists symbolize God as a giant eye in stained glass windows in churches. To form a true notion of the infinite majesty of God, however, we need to expand our horizons with a more complete and balanced idea of Him. Otherwise, we become like those who say that there is no God, that our world has no Maker because we cannot imagine anyone big enough or magnificent enough to make it!

In honor of the Chinese Lunar New Year, Metuchen Chinese Catholics worshipped at Mass celebrated by Father Biao Wu in Our Lady of Mount Virgin Church, Middlesex, Jan. 11. Father Wu is currently studying at Seton Hall University, South Orange. Mass was followed by fellowship and dances, as well as an opportunity to hear Father Wu sing. Some 100 people were in attendance, a return to pre-Covid numbers for worship by the Chinese community.

Though the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision was overturned, pro-life individuals must still testify to the value of life in all forms and at all stages, declared Bishop James F. Checchio at the annual diocesan Respect Life Mass held Jan. 21 in the Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi, Metuchen.

A bus filled with faithful from the Diocese of Metuchen left the Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi early on Jan. 19 to join like-minded brothers and sisters in a trip to the nation’s capital and boldly proclaim their peace-filled manifesto: life in all its forms is sacred and must be protected. The National March for Life attracted thousands from the pro-life generation and others intent on using prayer and love to change hearts and minds.

When Pope Francis instituted the ministry of catechist with his Apostolic Letter Antiquum Ministerium, he stressed that the presence of those called to share in the work of catechesis “is all the more urgently needed today as a result of our increasing awareness of the need for evangelization in the contemporary world and the rise of a globalized culture.

“Most often, the work of the Saints will go unnoticed and unseen,” wrote Father Steve Grunow, in a 2017 Word on Fire article. “Saints are not celebrities, and those saints who capture the attention of the world, view that renown as the imposition of a cross."

Vietnam, like many East Asian countries, observes a lunar calendar, thus the celebration of New Years Day varies annually, but always occurs between late January and early February. 

In 2022, a significant initiative emerged from a thorough analysis of the needs of the Hispanic community within the Diocese. Led by Father Gustavo Rodríguez and Deacon Edgar Chaves, interim co-directors of the Hispanic Evangelization Office, this endeavor aimed to address how to offer opportunities for the Hispanic faithful community to deepen their relationship with God.