December 22, 2022

Recognize arrival of King of Peace, celebrate it like never before

many in the world living in turmoil, where consumerism dominates daily living and the pursuit of pleasure and superficial joy blocks the vision of the kingdom of God and its eternal rewards.

the same, or love the same.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Christmas is such an important feast day, that the Church says you cannot celebrate it on just one day, so we celebrate the Nativity of Our Lord for a whole week. Our prayers at Mass especially reflect this as we say the prayers of Christmas day throughout the whole week.

As a Church and as individuals, we prepare ourselves for Christmas throughout the four weeks of Advent. Sadly, some individuals spend that time preparing their home but not their heart for the coming of the Christ child. Why is this?

We live in a time when a significant part of the Christian world has lost its hold on the faith, where family life is often distracted and struggling to find a center, where permanent commitment of any kind is becoming an exception, where anxiety and depression has taken a hold of so many, especially our young, where violence, fratricide and retribution often fill the news, where war and terror have so

Indeed, we live in an environment in which the faith is often challenged, where Christian living and values are considered politically incorrect by many, where the value of life is diminished in so many ways, and where the Church is not held in confidence by many, and its wisdom is often ridiculed and dismissed as irrelevant.

Given all of this, Christmas is the greatest reminder, my brothers and sisters in Christ, that the answer to the world’s problems and our own needs as people of faith, is found in one person, the person who is at the center, the very heart of all reality, the one who is to come, has come at Christmas and remains with us, especially through the Eucharist. All created reality takes its meaning, true meaning, from Him, Jesus Christ.

The confirmation or meaning of all our choices in life comes from knowing, loving and serving Him. There is no substitute, no way around it. Jesus Christ comes today, and everything is affected by it, as we can never think the same, be

We celebrate Christmas for a whole week, so that we can let it soak in, deeply. This year, let us recognize the arrival of the King of Peace and celebrate it like we have never before. Let it mold our lives more as we recommit ourselves to Him. There is no thing, possession nor person in this world that can take the place of knowing Christ, born to us today, and loving Him from the heart of who we are. It is what we were made for. There is no shortcut to happiness that can be recommended, no substitute or fast-track plan that will fulfill us.

Let us beg that our celebration of Christmas this year, our recalling of the birth of Christ, will not only open our hearts up more fully to God, the King of Love, but that it will also make us more and more willing to love as He did.

Our anxieties in life have a solution, and it is only Jesus, and our drawing closer to Him who seeks us. We are God’s greatest desire. He wants nothing from us, but just wants to be with us, to accompany us in life, until we return to Him at the end of our lives. That’s the whole reason God became man, and hence we have Christmas.

Yes, the confirmation or meaning of

Pope urges faithful to keep creche in Christmas

By Cindy Wooden

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Stopping to gaze at and perhaps pray before a Nativity scene is one of the best ways to remember the real meaning of Christmas, Pope Francis said.

“In its genuine poverty,” the pope said, “the creche helps us to rediscover the true richness of Christmas and to purify ourselves of so many aspects that pollute the Christmas landscape.”

Pope Francis met Dec. 3 with the artisans who carved the 18-piece Nativity scene in St. Peter’s Square; the donors of

the white pine Christmas tree; the residents of a psychiatric rehabilitation center who, along with a group of students and grandparents, created the ornaments; and with representatives of the government of Guatemala, which set up another Nativity scene in the Vatican audience hall.

“Simple and familiar, the Nativity scene recalls a Christmas that is different from the consumerist and commercial Christmas. It is something else. It reminds us how good it is for us to cherish moments of silence and prayer in our days, often overwhelmed by frenzy,” Pope Francis told them during a midday gathering.

The group was scheduled to gather in St. Peter’s Square in the evening for the official unveiling of the Nativity scene and the lighting of the Christmas tree. But a major rainstorm with a forecast for more caused the Vatican to move the evening festivities indoors, although hundreds of people still were in the square for the lighting.

Meeting with the donors, Pope Francis encouraged everyone to find some quiet time to spend before a creche at Christmas.

“Silence encourages contemplation of the child Jesus,” the pope said, and “helps us to become intimate with God, with the fragile simplicity of a tiny newborn baby, with the meekness of his being laid down, with the tender affection of the

all our life’s choices comes from knowing, loving and serving Him. There is no substitute, no way around it. So come let us adore Him, today and every day, especially on Sundays as He asks us to gather in worship to be fortified and built up in grace and virtue through our reception of Him in the Eucharist, the greatest gift He gives us. Yes, we are loved and cherished beyond all reason, unconditionally and undeservedly by our loving Father. May this Christmas renew in us our commitment to be His true disciples

Please know of my daily prayers for all of you. It is such a great joy to be your Bishop. Please pray for me, too. I love you and look forward to continuing to work with all of you to make God’s presence known in our parishes and our beautiful diocese. May God bless each of you! A blessed Christmas to all of you and your loved ones.

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swaddling clothes that envelop him.”

“If we really want to celebrate Christmas,” he said, “let us rediscover through the crib the surprise and amazement of littleness, the littleness of God, who makes himself small, who is not born in the splendor of appearances, but in the poverty of a stable.”

Prayer before the Nativity Scene

God of every nation and people, from the very beginning of creation

You have made manifest your love: when our need for a Savior was great You sent your Son to be born of the Virgin Mary, To our lives he brings joy and peace, justice, mercy and love.

Lord, bless all who look upon this manger; may it remind us of the humble Birth of Jesus, and raise up our thoughts to him, who is God-with-us And Savior of all, and who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.

Most Reverend James F. Checchio JCD, MBA Bishop of Metuchen

Correction On page 13 of the November issue of “The Catholic Spirit,” it was incorrectly stated that Christopher M.C. Deibert earned a bachelor of arts degree at the University of Scranton. It should have said that he pursued undergraduate studies at the university. Deibert, the diocese’s new Director of Music, was also incorrectly identified as the organist for the Diocese’s Mass at the Basilica Shrine in Washington, D.C. He was the Director of Music and Choirmaster for the event. William Berg was the organist.

Diocese celebrates annual liturgy for law enforcement personnel

By Christina Leslie Correspondent

METUCHEN — It was a day to thank those who had sworn to protect and serve, “our partners in working for the common good,” declared Bishop James F. Checchio to the law enforcement personnel filling the Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi Oct. 26 for the 20th annual Blue Mass.

The bishop presided at the Mass, which honors the living and deceased police personnel who live and serve in the counties served by the diocese: Hunterdon, Middlesex, Somerset and Warren.

Local and state dignitaries, as well as grateful citizens and students, filled the pews and choir loft to show their gratitude for the “men and women in blue.”

“With the hard times we have been dealing with, and the world in general, it is important to get together in a positive way,” said Virginia Lopez, a member of the New Brunswick Police Department.

New Jersey State Police Sgt. 1st Class James Doyle said, “We are here to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice and support the families.”

On Main Street outside the Cathedral, a firetruck dangled a colossal American flag from its extended ladder. Police cars with whirling red and blue lights, a long row of police motorcycles, mounted policemen, tactical officers and even a trio of sharpshooters atop the adjacent St. Francis Cathedral School roof further alerted all passersby to the grand and reverential event about to begin.

A police honor guard marched into the Cathedral in perfect, staccato time and was followed closely by tartan-clad pipers and drummers.

Joining Bishop Checchio in the

procession were concelebrating priests of the diocese who serve as police chaplains; representatives from this year’s host agency, the Middlesex County Sheriff’s Office, served as readers, gift bearers and assistants at the liturgy.

In his homily, Deacon Patrick Smith

of the Jamesburg Police Department. He advised his brothers and sisters in blue to stay focused and follow the words of the Gospel.

“Strive to enter through the narrow door,” Smith said, “for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough… For behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will

be last. (Lk 13:22-30)

“Jesus is the narrow path. [He] guides us,” Deacon Smith said. “Our path is not easy, the world outside is not easy. continued on page 6

Above, Bishop James F. Checchio blesses law enforcement personnel from the diocese after the 20th annual Blue Mass at the Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi, Metuchen. Below right, Middlesex County Sheriff Mildred S. Scott reads from the ambo at the Cathedral. Below left, a member of the Middlesex County Police and Fire Pipe and Drum Corps plays “Amazing Grace.” Bottom of page, Bishop Checchio, who presided at the liturgy, poses with the prosecutors from the counties served by the diocese, from left: Renée M. Robeson, Hunterdon; Yolanda Ciccone, Middlesex; John P. McDonald, Somerset, and James L. Pfeiffer, Warren. Representatives from the Middlesex County Sheriff’s Office,

The feast of the Immaculate Conception gives credibility to the mystery of the Incarnation, the doctrine which holds that in the fullness of time, the eternal Son of God became man. After all, it’s hard to believe that God shared in our humanity. How do we know that Jesus was not dropped out of heaven simply clothed as a man? Well, our doubt is resolved by the Immaculate Conception which speaks to us about a plan. If the Son of God was to become man, then he would have to share in our humanity in all ways but sin. He would have to be conceived in an immaculate woman — for God and sin do not mix. He would have to grow from embryo to fetus to infant in the womb of one who would be worthy of housing a divine person.

Thus, there developed a belief in the Christian community that from all eternity, God had chosen Mary to be the sinless vessel through which the Son of God would enter our world.

Sometimes we have this image of the Incarnation as an event taking place in Heaven or maybe in outer space, but

the Immaculate Conception reminds us that the woman who evolved from this sacred seed, conceived without sin, was the place where God met man. It is in MARY where the Incarnation took place. Is it not fitting, then, that we honor the immaculate conception of this woman, born out of the love of Sts. Joachim and Ann, chosen from all eternity by God our Father to be the mother of his only Son? Absolutely! For as we pay homage to her, we pay tribute as well to the fruit of her womb, Jesus, through whom and in whom, “God saves.”

If we look, for example, at the Joyful Mysteries of the rosary, we will find five portraits of a woman in whose image any action hero pales.

In the Annunciation, we encounter a young teen that is told by an Angel that she would conceive and bear a child — not just any kid but the Son of God. Imagine her courage as she responds: “Be it done unto me as you say.”

And in the Visitation, Mary leaves Nazareth to help her cousin, Elizabeth — not because she wanted to get

out of town, she had to leave. Unwed and pregnant, Mary knew that people would ostracize her had she stayed in Nazareth — or worse, the neighbors might haggle her parents. Imagine her integrity and pride as she chooses to leave the hometown rather than bring shame or confrontation to her parents’ home.

The Nativity looks nice when we construct the crèche year after year— a cozy nook surrounded by angels, kings, gifts and darling shepherds. But the truth is Mary had to give birth like an animal — in the damp straw of a dark stable. What pain she must have endured as she lay on the cold ground, receiving no coaching from a midwife, no solace from her own mother. Here we catch a glimpse of a woman of great valor as she welcomes into the world the Prince of Peace.

In The Presentation, Mary thought that Simeon would simply circumcise Jesus, making him a bona fide member of the Jewish people. Instead, she receives a prophecy, which brings pain to her heart. As a woman of intelligence,

Mary knows that the future of Jesus is not without its trials — and, more frightening, his future did not always include her. How this young maiden of Nazareth aged as she embraced her child. Indeed we find here a portrait of a woman who is first and foremost, a mother.

Finally, in The Finding in the Temple, we again sense Mary’s anxiety as she spends three days in pursuit of her missing child — in an age when it was not uncommon for children to be sold into slavery. There was no picture of Jesus on a milk-carton, no police to comb the streets of Jerusalem, just a woman and her husband frantically pacing the labyrinth of streets around the Temple. But in her fear, she finds comfort and, in this moment, we see the portrait of a woman of patience and perseverance.

Five glimpses of Mary — there are many more in the other mysteries of the Rosary and in the Scriptures. Take a look and you will realize that the United States of America is blessed to have Mary under the title of her Immaculate Conception as its Patron. She is not an action hero. She is not just another woman. She is the Blessed Mother in whom humanity and divinity meet marking the genesis of our salvation once and for all.

Father Comandini is managing editor of “The Catholic Spirit.”

Bill named in honor of judge’s son awaits signing by president

United States District Court Judge Esther Salas, whose son was slain by a gunman when he opened fire at her North Brunswick home, and the director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts (AO) expressed gratitude for the passage by Congress of the Daniel Anderl Judicial Security and Privacy Act Dec. 16, according to a report on the United States Courts website.

“I want to thank Congress for honoring my son Daniel’s memory, and for helping protect my brothers and sisters on the bench,” Salas said.

“Judges, and their families, should not live in fear for doing the job they are sworn to do. As a nation and as a people, we cannot accept this. This legislation will make it harder for violent individuals to find judges’ addresses and other personal information online. By better protecting judges, the bill also helps safeguard the judicial independence guaranteed by the Constitution.”

In a statement on behalf of the federal Judiciary, Judge Roslynn Mauskopf, the AO Director, said: “We are grateful to Congress for taking this important step to protect federal judges and their families. Our democracy depends on judges who

are free to make decisions without fear of reprisal or retribution.

“No other judge should go through the horrific experience that Judge Salas had — witnessing her son’s murder and the critical wounding of her husband at the family home by a gunman who located her personally identifiable information on the internet. This legislation recognizes the unique position judges occupy and will help protect them and their family where they are most vulnerable, at home.”

The bill was strongly endorsed by the Judicial Conference of the United States, the national policy-making body for the federal courts. It cleared the final hurdle in Congress when the Senate voted 83-11 to pass the annual defense authorization bill with the Daniel Anderl Judicial Security and Privacy Act attached. President Joseph Biden is expected to sign the bill.

“Daniel Anderl gave his life to protect his mother and father, taking the shooter’s first bullet directly to the chest, when a man holding a package on their front door step opened fire into the family’s home in July 2020,” according to a statement from the diocese.

The gunman, Den Hollander, 72,

found the judge’s personal information on the Internet. Anderl, a faithful member of St. Augustine of Canterbury Parish, Kendall Park, was a student at Catholic University, Washington, D.C. He had just turned 20. Hollander was later found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in New York.

The bill, which had broad bipartisan support in both the House and Senate, will protect judges’ personally identifiable information from resale by data brokers. It also will allow federal judges to redact personal information displayed on federal government internet sites and prevent publication of personal informa-

tion by other businesses and individuals where there is no legitimate news media or other public interest.

In 2021, Father Robert G. Lynam, pastor, St. Augustine of Canterbury Parish, Kendall Park, presided at a blessing and dedication of a redwood tree and memorial stone in memory of Anderl at the parish’s school.

After graduating from St. Augustine’s, Anderl graduated with academic honors from Saint Joseph High School, Metuchen, in 2018. He was also a pitcher on Saint Joseph’s baseball team.

The “Catholic Spirit” also contributed to this article.

How to report abuse

If you were sexually abused by a member of the clergy or anyone representing the Catholic Church, or you know of someone who was, you are encouraged to report that abuse to local law enforcement, the New Jersey Division of Child Protection and Permanency at 1-877-NJ ABUSE (652-2873) or 1-800-835-5510 (TTY/TDD for the deaf), and also the Diocesan Response Officer at (908) 930-4558 (24 hours/7 days a week).

As a woman of intelligence, Mary knows that the future of Jesus is not without its trials — and, more frightening, his future did not always include her.

Bishop Andrew H. Cozzens of Crookston, Minn., speaks during a news conference on the National Eucharistic Congress prior to a Nov. 16 session of the fall general assembly of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in Baltimore. Also pictured is Cande de Leon, chief advancement officer of the congress, and Bishop Daniel E. Flores of Brownsville, Texas. —

BALTIMORE -- The U.S. bishops’ three-year eucharistic revival, which will culminate in a National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis in 2024, is in full swing, according to Bishop Andrew H. Cozzens of Crookston, Minnesota. Bishop Cozzens, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis, which is spearheading the revival, reminded the bishops Nov. 16 during their annual fall general assembly how they overwhelmingly voted in favor of the revival during their meeting a year ago. It has “incredible momentum,” he told them, pointing out how the three-year initiative launched this summer on the feast of Corpus Christi with eucharistic processions around the country. The effort is meant to revitalize Catholics’ understanding of and love for Jesus in the Eucharist. The ultimate goal, said Bishop Cozzens, is that this “this encounter with Jesus in the Eucharist” will move Catholics who have been part of this experience to be missionary disciples who would in turn lead others to the faith. This first year of the revival is focused on the diocesan level and the second phase next year will focus on the parish level and resources aimed at increasing Catholics’ understanding of what the Eucharist really means. Part of the impetus prompting this effort was a Pew study in the fall of 2019 that showed just 30% of Catholics understand the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist.

BALTIMORE — Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services was elected Nov. 15 to a three-year term as president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops during the bishops fall general assembly in Baltimore. The native of suburban Cleveland was chosen from a slate of 10 nominees, winning with 138 votes. In subsequent voting, Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore was elected to serve a threeyear term as conference vice president. He was elected on the third ballot by 143 to 96 in a runoff with Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana. Under USCCB bylaws, the vice president is elected from the remaining nine candidates. The two top officers began their terms at the conclusion of the fall assembly Nov. 17. Archbishop Broglio, 70, worked in the Vatican diplomatic corps before being named the head of the military archdiocese in 2007. He has served as conference secretary for the past three years. The prelate has been an advocate for members of the U.S. military around the world. He regularly visits U.S. service members as part of his responsibilities in leading the archdiocese. Archbishop Broglio also has been an advocate for prolife causes. Because Archbishop Broglio is conference secretary, the bishops Nov. 16 elected Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City as his replacement over Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin of Newark, New Jersey, 130 to 104. Similarly, Archbishop Lori, 71, stepped down as chairman of the bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Ac tivities with his election as USCCB vice president. On Nov. 16, the bishops elected Bishop Michael F. Burbidge of Arlington, Virginia, as the new pro-life chair.

In address, outgoing conference leader focuses on concern for secularism

BALTIMORE — Los Angeles Archbishop José H. Gomez completed his three years as president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Nov. 15 with images of conflict, changes and challenges during his term. He spoke of the pandemic, “a long season of unrest in our cities,” a contentious presidential election as well as “deepening political, economic and cultural divisions,” war in Europe, a refugee crisis and “the overturning of Roe v. Wade.” “We’ve been through a lot of changes together,” Archbishop Gomez told U.S. bishops gathered for their annual fall meeting in Baltimore during his departing address. He raised alarm over what he saw as a U.S. society moving “hard and fast toward an uncompromising secularism,” adding that “traditional norms and values are being tested like never before.” He said he has heard concerns from “young mothers and fathers who are trying to raise their children to know Jesus in a difficult culture.” The challenge for those ministering in this moment, he said, “is how to maintain some kind of perspective” in a “noisy, distracted media culture.” He spoke of how U.S. bishops united with the pope during the pandemic. However, some U.S. bishops notably also have taken to the internet to criticize the pope, gaining attention from abroad for their public sentiments against him.

Advisory council suggests bishops guide ministries on gender dysphoria

BALTIMORE — An advisory body to the U.S. bishops has called for the development of practical and pastoral guidance on gender dysphoria to help laypeople and clergy in their ministries in parishes, schools and other settings. The suggestion was among a series of proposals from the National Advisory Council that was included in a report Nov. 16 delivered to the fall general assembly of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in Baltimore. The council’s work is to review, discuss and advise the bishops on the agenda items from Administrative Committee meetings that may be coming before the full USCCB for action at the bishops’ annual fall general assembly. It includes about three dozen members, including clergy, women religious, laypeople and four bishops. Mark Sadd of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, W.Va., who is chair of the council, told the assembly that members of the advisory group had been discussing the issue of gender dysphoria for several years and that it felt it was time to make the request through a nonbinding resolution adopted during its September meeting. “Currently, families, parishes and schools are daily encountering difficult conversations with their children and feel ill equipped to explain or accompany them through this journey,” Sadd said in his report. “Gender dysphoria” is a term that describes a sense of unease or distress that a person may experience by feeling there is a mismatch between their biological sex and their gender identity.

Compiled from the Catholic

CNS photo/Bob Roller

Mark Sadd, chairman, National Advisory Council, discusses the issue of gender dysphoria at a Nov. 16 session of the fall general assembly of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in Baltimore. He said parents feel ill equipped to discuss the issue with their children.

— CNS photo/Bob Roller

Archbishops Broglio, Lori elected USCCB’s next president, vice president

Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services, smiles during a Nov. 15 news conference after being elected president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops during the fall general assembly of the bishops in Baltimore.

CNS photo/Bob Roller

Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, gives his final presidential address Nov. 15, during a session of the fall general assembly of the bishops’ conference in Baltimore.

CNS photo/Bob Roller

Eucharistic revival has ‘incredible momentum,’ bishop says

Bell tolls for names of officers fallen in line of duty since start of Blue Mass

The outside world can distract us, can change us as a person, but if you have a focus on Jesus Christ, a focus on God, a focus on goodness and justice and decency that we all swore to uphold, we can follow the right path with honor and love.

“Without all of your service to society, it might not seem that way,” the deacon continued. “It is your honorable service that keeps society safe. Stay strong and follow the path. Keep the faith, brothers and sisters.”

After the Liturgy of the Eucharist, bagpipers and drum corps strode down the Cathedral’s center and side aisles, then stood at attention as an officer from the Middlesex County Sheriff’s Office read the Police Officers’ Prayer, which beseeches St. Michael for “protection from all mental, physical and spiritual harm.”

The names of those officers who had died in the line of duty since the inception of the Blue Mass were read aloud, a bell tolling after each name. Bishop Checchio greeted family members of the most recently deceased, Perth Amboy Police Lt. David Formeza, and presented them with a statue of St. Michael the Archangel vanquishing the devil, inscribed with “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends (Jn 15:13)

A single bagpiper squeezed out the plaintive strains of “Amazing Grace” in the hushed church, the remaining members of the Middlesex County Police and Fire Pipe and Drum Corps joining him on the second verse in a windowrattling, heartstring-tugging profession of faith. S.W.A.T. team members fired a 21-gun salute outside on the plaza, and a bugler played the mournful “Taps” in honor of the fallen.

at the Cathedral of St. Francis of As sisi, Metuchen. Second row, left, Bishop James F. Checchio, who presided at the Mass, gives his condolences to a family member of Perth Amboy Police Lt. David Formeza, the most recently deceased law enforcement officer. He died Oct. 28, 20210, from complications as a result of COVID-19 or the coronavirus pandemic in the line of duty. Second row, right: Bishop Checchio gives Communion. Above, Bishop Checchio poses with members of the South Brunswick Police Department and, left, students from Saint Joseph High School, Metuchen.

— John Batkowski photos

Member of newspaper staff to retire after 43-year career in journalism

By Joanne Ward

After almost two decades of sharing the stories of the people, places, programs and events of the Diocese of Metuchen, Christopher Donahue has decided to end the story of his work on “The Catholic Spirit,” the diocese’s official newspaper. Before joining “The Catholic Spirit” in 2003 as a staff writer, Donahue thought writing for a diocesan newspaper would not be as challenging or rewarding as the work he had been doing.

A few years after earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in English/Journalism at the University of Delaware, Newark, in 1979, Donahue began working as a sports reporter at “The News Journal,” Wilmington, Del. Eventually, he became the beat writer for the Philadelphia Flyers for nine years. It was a challenging and exciting time in his career. He then spent five years as a news reporter for the Wilmington paper before joining “The Newark Post” (Del.) where he was the sports editor for a year.

In 2000, he and his wife, Cathryn, were married at her family’s church, Holy Cross in Rumson. When he could not find a job in sports writing, he accepted a position on the news copy desk at the “Courier-News,” Bridgewater where he went on to work as a news reporter.

Although Donahue received two awards while working for the “CourierNews,” three years after starting there he decided to change the course of his career. He and his wife, Cathryn, prayed to St. Joseph to help him decide what he should do. He knew he wanted to stay in journalism.

“I knew from a young age that I wanted to be a writer,” Donahue said. “I always asked a lot of questions, which probably drove my mom crazy.” He remembers his childhood home as one where numerous magazines, two daily newspapers and the diocesan newspaper were in arm’s reach. They were an integral part of his development, he said, because the more you read, the more you learn things such as how to spell, proper grammar, and the rhythm of the English language.

It also helped that his mother, Marie, who was an English major at Regis College, Weston, Mass., not only fostered the family’s love of reading, but spoke properly.

“It is like learning to play the piano,” he added. “How can you learn if you don’t practice?

“I remember when I was in a journalism class, a graduate of the university’s journalism program who was to a reporter for the ‘New York Times’ came to speak. One of the things he stressed was: read everything and anything you can no matter where you are to learn the language. I always tried to follow that advice.”

While living in Delaware, Donahue had written several stories as a freelancer for the diocese’s newspaper, “The Dia-

log.” They opened a window into a world familiar to him because of his faith and he enjoyed the positive, uplifting people and topics he wrote about.

The Donahues’ prayers were answered two weeks after they turned to St. Joseph, seeking his intercession for guidance.

“I saw ‘The Catholic Spirit’s’ want ad for a reporter in its paper,” recalled Donahue. He applied and on Sept. 12, 2003, began his longest and what would become his last position before retiring this December.

Six years after joining ‘The Catholic Spirit’s” staff, Donahue received his first award: third place, from the Catholic Press Association for his page one story about the funeral Mass at Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Milltown, for Army Corporal Steven R. Koch, who died fighting in Afghanistan.

During his first 10 years as a staff reporter, Donahue continued to hone his journalism skills and learned many lessons from the stories he wrote.

“One story that stayed with me and I really enjoyed writing,” he recalled, was an Easter Vigil article. “It showed me how a simple invitation can have a powerful impact.” A Rutgers University student who became a Catholic that night told Donahue that she became a member of the Church because a dorm mate invited her to come to Mass with her one Sunday.

In December 2012, the office of communications was restructured. The director of communications became the paper’s editor-in-chief and Donahue was promoted to associate editor.

In his new role, Donahue continued

to write stories, but also began to assign freelance photographers and reporters to cover events and interview priests, deacons and religious celebrating significant anniversaries and jubilees. In assigning stories, he often helped writers by providing background information on the subject or topic, suggested questions to ask and discussed the direction a story should take.

The new associate editor also took over the task of creating the paper’s story list which includes all possible articles as well as ideas for them. It is where each issue of “The Catholic Spirit” begins.

With the story list, Donahue would assist the editor-in-chief in determining what stories would be covered and where they would be placed in the paper’s layout. “I found it rewarding when the paper was finally finished and I was able to see it and know all my planning had paid off,” he said.

By 2017, Donahue was writing more in-depth stories on serious subjects and becoming more involved with the production of the newspaper. In fact, in 2017 he earned a second-place award from the Catholic Press Association for Best Investigative/Analysis News Writing for his article titled, “Heroin epidemic: clergy, law enforcement speak as “One.” At the time, he said the article was an example of what he tries to do at “The Catholic Spirit:”— find the spiritual element in a story and then present what the Church teaches about it.

A year after the installation of Bishop James F. Checchio in 2016, “The Catholic Spirit” was again to change. In January 2017, Bishop Checchio asked

Father Glenn J. Comandini to become the Advisor to “The Catholic Spirit.” Donahue remained as associate editor.

At the end of 2017, Bishop Checchio announced that Father Comandini would be the managing editor of “The Catholic Spirit,” and the editor-in-chief would become advisor to the paper. Although Donahue would remain as Associate Editor, his responsibilities again increased. He received and answered the scores of e-mails the paper receives each day from individuals who had questions about the paper or wanted something included in an upcoming edition.

In addition, he continued to write stories, and, in 2018, Donahue wrote a two-part series entitled, “Family Continues to Heal After Drug Overdose Death.” He added a sidebar on the sacrament of reconciliation and how it can help in the healing process. For the series, he received a second-place award from the Catholic Press Association in 2019 for Best Feature Writing.

Since 2018, Donahue has worked with Father Comandini to produce the best paper possible. Together, they decide what stories are covered and where they are placed in the paper. The associate editor still assigns and reviews stories, writes captions and headlines and works with the graphic artist to ensure all pages are filled.

Saying that working on the newspaper has at times been challenging, Donahue said that this year when his wife, who has been an associate professor and chair, Department of English, College of Mount Saint Vincent, Bronx, N.Y., announced she was going to retire, he decided to end his story of writing for “The Catholic Spirit.”

Reflecting on his 19 years with “The Catholic Spirit,” Donahue said he is grateful and blessed to have had the opportunity not only to use his journalism career to spread the good news of the Gospel, but meet hundreds of people of all ages at work and events who share the same faith.

Those encounters, as well as covering events such as ordinations of Bishop James F. Checchio and priests and deacons; final vows of women religious; and high school graduations; have fostered a deeper and greater appreciation for his faith.

It inspired him to participate in a holy hour at Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Milltown, for two years on Friday nights, and become a member of the Knights of Columbus Council 7250 at that parish.

On Nov. 13, Donahue was among more than 140 men who were exemplified as Fourth Degree members of the men’s fraternal organization in a ceremony on the USS New Jersey in Camden.

In retirement, he and Cathryn plan to travel to visit friends and family.

Donahue, an avid golfer, is also looking forward to spending more time on the links as well as with the couple’s 13-month-old miniature poodle, Tessie.

Before working as a staff writer at “The Catholic Spirit” starting Sept. 12, 2003, Chris Donahue, Associate Editor, worked at the “Courier-News,” Bridgewater (2000-2003), “The News Journal,” Wilmington, Del. (1979-1997) and “Newark Post” (Del., 1998 -2000).

In photo, Donahue interviews Tom DeMatteis, soccer coach at St. Mark’s High School, Wilmington, circa 1999, as sports editor of the “Newark Post.”

Catholics of Hispanic descent worship at annual liturgy

By Deacon Patrick Cline Correspondent

METUCHEN -- At the beginning of the annual diocesan Hispanic Heritage Mass Oct. 14, Bishop James F. Checchio commented that it was a beautiful evening, which seemed to be an appropriate description of the liturgy filled with the richness of the community’s joy, hope and faith.

The Mass, which is celebrated at the Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi, has been a tradition in the diocese since 2008 to recognize and celebrate the variety and heritage of the Hispanic community that contributes to the diverse nature of diocese.

Before the Mass began, there was a procession of banners from the many parishes that participated. The banners, many depicting the Blessed Mother, were carried by members of the respective parishes and then placed around the side aisles of the Cathedral.

“Today we gather with our bishop in the beautiful Cathedral of St. Francis to celebrate and to worship our Lord and God,” he said. “We are here to celebrate not only the richness of our culture, our language and our diversity, but what really unites us as a whole, that’s our faith.”

Father Ronal Romario Vega-Pastrana, who was ordained by Bishop Checchio at the Cathedral June 11, gave the homily.

In his homily, Father Vega-Pastrana, parochial vicar, Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Bernardsville, emphasized that the Holy Eucharist is the gift from God that unites Catholics no matter what nationality or background. Although differences in language and cultures can separate people and emphasize their differences, the gift of the Eucharist unites everyone as children of God.

Father Vega-Pastrana focused on the connection of the readings of the Mass, proclaimed in Spanish and English, to the sacrament of communion.

In the first Reading from Exodus, the children of Israel were complaining to Moses about their lack of food. In reply God sent the people Manna, the “bread the that the Lord has given you to

Father Gustavo Rodriguez-Perez

eat,” as Moses told them.

The Gospel was the familiar story of the feeding of the 5,000 with some fish and five barley loaves. Again, the Lord met the physical needs of the people ant the were more than satisfied. But Father Vega-Pastrana said Jesus knew that the bread of life he would give to his apostles at the Last Supper and that he offers every day would be the spiritual nourishment anyone would need to be united as his followers.

Although a number of people told him afterwards that he appeared very calm delivering the homily Father VegaPastrana admitted that in reality, “while I was grateful for the opportunity my heart was pumping very hard at that time.”

After Communion, the “Procesion de las Advocaciones Marianas,” a procession of images of the many national patronesses of the various nations represented at the Mass, commenced. As the images were carried to the front of the altar the congregation prayed the Litany of the Blessed Virgin.

In his closing remarks, Deacon Edgar Chavez, co-director, diocesan Office of Hispanic Evangelization and Pastoral Ministry, thanked Bishop Checchio on behalf of the Hispanic community for being with them and celebrating the Mass.

“It means a great deal to this community to have our bishop taking part in this Mass,” he said.

Before the Final Blessing, Bishop Checchio expressed his love for the members of the Hispanic community, “especially your love of the Eucharist and your love of Our Blessed Mother, the patroness of our diocese.”

— Gerald Wutkowski Jr., photos

At top, banners from the many parishes that participated in the diocese’s Hispanic Heritage Mass, Oct. 14, are carried into the Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi, by members of the respective parishes who placed them around the side aisles of the Cathedral. In the center Father Mauricio Tabera-Vasquez, administrator, St. Joseph Parish, North Plainfield, is surrounded by his parishioners. On the left side of the group is Father Gustavo Rodriguez-Pérez, Parochial Vicar at the parish and co-director of the diocesan Office of Hispanic Evangelization. Above at left, Eduardo and Lady Miranda carry up the offertory gifts. At right above Santos Pérez prays during the Mass during which the readings were proclaimed in Spanish and English.

Deacon Cline exercises his ministry at St. Bernard of Clairvaux Parish, Bridgewater.

“We are here to celebrate not only the richness of our language and our diversity, but what really unites us as a whole, that’s our faith.”

Catholics of Indian descent worship at liturgy with ancient roots

By Paul. J. Peyton Correspondent

NORTH BRUNSWICK — The tri-state Indian community came together to celebrate the annual Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary with colorful costumes, flowers and music at a Mass Sept. 10 at Our Lady of Peace Church.

About 300 Catholics of Indian descent attended the annual festival, also known as Monthi Fest, a celebration dating back to the 16th century in Goa, a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region.

The spiritual and cultural event was hosted by the Mangalorean Catholic Association of the East Coast, (MCA-EC). The festival is celebrated annually by the Latin Christian community of Konkani people, who originate from the Konkan region of India. According to MCA-EC, the history of Konkani dates back to 4,000 BC.

“We had guests from all over New Jersey, as well as New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware and even Virginia,” said Father Michael G. Krull, pastor, Our Lady of Peace Parish, in a Facebook post. Last year’s Mass and festival were held at St. Thomas Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, Somerset. The Mass and festival had to be canceled in 2020 because of the COVID-19 or coronavirus pandemic.

The Mass at Our Lady of Peace began with the procession of altar servers and traditional colorful dresses and umbrellas, followed by the Mangalorean Catholic Association leadership, the statue of the baby Mary to the entrance hymn, “Somthosan Somiya.”

Right, attendees of an annual Mass and festival, also known as Monthi Fest, from several states are shown outside Our Lady of Peace Church, North Brunswick. The event was hosted by the Mangalorean Catholic Association of the East Coast. The festival is celebrated annually by the Latin Christian community of Konkani people, who originate from that region of India. Far right, the Baby Jesus and some worshipers are shown dressed in traditional Indian garb.

— Father Michael J. Krull photos

Behind them were Father Robert Lasrado, who presided at the liturgy, and concelebrants, Father Augustine D’Souza of New York, who gave the homily; Father Ron Machado, Most Holy Name Parish, Perth Amboy; and Father Frederick Clement of Pennsylvania.

Deacon Francis D’Mello, Our Lady of Peace, and Deacon Glen Mendonca, of the Diocese of Trenton, assisted.

The infant with Mary statue was placed at the front of the altar. The Mass was accompanied by traditional Mangalorean hymns from a choir that had the congregation joining along in song throughout the festive celebration. The Mass included the traditional blessing by Father Machado of vegetables that were brought to the altar.

Flowers, which were distributed after the Mass to be placed at the statue of baby Mary in a separate ceremony, were also blessed by Father Machado.

The Gospel, Matthew 1:20, told how the Angel of the Lord appeared before Joseph in a dream, telling him not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife into

ceived in her as their son who they are to name Jesus “because he will save his people from their sins.”

“All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means ‘God is with us,’” the Gospel says.

In his homily, Father D’Souza said Mary was “so faithful” that she put her “trust in the word of God.”

“The word of God should bring light in our lives…These are the people today who live in the presence of God,” he said. “And that’s why as Catholics we need to do better.”

He spoke about the Monthi Fest Indian tradition, especially in southern India, of bringing the family together and “coming together and forgiving one another and living with love” as they are taught by their Indian ancestors. He said by doing so, the Indian people can say “we are the people who live by the word of God.”

Before the closing hymn, Father Machado, spiritual advisor for MCA-

ECA, thanked MCA president Shyna Quadras for her efforts for this year’s event.

“You know this is not easy [to organize],” he said in asking for applause for the organizers.

He encouraged the Indian community to support the Church and the association and to be active by becoming a lector or a member of the choir.

“Please let’s show that we are Indians and we can do something in the United States,” he said.

After the recessional, there was a flower offering in front of the church to Mother Mary followed by prayers led by Father Lasrado. Children tossed flower petals consisting of roses, marigolds and lilies on the baby Mary as the choir sang “Sokkodd Sangatha Melleam..Moriek Hogolsia,” the Mother Mary birthday and Managlorean Konkani song.

Tradition teaches that children offer flowers as a token of love for the mother of Jesus.

The celebration continued after the Mass with a traditional Mangalorean vegetarian lunch and cultural show.

Health care ‘community’ gets group’s best grade for quality, safety

NEW BRUNSWICK — Saint Peter’s University Hospital received an “A” Hospital Safety Grade from The Leapfrog Group for fall 2022. The national distinction celebrates the diocesan-sponsored hospital’s achievements in protecting patients in the hospital from preventable harm and errors.

“This distinction belongs to the entire Saint Peter’s community,” said Leslie D. Hirsch, president and chief executive officer, Saint Peter’s Healthcare System. “It is the collaborative effort of everyone

involved from our clinical and ancillary services teams who care for our patients to our support team who keeps our facilities and equipment clean and safe to everyone in between. Working together, they ensure that we achieve the highest safety standards and that these standards are maintained across all areas of the hospital’s operations. We’re proud to continually deliver quality medical care without compromise and the Leapfrog distinction assures patients that we are unwavering in our standards for quality and safety.”

The Leapfrog Group is an independent national watchdog organization with a 10-year history of assigning letter grades to general hospitals throughout the United States, based on a hospital’s ability to prevent medical errors and harm to patients. The grading system is peer-reviewed, fully transparent, and free to the public. Hospital Safety Grade results are based on more than 30 national performance measures and are updated each fall and spring.

“I applaud the hospital leadership and workforce for their strong commitment

to safety and transparency,” said Leah Binder, president and chief executive officer, The Leapfrog Group. “An ‘A’ Safety Grade is a sign that hospitals are continuously evaluating their performance, so that they can best protect patients. Your hospital team should be extremely proud of their dedication and achievement.”

To see Saint Peter’s full grade details and to access patient tips for staying safe in the hospital, visit HospitalSafetyGrade. org and follow The Leapfrog Group on Twitter, Facebook, and via its newsletter.

Filipino Apostolate in diocese celebrates historic Mass at Cathedral

online records. A vibrant Filipino-American Catholic community exists in the diocese as well. But the community has never held a spiritual celebration of their heritage, until now.

A mix of special prayers and songs highlighted the 5 p.m. Mass Oct. 29 at the Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi, during which an estimated 200 Filipino-Americans from the diocese commemorated the first recorded presence of Filipinos in the continental United States, Oct. 18, 1587. The Mass, a first for the diocese, celebrated October as Filipino American Heritage Month, which has been in place nationally since 2009.

Father Gerry Paderon, who gave the homily and serves as coordinator of the diocese’s Filipino Apostolate, extracted from Luke’s Gospel (19:1-10) about the tax collector Zaccheus. After climbing a tree to catch a glimpse of Jesus and later dining with the Lord, Zaccheus changed into a person of charitable acts and love.

In this context, said Father Paderon, Filipinos who have immigrated to the U.S. have contributed greatly to American society and have served others, somewhat like the converted tax collector.

“Zaccheus is a figure we can follow,” Father Paderon said. “We are all sinners, but our encounter with grace makes us whole and able to share what we have. That little that we have makes the whole fuller for somebody else.”

Father Paderon, who is pastor of Queenship of Mary Parish, Plainsboro, encouraged the congregation, particularly his Filipino-American brethren, to practice charitable acts, a term the Filipinos refer to as “Bayanihan.”

Like others from his homeland, Father Paderon said the first Filipinos came to America looking for a better life. “And I think that is still true,” he said prior to Mass.

He also said in the homily how many Filipinos have contributed to the community, not only in church activities

Catholic in their native country. They have raised three children and carved out careers with Prudential.

They are proud of their homeland and their religion. “It’s really part of what we do,” said Jose, who wore a small pin with the American and Filipino flag on a lapel of his traditional, long-sleeved shirt called “barong tagalog.” Many men wore the traditional shirt, while his wife and other women wore the traditional gown known as “Filipiniana.”

“I think my faith has gotten deeper,” Algin said. “I went to Catholic school throughout, but I think once we got here, we got involved.”

She said the couple appreciate being surrounded by their Church family of all cultures and ethnicities.

“It makes the family complete, the marriage complete,” she said, “and you just want to give back to the church.”

During the Concluding Rite, Father Timothy A. Christy, Cathedral rector who presided at the liturgy, thanked Father Paderon for his work with the apostolate, noting the Filipino presence is

much richer” because of the FilipinoAmericans, especially those serving the diocese. “It brings an Asian spice to the whole Church,” he added.

The Filipino Apostolate Festival Choir performed several hymns in the traditional language, including “Ang Katawan ni Christo” (The Body of Christ”) and a Magnificat of Mary’s joy at the Annunciation “Ang Puso Ko’y Nagpupuri” (“My Heart Rejoices”).

After Mass, many people, posing for photos and conversing with their priests, seemed to hold hearts filled with smiles, rejoicing and excitement in the special liturgy celebrating their heritage and faith.

Nerissa, and daughter, Ashley, in present ing the eucharistic gifts at the Offertory. “It keeps our family stronger.”

The liturgy included some lighter moments. Father Paderon said during his homily that there are 900 Filipino-born priests in the U.S., including eight in the diocese, with three of them serving the Cathedral: Father Edgar A. Madarang, Father Jay Alquiros and Father Roy Quesea.

“That’s why for dinner, Father Tim is outnumbered,” Father Paderon said. “He is used to eating lumpia [spring rolls] and pancit [noodles],” traditional Filipino food.

Top left, Father Timothy A. Christy, rector, Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi, Metuchen, prays during the diocese’s first Mass for the diocesan Filipino Apostolate Oct. 29. Behind Father Christy is retired Deacon Guido Brossoni and Father Gerard A. Paderon, coordinator, Filipino Apostolate. Top right, the congregation sings at the Mass. Above left, Father Paderon gives the homily from the ambo, and, at right, lector Algin Lagdameo, one of the leaders of the Cathedral’s Filipino-American community, reads from the Bible. Below, members of the Filipino Apostolate pose for a photo with Father Paderon (front row) and Father Christy (back row).

— Marlo Williamson photos

Catechists urged to “love Christ through Eucharist”

By Christina Leslie Correspondent

PISCATAWAY – Religious educators in the diocese learned valuable methods to restart in-person, faith-based conversations at a workshop, “See you in the Eucharist: Evangelization Post Pandemic,” Oct. 29 at the St. John Neumann Pastoral Center.

The daylong event, sponsored by the diocesan Office of Discipleship Formation for Children, featured a Mass celebrated by Bishop James F. Checchio and a keynote presentation by Father Paul Manning of the Diocese of Paterson.

“Be someone deeply in love with Jesus Christ, primarily through the Eucharist,” Bishop Checchio exhorted the catechists seated in the congregation during his homily.

Noting the restrictions on public gatherings and other activities because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the bishop noted, “We have faced insurmountable challenges… You inspire the children, and they catechize the parents. I am so grateful for your dedication to the faith. I hope today lights a fire in your heart.”

In his keynote entitled “Looking into You: Beholding and Being Held by Jesus in the Eucharist,” Father Manning used classic and contemporary art, Church

as springboards to conversation about the Eucharist and how to restart the New Evangelization.

Ordained in 1985 for the Diocese of Paterson, in June, 2012, Father Manning was appointed Vicar for Evangelization and Executive Director of St. Paul Inside the Walls, the Catholic Center for Evangelization, by Bishop Emeritus Arthur J. Serratelli.

He completed undergraduate studies in philosophy at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va., then earned a Bachelor of Sacred Theology and Masters of Divinity degrees at St. Mary’s Seminary and University, Baltimore.

As diocesan vocation director for 10 years, Father Manning worked with men and women in discernment and formation; in the field of education for 19 years, he has served as a chaplain, theology teacher, president of a Catholic high school, and Vicar for Education.

Father Manning echoed the question by the U.S. Bishops: Why a eucharistic revival now? The USCCB website explains, “Scandal, division, disease, doubt -- the Church has withstood held each of us in our history, but today we confront all of these at once. Our response is pivotal.”

He added, “Together we can cultivate our eucharistic imagination.”

The faithful must shift its focus to

focus on the next generation and be creative “by the way we do Church,” Father Manning said.

Quoting Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, he said, “Millennials and Gen Z are digital natives, they grew up in a digital world. The Church needs to create digital missionaries who evangelize in the eighth continent, the continent of the digital world.

“Jesus desired to be totally present to us, give us his time and attention, his life, his saving grace to you and me.”

Then reminding the catechists of Jesus’ supreme sacrifice, he said, “On the night before he died, he took bread, broke his heart into that bread, changed that bread into himself. ‘This is my body for you,’ he said. And then, he made the wine into himself, flooded his love into the cup. ‘This is my blood, the new covenant for you,’ he said.”

Father Manning concluded, “What we can only do partially and symbolically and imperfectly, share with one another ourselves and all the life and love we can muster, Jesus can do and does: fully, really, perfectly, in the sacrament of his body and blood, soul and divinity. Jesus is always and really and truly ‘I am.’”

After Father Manning’s keynote address, participants were offered the choice of attending workshops in English

of the Eucharist and coming out of the pandemic; evangelization ministry with youth and college students; theology of the body; catechesis for children using song and movement; bringing the Eucharistic Revival into the classroom, and Mass-centered family faith formation.

Workshops presented by Spanishspeaking presenters included discussions on catechesis, spirituality and the future of the Church.

Below clockwise from top left. Father Paul Manning, Vicar for Evangelization in the Diocese of Paterson, addresses attendees at the daylong workshop for religious educators in the Diocese of Metuchen. Father Manning spoke about the Eucharist and how to restart the New Evangelization now that we are Post Pandemic. Attendees at the workshop, gathered in the St. John Neumann Pastoral Center, Oct. 29. Following Father Manning’s talk, the religious educators enjoyed lunch in the Pastoral Center’s dining room. During the day, attendees were able to purchase a variety of products. Pictured is one of the vendors who sold a variety of items including wooden statues. Two participants relax before before going to one of the afternoon workshops which covered such topics as catechesis for children using song and movement.

John Batkowski photos

Religious appointed head of diocese’s Multicultural Ministries

ring to another religious community, the Society of Sisters for the Church, whose motherhouse is in the Diocese of Paterson.

After her religious formation was complete, Sister Miriam ministered in her Perth Amboy hometown parish, Our Lady of Fatima, then in Lakewood and Trenton before being reassigned to Lubbock, Texas. In 1992, she began ministry in the Diocese of Victoria, Texas, where she worked in her order’s internal leadership as provincial superior or council member. From 2019 to earlier this year, Sister Miriam provided hospice care for her elderly mother, who died in April.

Over the course of her vocation, Sister Miriam has served as a director of religious education, spiritual director for English and Spanish retreats for women and couples, and coordinator of family catechesis. She also volunteered in Texas’ Diocese of Victoria as director for the Encuentro Process, which evolved into that diocese’s first Hispanic Office.

backgrounds.

“We must embrace everyone. See the richness of their cultures and family values. When you open your hearts to them, you see they are a lot more similar than different,” said Missionary Catechists of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Sister Miriam Perez, the new coordinator, diocesan Multicultural Ministries.

Sister Miriam will immerse herself in ministry to the diocese’s different ethnic groups and cultures, including apostolates for the African American, African and Caribbean; Brazilian and Portuguese; Chinese; Filipino; Hungarian; Indian and Sri Lankan; Indonesian; Korean; Polish, and Vietnamese populations.

Her preliminary meetings with ethnic groups in the diocese have proven to be “a beautiful experience to be part of and feel welcome,” she noted.

Sister Miriam was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., to parents who had relocated from Puerto Rico. The seventh of 11 children, she was raised in Perth Amboy. She earned a bachelor of arts degree at Georgian Court College, Lakewood, where she majored in psychology and religious studies. Later, she earned a master’s degree in counseling psychology at Our Lady of the Lake University, San Antonio, Texas.

Deciding to dedicate herself to service in religious life, Sister Miriam began her initial formation in Mexico City with the Missionary Catechists of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and recently marked 41 years since her profession of vows. She is in the process of transfer-

In addition to serving part-time in the diocesan multicultural office, Sister Miriam is a counselor for Catholic Charities, Diocese of Metuchen, working in the skills program for anger management and training for effective parenting at their Perth Amboy facilities.

Sister Miriam shared her plans for the department of multicultural ministries as it is regenerating after the COVID-19 shutdown.

“I will attend the Eucharistic celebrations of the different ethnic groups, celebrating their faith traditions, music and community,” she said, noting the beauty of the recent diocesan pilgrimage Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., where the liturgy celebrated by Bishop James F. Checchio included diverse cultural features.

She added, “We will work towards addressing the needs expressed by the groups [by] planning and celebrating a Multicultural Day where each ethnic group can promote their dance, food and history in a festive atmosphere… I also plan to hold a diocesan Reflection Day for the African American community in preparation for The National Black Catholic Congress in July 2023.”

For her motivation towards cultural inclusiveness and celebration of differences, Sister Miriam needs to look no further than her own large group of siblings.

“My family married into different races and ethnic groups,” she revealed. “I feel at home wherever I go. We are all children of God.”

St. John Vianney Parish: latest stop on priest’s 35-year journey

By Deacon Patrick Cline Correspondent

COLONIA — North Platte, Neb., may not be everyone’s idea of a summer vacation spot, but to the recently installed pastor of St. John Vianney Parish, it is a perfect location to indulge a passion for trains. Father John J. Barbella is a train enthusiast, both M scale model trains and the real ones that transport people and over a quarter of all the goods needed for our country.

On Oct. 23, Father Barbella was again elevated to serve as the “engineer” of a parish to meet the spiritual and pastoral needs of its “passengers.” At a Mass at St. John Vianney Church, Bishop James F. Checchio installed Father Barbella as pastor, the fifth time during his 35 years as a priest he either served as administrator or pastor of a parish in the diocese.

In his homily, Bishop Checchio quoted Pope Francis who said, “The first job of a pastor is to be a believer, someone who parishioners can believe with, be it at baptism or the other sacraments, at joyful or sad moments and even at the final moment.”

Bishop Checchio assured the parishioners that Father Barbella was a pastor with whom they can believe.

Father Barbella was born in Queens, N.Y., to Natalie Leonardo and John Barbella Sr. He has two younger sisters, Natalie and Christine, who, Father Barbella believes, “are more religious than I am.”

The family moved to Sayreville when was a baby. Father Barbella attended Sayreville War Memorial High School and Montclair State College, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in history.

Father Barbella explained the attraction of North Platte as the location of the Union Pacific’s Bailey Yard, the world’s largest rail classification and sorting area. This concentration of freight trains gives him opportunities to watch and photograph them. In addition, he has an extensive model railroad he constructed based on a typical coal-mining town in western Pennsylvania. This layout has moved with him from parish to parish. His mother mentioned that only recently had she gotten rid of his first layout board. After sharing his hobbies in the parish bulletin, he was pleased to have a number of parishioners tell him that they share his interest.

Although he does not recall anyone suggesting he might consider the priesthood, throughout his childhood and into his teen years Father Barbella believed

that God was calling him to be a priest. He explained that he he did not fully understand what was needed to prepare for ordination to the priesthood until he discussed it with a parish priest when he was 14-years-old.

After graduation from Montclair State, he entered Mount St. Mary Seminary, Emmitsburg, Md. His time in the seminary was great and he said, “It was really the first school I ever enjoyed.”

After graduation from Mount St. Mary with a Master of Divinity degree, Father Barbella was ordained to the priesthood May 20, 1987, at the Cathedral of St Francis Cathedral.

His first assignment was as a parochial vicar at St. Mary Parish, Alpha, then in a similar role at Our Lady of Mount Virgin Parish, Middlesex, and St. Matthias Parish, Somerset.

He was briefly the temporary administrator at St. Bernard of Clairvaux Parish, Bridgewater.

He has served as pastor at St. Magdalen de Pazzi Parish, Flemington; St. Jude Parish, Blairstown; Holy Spirit, Parish, Perth Amboy, and Most Holy Rosary Parish, Hopelawn, simultaneously, and Sts. Philip and James Parish, Philipsburg, before being named pastor at St. John Vianney.

Father Barbella said his new parish is very active and vibrant. It serves 2,733 registered families and 209 in its reli gious educsation program. Its parochial school serves 309 children in the main and pre-school combined.

The faith community has a very rich mixture of age and ethnicity, he added.

Commenting on his current assign ment, he noted that St. John Vianney — who was a parish priest in a small town of Ars, France, in the mid-19th century — has been a strong influence on his life as priest. Since reading the saint’s biography, Father Barbella has taken the model of that priest’s life, as the one, “I try to follow and the one that has guided me always, especially in situations that have been difficult.”

Although Father Barbella has en joyed all of his assignments, whether as parochial vicar or pastor, He said, “I always consider myself first as a priest.”

In addition to trains, Father Barbella is also an avid New York Yankees fan and particularly enjoys attending minor league baseball games throughout New Jersey.

Deacon Cline exercises his ministry at St. Bernard of Clairvaux Parish, Bridgewater

Top of page, altar servers from St. John Vianney Parish lead the procession through an honor guartd of Knights of Columbus at the Mass of Installation as pastor of Father John J. Barbella. Center, Father Barbella speaks to the congregation from the ambo at St. John Vianney Church. Above, Bishop James F. Checchio, who presided at the Mass, blesses parishioners, Anthony and Mary Virrazzi.

— Marlo Williamson photos

Diocese prepares for World Youth Day with Mass, holy hour

By Megan (Vantslot) Callahan

At the end of Mass on the Solemnity of Christ the King in November 2020, Pope Francis called for a renewal of the celebration of young people in the local churches. He also announced that beginning in 2021 he would transfer the diocesan celebration of young people from Palm Sunday to Christ the King Sunday.

In response to Pope Francis’ call to celebrate the young people on the Solemnity of Christ the King, the diocesan Office of Youth and Young Adult Evangelization hosted a Mass, dinner and Eucharistic adoration for youth (ages 12 to 18), young adults (ages 18 to 39) and families in our local Church.

The Mass included prayers and blessings specific to youth and young adults provided by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and a homily by Father Timothy A. Christy, which included encouragement for the youth and their connection to the great Solemnity of Christ the King of the Universe. Father Christy serves as rector, Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi, Metuchen.

After Mass, the attendees shared a meal and socialized, then attended a Eucharistic adoration led by Father Michael Tabernero, who exposed the Blessed Sacrament.

Those present prayed and encountered Jesus in the monstrance and through the sacrament of confession, surrounded by dozens of candles and string lights. Music was provided by Brianne Nealon, Marisel Rodriguez, Jerome Harkins, and Bailey Savoy.

As a part of the service, Bailey Savoy, founder and chief executive officer, The Catholic Arsenal, read and reflected on Luke (5:4), focusing on the verse in which after teaching the crowds from a boat, Jesus tells Simon, “Put out into the deep water and put out [drop] your nets for a catch.” In doing so, Savoy exhorted each person to reflect on what it is they are holding onto.

“What is your net? What is that thing that you are holding onto?” Savoy asked, then encouraged them to picture it, whatever it may be, and let it down,

The evening was a precursor to World Youth Day in Lisbon, which is scheduled to be held July 29-Aug. 7. Bishop Checchio will lead youth from the diocese to the event.

trusting that Jesus will fill the desires of their hearts when they do.

This intentional time was intended to provide a safe space for prayer and reflection — to like the Blessed Mother, take the hands of the young people present, and lead them to her son.

The evening was a precursor to World Youth Day Lisbon, which is scheduled to be held July 29-Aug. 7. Bishop James F. Checchio will lead youth from the diocese to the event.

Callahan is director, diocesan Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry

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Parish established to serve French-born factory workers weathered changes over time

By Chris Donahue Associate Editor

MILLTOWN — The demolished building that was once home to the Michelin Tire Co. at the corner of Ford Avenue and Main Street from 1907 to 1930 lies in seemingly endless piles of bricks. But despite the demise of the plant, Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, which was founded to meet the spiritual and pastoral needs of Michelin’s Catholic French workers, has flourished over the past century.

The Michelin plant, which employed more than 2,000 workers, was the company’s first factory in the United States. Published reports say when it closed in 1930, most of its French workers returned to their homeland.

On Oct. 30, the Greco-Romanesque church was the site of a Mass to celebrate the parish’s 100th anniversary. The celebration had been delayed because of the COVID-19 or coronavirus pandemic. Bishop James F. Checchio presided at the Mass and gave the homily.

To celebrate its 100th anniversary, the parish, which is led by Father Edward A. Czarcinski, who has been pastor since June 2006, had planned a pilgrimage to Lourdes, France, in honor of its namesake. COVID-19 put a halt to those plans, but the parish was energized in the spring by the visit of a national tour of relics of Bernadette Soubirous, also known as St. Bernadette (1844-1879), who experienced Marian apparitions at the site.

The Our Lady of Lourdes 100th Anniversary celebrations began with a gala at the Pines Manor, Edison, October 2021, in celebration of “One hundred years with Jesus and Mary.”

After the recent Mass, Father Czarcinski expressed his gratitude to the current members of the parish.

“I want to point out my thanks to Jesus and Mary for our wonderful people,” he said. “They have been intrepid in the midst of many challenges over the past years and yet they responded with customary enthusiasm and devotion during the centennial and for the hundred years before. I’m privileged to have been with them for a quarter of that time and know that they will stay in God’s loving care for centuries to come.”

In his homily, Bishop Checchio said the Gospel of St. Luke (19:1-10), showed how Zacchaeus, the chief tax collector, was the “perfect example of discipleship.”

“As we celebrate 100 years of this parish, he is certainly a good person to look at and pay attention to in our reflection,” the bishop said. “Zacchaeus accepts Jesus’ invitation to friendship and he welcomes the Lord into his home. Not everyone was pleased about that and that Jesus was establishing a relationship with such a sinner. For this reason, we are told, the crowd began to grumble and murmur.

“This moment was a critical one for Zacchaeus as he had an important decision to make. He must decide whether he will back away from his relationship offered by Jesus, and accept the identity as a sinner, by which the crowds so identified him. Or will he choose to follow this new identity — a disciple of Jesus and the challenges of this new life. It is at that critical moment that he gives half his possessions to the poor and he repays anyone whom he had cheated.

“These actions are what true discipleship looks like.”

-

Top left, Little Servant Sisters of the Immaculata Conception (from left) Sister Jadwiga Chlus, Sister Irene Lisowska and Sister Mary Ann Marshall, former staff members of the now-closed Our Lady of Lourdes School, Milltown, pray at Mass celebrating the 100th anniversary of the parish at Our Lady of Lourdes Church Oct. 30. Top right, Bishop James F. Checchio, who presided at the Mass and gave the homily, raises the host and chalice during the consecration at the altar and, below right, cuts an anniversary cake at a reception. Middle left, Bishop Checchio, assisted by Deacon Robert J. Gerling, accepts the commu

nion gifts. Below left, Deacon Gerling gives the Eucharist to parishioner Nancy Hanson.

Chris Donahue photos

Altar servers focus on commitment to Eucharist at meeting

As part of the diocese’s Eucharistic Revival, altar servers from the diocese gathered at the Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi, Metuchen, Nov. 19, for one of the first dioc esan altar server retreats focused on their commitment to the Eucharist. The retreat was planned by Father James De Fillipps, administrator, St. Magdalen de Pazzi Parish, Flemington, and Bishop James F. Checchio’s Delegate for Evangelization. Colleen KellyRaynor, a retreat coordinator and national Catholic speaker, led the attendees through various inspirational activities. The pro gram included talks by Father De Fillipps, Kelly-Raynor and Bishop Checchio, who also

Lenten Bible study to begin Jan. 23

DENVER — Internationally known Scripture teachers Curtis Martin and Dr. Edward Sri are scheduled to host the FOCUS “Lenten Bible Study on the Story of Salvation” live on Monday evenings 8 to 8:55 p.m. (Jan. 23–April 10).

The free, 12-week course is open to anyone and will explore dive deep into the story of God’s amazing love that has shaped the lives of countless saints throughout the centuries —along with the mission of FOCUS (Fellowship of Catholic University Students) since Martin and Sri founded it 25 years ago.

Those tuning in live for the Monday evening sessions have the opportunity for Q&A sessions with Martin and Sri. Participants are encouraged to gather in groups, either in person or over video conferencing, to watch the presentation and discuss together. Those unable to watch the live study can view a recorded version later. The study will also offer the option for continued accompaniment and practical training in missionary discipleship through the summer and fall.

Registration is at focusequip.org/ lentenstudy2023

learn the tools of healthy communication, build intimacy and heal, just as they have done in their own marriages. Retrouvaille is Christianbased, and Catholic in origin, but welcomes

of my favorite gatherings of the year because love is so present,” Bishop James F. Checchio said at the diocesan Silver and Gold Anniversary Prayer Service. “Thank you for your faithful witness of married love in a world which so needs it.”

More than 100 couples served as living examples of faith-filled married love as they filled the front pews of the Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi Oct. 30 to celebrate 25, 50 or more years of sacramental marriage. The fruits of their long unions – their children and grandchildren – sat just behind, cell phone cameras flashing to capture their joy.

Among the jubilarians were three couples marking 65 years of marriage: Michael and Madelyn Albert of Our Lady of Mercy Parish, South Bound Brook; Cornelius and Frances O’Donnell

Sacrament of marriage celebrated at prayer service

In his homily, Bishop Checchio said, “I am grateful to be with you at this moment of blessing and thanksgiving.”

Noting God’s loving presence is in the gift of the Eucharist, he added, “What better place could we be to celebrate married love?... It was God himself who placed the love of each other in your hearts. What started as a natural thing, your attraction to one other, was changed into a sacred thing and Godly thing, by asking God’s blessing on your wedding day.”

The bishop shared a reflection from

‘Marriage calls you to steer a tiny boat, wave-tossed yet sturdy, across a sometimes stormy sea,’” quoted Bishop Checchio. “‘Let us never forget Jesus is in your boat. Welcome him just as the apostles did.’”

Bishop Checchio concluded. “The secret to a happy and holy marriage is not in seeking your own self-fulfillment, but rather in looking for opportunities of self-gift to each other… Let us focus our eyes on Christ who teaches us the true cost of unending love [which] led him to the Cross. By hearing his voice and responding in obedience to faith, your marriage has been built on solid rock.”

Echoing the joyful faith and longlived fidelity about which he spoke, Bishop Checchio led the couples in a public renewal of their marriage commitment. The couples stood, facing one another, hands clasped and gazing deeply into the eyes of their beloved. They prayed:

“Blessed are you, Lord, for in the good and the bad times of our life, you have stood lovingly by our side. Help us, we pray, to remain faithful in our love for one another, so that we may be true witnesses to the covenant you have made

of St. John Vianney Parish, Colonia, and Raymond and Jeanette Miller of Our Lady of Peace Parish, Fords.

Pope Francis’ recent speech to married couples, declaring their union as integral to the Church and society.

Above left, Bishop James F. Checchio (also pictured at top), poses with Raymond and Jeanette Miller who celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary at the Silver and Gold Anniversary Prayer Service. They are members of Our Lady of Peace Parish, Fords. At right, also celebrating 65 years of marriage were Michael and Madelyn Albert, members of Our Lady of Mercy Parish, South Bound Brook.

Above left, renewing their wedding vows at the prayer service held Oct. 30 at the Ca thedral of St. Francis of Assisi were Cornelius and Frances O’Donnell, who are married 65 years and members of St. John Vianney Parish, Colonia. Above right Bishop Chec chio congratulates William and Margaret Manza, married 50 years and members of the Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi. —

65th

Couples in

Michael and Madelyn Albert, Our Lady of Mercy, South Bound Brook Raymond and Jeanette Miller, Our Lady of Peace, Fords Cornelius and Frances O’Donnell, St. John Vianney, Colonia 63rd

Anthony and Christina Aurilia, St. Thomas the Apostle, Old Bridge 60th

Samuel and Elaine Convery, St. Francis Cathedral, Metuchen Richard and Mary lou Elzer, Blessed Sacrament, Martinsville 56th

Joseph and Joan Obal, Our Lady of Victories, Sayreville 55th

Harold and Jacqueline D’Alessio, St. Ann, Raritan Borough George and Dee Straka, St Bernard of Clairvaux, Bridgewater 54th

Edward and Ann Zielinski, Immaculate Conception, Somerville 52nd

Richard and Geraldine Mato, Nativity of Our Lord, Monroe Twp. 51st

David and Elizabeth Adams, Blessed Sacrament, Martinsville Vicente and Teresita Lomotan, Nativity of Our Lord, Monroe Twp. 50th

James and Lynn Albetta, Immaculate Conception, Monroe Twp. Alfred M and Barbara C Ambrose, St. Charles Borromeo, Montgomery Twp. Carmine and Paula Attanasio, St. Charles Borromeo, Montgomery Twp. Fabio José and Nery Almonte de Aybar, St. Matthew the Apostle, Edison Romulo and Josefina Barredo, St. Helena, Edison Joseph and Helene Borowitz, St. Helena, Edison James and Mary Ellen Brockmeyer, Immaculate Conception, Somerville Jesus and Carolina Bustria, St. Helena, Edison Fred and Laura Campo, St. Joseph, Hillsborough Joseph and Kathleen Cangelosi, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, Three Bridges Joseph P and Marilyn A Chanley, Immaculate Conception, Somerville Michael and Joan Coker, Our Lady of Fatima, Piscataway Bruce and Fay Colligan, Our Lady of Peace, North Brunswick Ira and Patricia Daly, Immaculate Conception, Annandale Robert and Diane de Flesco, St. John the Evangelist, Lambertville

the diocese

celebrating significant wedding anniversaries in 2022 honored at the Silver & Gold evening prayer service

Dennis and Antoinette Deliman, St. Matthew the Apostle, Edison Joseph and Nancy DiGraziano, Immaculate Conception, Somerville Pasquale and Giovanna DiLauro, St. Anthony of Padua, Port Reading Donald and Margaret Esposito, Blessed Sacrament, Martinsville Richard and Kathleen Fiore, St. Joseph, Carteret Donald and Helen Doris Fross, St. James the Less, Jamesburg Ronald and Carol Funk, St. Cecilia, Monmouth Junction Noel and Milalinda Gendrano, Our Lady of Fatima, Piscataway Eduardo and Virginia Heidelberg, St. Bernadette, Parlin Robert and Mary Jones, Nativity of Our Lord, Monroe Twp. Kenneth and Diane Kelly, St. Bernadette, Parlin Thomas and Michele Kosakowski, St. Catherine of Siena, Pittstown Henry and Maria Kwasnieski, St. Magdalen de Pazzi, Flemington Robert and Mary Lynch, Our Lady of Lourdes, Milltown Daniel and Linda Macchiaroli, Most Holy Redeemer, Old Bridge William and Margaret Manza, St. Francis Cathedral, Metuchen James and Irene McNulty, Nativity of Our Lord, Monroe Twp. James and Mary Beth Meirose, Immaculate Conception, Somerville Glen and Joyce Miller, St. Matthias, Somerset Godwin Ifeayin and Sophie Nkechi Obidike, St. Joseph, Carteret Young and Cecilia Oh, Our Lady of Mercy, South Bound BrookMichael and Noreen O’Neill, Nativity of Our Lord, Monroe Twp. Andrew and Carol O’Reilly, St. Bartholomew, East Brunswick Luis and Nancy Padilla, St. Joseph, Bound Brook Carmelino and Carolina Payumo, St. Helena, Edison Francis and Henriette Perry, St. Thomas the Apostle, Old Bridge Dario A. and Cleotilde F. Quinio, St. Helena, Edison Timothy and Mary Ann Ranahan, St. Bartholomew, East Brunswick Frank and Lucille Renda, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, Three Bridges Robert and Patricia Riedel, St. Elizabeth-St. Brigid, Far Hills-Peapack George and Linda Ringhoff, Sacred Heart, South Amboy Ronald and Michelina Rios, St. Joseph, Carteret Robert and Linda Schoener, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, Three Bridges Stanley and Elaine Slabinski, St. James the Less, Jamesburg Thomas and Margaret Smith, Immaculate Conception, Annandale Ryszard and Arlene Sroczynski, Our Lady of Fatima, Piscataway Donald and Phyllis Tagliareni, St. Matthew the Apostle, Edison Joseph and Patricia Tardo, St. Ambrose, Old Bridge Bruce and Patricia Thomason, Holy Trinity, Bridgewater Leonardo and Marietta Valencia, Jr., St. Helena, Edison Michael and Dianne Yarnell, St. Francis Cathedral, Metuchen Pyong and Julianna You, Our Lady of Mercy, South Bound Brook Henry and Maripat Zupko, St. Mary, South Amboy

30th

Wallace and Anna Ferreira, Immaculate Conception, Somerville  Joseph and JoAnne McGinnis, Immaculate Conception, Annandale

29th

Idali and Doris Ramirez, Our Lady of Fatima, Perth Amboy 27th

John and Carol Tobin, Our Lady of the Mount, Warren 26th

Roderick and Cheryl Osma, St. Matthew the Apostle, Edison  25th

John and Kathleen Abair, St. Ambrose, Old Bridge

Vijoy and Mary Alexander, Blessed Sacrament, Martinsville Glenn and Dawn Baker, St. Ambrose, Old Bridge

Favio and Meghan Bogado, St. Joseph, Hillsborough

Chris and Maria Brynildsen, St. John Neumann, Califon

Thomas and Roweena Carlos, St. Francis Cathedral, Metuchen  Sean and Ann Marie Cook, St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi, Flemington Omar and Diane Cordero, St. Matthew the Apostle, Edison

Edgardo and Myrla DeGuzman, St. Cecilia, Monmouth Junction  Frank and Kathleen Del Monte, St. Anthony of Padua, Port Reading  Thomas and Deborah DeMarco, Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Bernardsville Dominick and Jennifer Dessino, Blessed Sacrament, Martinsville  Daniel and Eileen Esposito, Mary, Mother of God, Hillsborough

Miguel and Diana Franco, Most Holy Name of Jesus, Perth Amboy Ernie and Barbara Geib, St. Matthias, Somerset

Brad and Sherry Hoffman, St Philip & St James, Phillipsburg

Scott and Natalee Huber, Blessed Sacrament, Martinsville

Richard and Deborah Iorio, St. Mary, Alpha

Jijo and Maya James, St. Charles Borromeo, Montgomery Twp. Paul and Karen Juliano, St. Philip & St. James, Phillipsburg

Kevin and Denise Kassick, St. Philip & St. James, Phillipsburg

William John and Gina Ann Kosakowski III, St, James, Basking Ridge

Stanley and Lisa Kravetsky, Immaculate Conception, Annandale

Burton and Ruth Machado, St. Augustine of Canterbury, Kendall Park

Michael and Sheila Oliveras, Annunciation, Bloomsbury

Brian and Fortunata Opeka, Immaculate Conception, Somerville

Thomas and Cecilia Palm, St. Augustine of Canterbury, Kendall Park

Robert and Erin Pfaff, St. Augustine of Canterbury, Kendall Park

William and Lisa Rhumm, St. Bernadette, Parlin

Robert and Kim Spinelli, St Augustine of Canterbury, Kendall Park

David and Wendy VanDine, St Elizabeth Ann Seton, Three Bridges

Vincent and Carla Volpe, Immaculate Conception, Spotswood

Peter M. and Demetra Wagner, Our Lady of Victories, Sayreville

We believe the secret to a long marriage is love, support, and lots of prayer. Our faith and prayers have gotten us through some difficult times. We are blessed to have each other and our two sons which we thank God for every day.

— VINCENT AND CARLA VOLPE, 25 YEARS, IMMACULATE CONCEPTION PARISH, SPOTSWOOD

Secret for a happy marriage: Patience. Doing everything together. A kiss every morning. Telling each other we love one another. The love of our children, grandchildren and their spouses. Amazing faith lifts our spirits each day. Our love of God is our foundation, and our strength. We have hope which is a blessing from God. Jesus, the son of God, gives us hope in our marriage and in our lives.

— PAULA AND CARMINE ATTANASIO, 50 YEARS, ST. CHARLES BORROMEO PARISH, SKILLMAN

The secret to our long marriage is.... banana cream pie. It takes just the right mix of ingredients to make, you have lots of directions to follow, and need to have patience while it sets up. Hard work to make a perfect pie, but the result is worth the effort.

— BARBARA AND ALFRED AMBROSE, 50 YEARS, ST. CHARLES BORROMEO PARISH, SKILLMAN

Trusting each other and believing that we are a gift from God to each other. Who are we to reject a gift from God? We attend Mass every Sunday and hold hands when we recite the Lord’s Prayer. This relieves any tension that arose during the week.

— MADELYN AND MICHAEL ALBERT, 65 YEARS, OUR LADY OF MERCY PARISH, SOUTH BOUND BROOK

Well, we are the younger crowd, the 25-year group, so we are still working on the secret. While our faith journey keeps us together respect for each other and a willingness to work out differences when not in the heat of the moment is the key. When people ask us what we have in common, the first and the most important thing that jumps out is our faith and the closeness we both have to the church and the strong feelings we share about bringing up our children in the Catholic faith and the all so important role we as parents have in that. Having grown up in India where public display of affection is not common but we find ourselves wanting to be close to each other and even hold hands during prayers in church as it brings us close to each other and to God when we do so. We repeat that memory (of the vows) whenever we are together in church.

— JIJO JAMES AND MAYA ROSE THERATTIL, 25 YEARS, ST. CHARLES BORROMEO, SKILLMAN

In the company of God and in the tradition of our Irish symbols of the claddagh; friendship, loyalty, and love, we have combined a sense of humor and a sense of commitment. A simple touch of our hands connects us back to each other.

— NOREEN AND MICHAEL O’NEILL, 50 YEARS, NATIVITY OF OUR LORD PARISH, MONROE

The guiding principles for a long and successful marriage are to be deeply committed to each other, and to have a strong attachment to Jesus and His Church. These principles will then be your anchors in times of joy and sorrow. We thank God for His gift of each other so many years ago, and today.

— WILLIAM AND MARGARET MANZA, 50 YEARS, ST. FRANCIS CATHEDRAL PARISH, METUCHEN

Love and respect for each other is No. 1. We were always supportive of each other and discussed our differences instead of fighting. We still love each other and maybe more and are really enjoying traveling and creating new memories each day!

We both have found strength in our faith getting through tough times and instilled the same in our two married children. God has blessed us and our beautiful family of which we are very grateful.

— HELEN AND DON FROSS, 50 YEARS, ST. JAMES THE LESS, JAMESBURG

Pure grace. While we have not suffered a loss of home or disability, the everyday challenges can easily find their way into your heart if it’s empty of God’s grace. The sacraments, the words of hope and truth of human kind’s need for grace beyond us in the scripture, and a community of believers (virtual or in person) – these breathe the light of a lived grace between God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit into our souls. Our marriage continues to be a mutual sharing of that grace. We’re reflecting back on the feeling of saying “for better or worse” years ago. Those words cannot capture the essence of growing together as a family. It’s not a craft to master or a skill to obtain: it’s a journey to know, and appreciate, and love in a spirit of self-giving. That is a blessing.

— JOHN AND CAROL TOBIN, 27 YEARS, OUR LADY OF THE MOUNT, WARREN

A long and successful marriage is based on: Tolerance, Religious, Understanding, Sincerity, Togetherness.

— JEANETTE AND RAYMOND MILLER, 65 YEARS, OUR LADY OF PEACE PARISH, FORDS

Rich still makes me laugh. We enjoy each other’s company after all these years. He always sees the glass half full when I see half empty. When my boys were growing up, they attended Catholic school. We taught them the importance of our faith, how to love and be kind

— GERI AND RICH MATO, 52 YEARS, NATIVITY OF OUR LORD PARISH, MONROE TOWNSHIP

Golden Rules

Jubilarian couples of the Diocese of Metuchen shared their secrets to a long, successful marriage and the place their Catholic faith had in their successful unions.

Our “secret” for a happy marriage is very simple. We’ve followed our marriage vows to love each other in good times and bad, sickness and health, richer or poorer and we thank God every day for His abundant love.

— HENRY AND MARIPAT ZUPKO, 50 YEARS, ST. MARY PARISH, SOUTH AMBOY

Our Catholic faith has played an instrumental role in our marriage, what has blessed us in good times and carried us through struggles. We clearly recall lighting a candle together, kneeling before the Virgin Mary at our wedding ceremony, and have often felt the presence of the Holy Family beside us, guiding us, for one quarter-century.

— KIM & ROB SPINELLI, 25 YEARS, ST. AUGUSTINE OF CANTERBURY PARISH, KENDALL PARK

No real secret, just try keeping an open mind and be willing to communicate through the hard stuff. [Faith has held] a positive and guiding role especially during the loss of an adult child.

— FRANCIS AND HENRIETTE PERRY, 51 YEARS, ST. THOMAS PARISH, OLD BRIDGE

Never go to bed angry or argue about money; and be the first to say “I’m sorry” [even if you don’t think you’re wrong].

— RONALD & CAROL FUNK, 51 YEARS, ST. CECILIA PARISH, MONMOUTH JUNCTION

Patience and caring for each other throughout the good times and the bad times. Couples don’t always agree with each other but mutually decide on a compromise. Loving your best friend, your spouse, always helps. Our faith has been strong… God has always shown us the path and we have tried our best to follow that path to a successful marriage that has created a wonderful family.

— MARILYN AND JOE CHANLEY, 50 YEARS, IMMACULATE CONCEPTION PARISH, SOMERVILLE

When we met and decided to get married, we understood that everyone said, ‘marriage is hard and takes work.’ When we committed to each other, we also agreed that divorce will never be an option. God’s plan has brought us together, whether we are in a happy time or challenging time, we know that he walks along with us through the good and guides us through each challenge. [Faith] is everything and all-encompassing in our life commitment together. It has been the foundation for building our family and raising our children. We have been blessed with three loving, kind, and giving girls and our catholic faith has guided them to where they are and how they live their lives today. They are a gift that God has given us and seeing them live their lives as they do contribute to strengthening our marriage each day.

— CHRIS AND MARIA BRYNILDSEN, 25 YEARS, ST. JOHN NEUMANN PARISH, CALIFON

Youth flock to vocations awareness event

By Christina Leslie Correspondent

RARITAN BOROUGH — It is more likely youth might consider life as a religious brother or sister if they are presented with their works face to face, said Oratorian Father Thomas A. Odorizzi, pastor, St. Ann Parish, during the diocesan “Called by Name” vocations expo Nov. 6.

“[Religious life] is an option as a fulfilling way of life which brings joy and happiness and peace to others,” he continued, his voice raised over the sounds of laughter and fellowship in the cafeteria of St. Ann Classical Academy. The faith community hosted youth, their families, and representatives of religious orders in the diocesan celebration of National Vocations Awareness Week; clergy spoke from the church’s pulpit to share the details of their lives of service to the Church.

Father Jonathan “Jay” S. Toborowsky, diocesan Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia, presided at Mass and gave the homily, during which he urged the faithful to ponder: “How does God call me to live a life of holiness so that I can see him in all his glory? How do we respond to the mission, the vocation that God has given us?”

For some, their vocation is marriage, others the single life, he continued. Those choices are not easy, but neither is religious life.

“Ask any of these religious sisters or brothers,” Father Toborowsky urged. “They will tell you, ‘yes, it is wonderful and fulfilling, but it does not make you sin-proof, it does not make you sad-proof.’

“You will have difficult struggles, you need prayers.”

Father Toborowsky advised the congregation to receive the sacrament of reconciliation, likening it to a spiritual ride through a car wash.

“Go to confession and get sins, get the dirt off. We need to get ourselves a car wash, to let the light shine through,” he said. “If you wander off the trail, God will show you the way back. It is not

Above, Felician Sister Antonelle Chumka speaks to an attendee of the “Called by Name” vocations expo at St. Ann Classical Academy. Above right, (from left) Little Servant Sister Leila Braganza, Bernardine Franciscan Sister Carol Ann Nawracaj, and Little Servant Sister Edith Kawanga pose for a photo. Far right, Oratorian Brother and seminarian Steve Bolton, and right, Salesian Sister Elfie Del Rozario speak to attendees. Below, Father Jonathan “Jay” S. Toborowsky, diocesan Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia who presided at Mass at St. Ann Church, gives the homily from the ambo.

Frank Wojciechowski photos

about success as this world sees it… the goal is to be with Christ, who loves us and wants us to be with him forever.”

Following the liturgy, a luncheon was held in the St. Ann Classical Academy cafeteria. Youth visited displays by the various orders of religious of the diocese. They listened to witness talks, picked up trinkets and literature, and exchanged smiles with the brother and sister servants of Christ. Sister of Christian Charity Anna Nguyen, Bishop James F. Checchio’s del egate for religious and consecrated life, explained her own life of service.

“The people of the Old Testament believed there is something greater than this life. We have faithfulness to the covenant of our vows, even in hard times,” Sister Anna said. “It is a lifetime commitment.”

Father Odorizzi expressed his thanks for the religious in attendance and professed the value of such an event.

“This makes it known there is such diversity in the Church,” he said. “Many young people today don’t have the same exposure as they did in the past when they saw religious in the schools and in public situations.

“I think, with the culture being what it is, any opportunity they could have to come to know religious, the better.”

For more information, contact the Office of Vocations at vocations@diometuchen.org

Gracious

Gift

$1,000

Mike DaSilva, an officer for the Knights of Columbus Council 6930, Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, Whitehouse Station, recently presented a

donation to Marian Goldberg of the Samaritan Homeless Interim Program (SHIP), Somerville. SHIP is a faith based, interfaith and community funded, assisted and supported, grassroots organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for the poor.

— Tom O’Leary photo

Deacon whose family fled Cuba, later assisted at liturgies with future saint, mourned at Mass

By Chris Donahue Associate editor

Father Robert G. Lynam, pastor, St. Augustine of Canterbury Parish, Kendall Park, presided at a funeral Mass and gave the homily for Deacon Luis Sabino Moral at St. Augustine of Canterbury Church Oct. 29. Deacon Moral, 85, died Oct. 26.

Ten deacons attended the funeral Mass, including three of his classmates. Deacon James Rivera served as deacon of the Eucharist.

Father Lynam also proclaimed the Gospel and gave the Commendation Prayer.

Deacon Moral, who was retired from active ministry at St. John the Baptist Parish, New Brunswick, was born in Havana, Cuba, to the late Sabino and Nieves Moral. He married his high school sweetheart, Josefa, in 1963 before immigrating to the United States in 1967.

Deacon Moral called Astoria, Queens, N.Y., home for 20 years, where he established his community of friends and family that were so dear to him before moving in 1987 to East Brunswick, where he became a member of St. Bartholomew Parish.

Deacon Moral was educated at Colegio Baldor, Havana University, Cuba, where he also earned a doctorate in pharmacy. He worked in the personal care and cosmetic industry for more than 30 years as a formulation chemist. He retired from Union Carbide, Bound Brook.

He was ordained to the diaconate by Bishop Edward T. Hughes, June 17, 1989, at St. Francis of Assisi Cathedral, Metuchen.

was transferred to then-Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish, New Brunswick, in 1993.

In May 1997, he was assigned to St. John the Baptist Parish, New Brunswick, with the special objective of ministering to the Hispanic community. He served in religious education at St. John the Baptist for 15 years and prison ministry in New Brunswick from 1989 to 2001.

At his home parish, St. Cecilia, Monmouth Junction, Deacon Moral assisted with the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults process.

He was a member of several diocesan organizations, including the Diaconate Personnel Board, Diaconate Advisory Board for Hispanic Deacons, Commission for Hispanic Ministry and Commission for Pro-Life Action.

Deacon Moral’s daughter, Ana Aymes, a member of St. Augustine’s, shared a letter she wrote about him to Father Lynam with “The Catholic Spirit.”

In it, she wrote, “What brought my father the most joy in life were his grandchildren — Edward and Phillip. He lived every moment of their lives with them. Breakfast, schools, concerts, sporting events, birthday parties. He was very popular with other grandparents and mothers of his grandchildren friends at our school community of Rutgers Prep.

“Everybody knew Abuelo [Spanish for grandfather]. We would go to the gas station, churches, food shopping and someone would say, ‘hello.’”

A highlight of his diaconal ministry service, she wrote, was joining the delegates from New Jersey to assist at several Masses and prayer services with then-Pope, now St. John Paul II, during

his visit to Havana in 1989.

In Havana, her father had lived in apartments above a restaurant/bar “Mor al” that his father and uncles owned. His father and uncles had emigrated from Spain when Franco took power, search ing for a better life.

As a young adult, Deacon Moral was active in the Church in Cuba and became a Knight of the Miraculous Medal. He and his wife were in the last graduating class at the university before Fidel Castro closed it because of politi cal unrest.

The establishment “Moral,” she said, was turned over to the government and shut down.

Although her parents were married in the Church and were active at their parish, they were viewed as dangerous by other family members.

Several years later, because her father feared for his safety and the challenges of daily life, they immigrated to Spain, where his family lived. They arrived with 30 pounds of luggage and no money. However, because she wanted to live in the U.S., nine months later, they settled in New York, where they found jobs, friends and family. They also helped her grandparents and other family members establish themselves in New York, too.

They learned English in action programs, she wrote, and with support of the English-speaking community they began to feel like Americans.

“They strived for a family and it was not easily granted. I was a big surprise to them, after they had thought it not possible.”

and paid for the gas.”

At St. Bartholomew, his brother deacons helped him study and pass all his lessons in English; religious women in the parish would him help with his homilies.

He enjoyed visiting the residents of nursing homes, leading the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults process and teaching religion and young altar servers.

Deacon Moral was predeceased by his parents, Sabino and Nieves (Acosta) Moral.

In addition to Josefa (Delgado) Moral, and Ana, he is survived by a son-in-law, Charles Aymes; grandsons Edward and Phillip Aymes; and brother and sister-in-law Rogelio and Alejandrina Moral.

Entombment was at Holy Cross Burial Park, East Brunswick. Arrangements were handled by J. Murphy Funeral Home, Monmouth Junction.

Work of Mercy

Driving Force

Students at Saint Joseph High School, Metuchen, recently donated and assembled 280 care packages for local hospitals. The packages included water/ snacks, puzzle books, coloring books with crayons/colored pencils and Saint Joseph’s masks. photo

High School

Students at St. Ambrose School, Old Bridge, recently held a food drive to benefit the Society of St. Vincent de Paul food pantry at St. Ambrose Parish. The food pantry was able to provide 40 families with eight full bags of groceries and — for families that have more than six members — 10 bags. The food drive was coordinated by Donnay Kingston, treasurer of the ministry. photos courtesy of Kathleen Vitale

courtesy of Saint Joseph

Video highlights critical support provided by agency for thousands

By Kaylynn Ebner Correspondent

In late October, Catholic Charities, Diocese of Metuchen (CCDOM), held its 2022 Champions for Catholic Charities Virtual Gala to raise awareness about their work and to inspire individuals to become financial supporters.

“The agency is mission driven, providing services to the poor and devalued, providing both concrete as well as social and emotional [support]. This nonprofit agency is dedicated to service and outreach to community members, especially people who are poor and in need of help,” said Marci Booth, a licensed clinical social worker and associate executive director, CCDOM.

The centerpiece of the virtual event was the debut of the group’s 2022 video highlighting the work of CCDOM in the wake of Hurricane Ida. On Sept. 2, 2021, the tropical storm pounded New Jersey with heavy rains. Some areas were inundated with floodwaters so high that it poured into homes, destroying them and making roads impassable. Some people lost their lives as the flood waters rose to dangerous levels.

“When Ida first hit, I was literally brought to tears…one house after the other was [reduced to] sheetrock and furni ture.” said Maria Hunter, director, Office of Parish Social Ministry at CCDOM.

Arlivia C., a client of CCDOM, spoke about his experience in the video: “The water came in real quick. There was about eight feet of water...almost the entire apartment complex was covered in water. We lost everything.”

The next morning, Arlivia called Catholic Charities for assistance. “They were there for me,” he said.

Cecilia Mbui, a case manager in the Family Financial Stability Program at CCDOM, said that Arlivia was positive throughout his recovery, even though he lost everything except for his life. “We were able to jump in and put together a recovery plan to help him get back on his feet,” she explained, by providing hous ing assistance, emotional support, and more.

Another client, Jennifer L., also recalled how Catholic Charities came to her aid after the storm when no one else did. Her home was flooded and without heat. She was afraid and didn’t know what to do. Shortly after contacting Catholic Charities, the agency paid for a contractor to replace her heater. “My landlord didn’t care…but Maria [Hunter] did,” Jennifer said. “I just owe them so much. There are no words that you can say -- that’s how grateful I am.”

Hunter added that supporting clients is far from a transactional experience. “I think [Catholic Charities] really treats people with dignity and respect to help them. It’s a journey with them. It’s not just a one phone call thing.”

Serving people more than just when there are natural disasters, Catholic Charities helps clients yearround, regardless of their faith, ethnicity, or income, said Julio Coto, a licensed clinical social worker and executive director, CCDOM.

In 2021, the agency provided services to more than 63,000 individuals in the counties served by the diocese -- Hunterdon, Somerset, Middlesex and Warren. That is about 113,000 hours of direct service to clients. More than 15,000 household received bags of food, said Coto, and 193,000 pounds of food was distributed in New Brunswick alone. Moreover, the group gave almost $600,000 in rental assistance to those in need.

None of this good work is possible without support, however. In fact, one of the biggest challenges facing groups like Catholic Charities is funding. “The needs that are presented far exceed the resources we have, especially these days,” Hunter said.

“I’ve seen other groups lose fund-

ing. And unfortunately, when you lose funding, the program goes away,” said Mbui. “To all the donors that donate to Catholic Charities…I just want to tell you that your donations are highly appreciated by the clients that we serve. And for those of us that provide the services, we really, really greatly appreciate you and your deeds.”

Coto explained that donations help provide people in a need a place to live, food, health and wellness support, affordable child care, help with an addiction or problem, and much more. “Donations are important because if a shelter needs more beds, or a client needs more food, or more counseling is needed, I can use funds for those needs,” Coto explained.

Bishop James F. Checchio, concluded the video by saying, “It’s so important that we have the resources we need because Catholic Charities is transforming our diocese through their work…spiritually, physically, emotionally — all different kinds of ways that Catholic Charities

steps forward to be presence of Christ through us, thanks to your generosity.”

To become a Champion for Catholic Charities, visit www.diometuchen.org/ champions learn about employment opportunities with the group, visit https:// ccdom.org/careers.

Clockwise from left: Cecelia Mbui, case manager in the Family Financial Stability Program at CCDOM speaks with Arlinia, a client who lost everything after Hurricane Ida devaster parts of New Jersey; Maria Hunter, director, Parish Social Ministry at CCDOM meets with Jennifer L., a client; Marcie Booth, associate executive director, CCDOM, discusses the agency’s response to help those affected by the hurricane with Julio Coto, executive director, CCDOM. Bags of food are ready for clients. Following Hurricane Ida, Catholic Charities distributed more than 193 lbs. of food in New Brunswick alone, and gave almost $600,000 in rental assistance

Photos Chris Donahue screenshots

Priest from diocese pens book of prayers

By Christina Leslie Correspondent

Where can you find the words when you care enough to pray the very best?

“Good and Generous God: Catholic Prayers for All Occasions” (TwentyThird Publications, 116 pages, $14.95) written by Father John G. Hillier, is a valuable resource for those wishing to pray in a more personal, more specific manner. The book offers its readers 90 different prayers organized into five categories: for our parish community; when facing illness or struggle; for family life; for various occupations, and for a peaceful world. Each has a casual yet reverent

granted his imprimatur on the book, called it “a unique opportunity for personal spiritual enrichment… an unparalleled collection of prayers that will assist in building an authentic Catholic spiritual life.”

In his introduction, Father Hillier writes about the help he received when writing his book. “I am very much aware that I am unable to compose anything worthwhile without the help of the Holy Spirit,” he said. “My words are limited, but when they are lifted up by God’s Holy Spirit, they bear much fruit for one offering the prayer, whether for themselves or for others.”

Born in Canada, Father Hillier earned a bachelor’s degree at Memorial University, Newfoundland; worked for the Department of Social Services as

a Child Behavioral Therapist and was awarded certification from the Canadian Association of Pastoral Education in clinical pastoral education (CPE) in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Contemplating life as a religious, he quit his job and moved to the United States, where he served as Campus Minister and Instructor at Assumption College, Worcester, Mass. He left the college to enroll at Immaculate Conception Seminary at Seton Hall University, South Orange, and was ordained to the priesthood in 1988.

Father Hillier served in parishes throughout Massachusetts, New York City and the Diocese of Metuchen.

Following his doctoral studies at Fordham University, Bronx, N.Y., Father Hillier resumed full-time parish ministry and soon after was invited to serve as Vice Rector and Associate Professor of dogmatic theology at Holy Apostles College and Seminary in Cromwell, Conn. After serving for 12 years at the seminary, the Doctor of Humane Letters was bestowed upon him for his many years of “dedicated priestly service and love for the Church.”

Currently, Father Hillier serves the Diocese of Metuchen as Director of the Office of Pontifical Mission Societies, Director of the Office for Persons with Disabilities, and Censor Librorum (reviewing manuscripts and magazine articles for doctrinal accuracy). He also ministers at St. Elizabeth-St. Brigid Parish, Far Hills-Peapack, as well as other priestly service in the diocese.

Father Hillier is also the author of “Anecdotes and Scripture Notes for All Occasions” (Twenty-third Publications, 2007, 2010) and “Breathing Life into the Church: Making Sense of Vatican II.” (2016).

Reflecting on his motivation to write his latest book, Father Hillier said, “Not unlike most priests, people have approached me over the years asking for specific prayers for a variety of reasons. So often people seek prayers dealing with matters of sickness or death or even circumstances of life like separation or divorce, prayers for special people like godparents or special events like anniversaries or the celebration of sacraments... In short, the diversity came as a result of people’s requests.

“I often tell people that any of the prayers they are especially drawn to is due to the Holy Spirit and not me,” he added. “Each time I crafted a prayer, it was always done in a setting conducive to prayer, so I like to think it was the Holy Spirit who guided me in the composition of these prayers.”

Commenting on his favorite prayers in his book, Father Hillier explained, “Like all things, my favorite prayer would mostly depend on the circumstances of life at any given time. However, I often pray the prayer for ‘Human Life,’ which, in my opinion, encompasses many aspects of life that require our prayerful attention.”

Perfectly tailored to Father Hillier’s twin ministries of aiding those in mission countries and those with disabilities, the prayer requests God’s assistance in opening hearts and minds and bestow precious gifts to aid those less fortunate. It requests God “give `us the courage of will to remain vigilant to the unborn, the generosity of heart to offer support to the sick, the constant desire to be present to the elderly, the abundance of love to be committed to the disabled, and the perseverance to work and find the lost and forgotten.”

Spirited Competition

Called to Serve

Immaculate Conception Seminary

King (Nov. 20)

Van (Peter) Phan. The Rite of Admission to Candidacy signifies that the candidate has come to a mature level of discernment that the Lord is, in fact, calling him to the diaconate and priesthood and that he is choosing to respond “yes” to that call; the candidate further commits himself to even more earnestly embrace the formation which will enable him to live out that “yes.” On the Church’s part, the rite signals an official recognition of the fruitfulness of the seminarian’s efforts and a pledge to continue to support and assist him in his preparation to configure himself to Christ the Good Shepherd.

Priests and seminarians from the diocese competed in a volleyball match at the Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi CYO Building, Metuchen, Nov. 7. The match was played to support Charitas, the vocations ministry at the Cathedral, said Father Jun Joseph Q. Alquiros, parochial vicar, who helped organize the match and also played. The results of the match: the priests defeated the seminarians 25-18. In a match against the parish’s Bold Youth Ministry team, the seminarians prevailed 26-24. In the final match, the priests defeated the youth team 30-28. Among the spectators were students from St. Francis Cathedral School and several members of the Sisters of Christian Charity who serve there and at the parish.

Priests, religious, family and fellow seminarians of

at Seton Hall University gathered on the Solemnity of Christ the

to witness Cardinal Joseph Tobin of the Archdiocese of Newark welcome seminarians to the Rite of Admission to Candidacy for Holy Orders at St. Francis de Sales Church, Lodi. Among the men called were seven from the Diocese of Metuchen: Anthony Echezona Ejie, Randy J. Gamboa Espinoza, Ban Thien (Joseph) Ho, Larrydom Magdasoc, Dawid Malik, Jerome Ocampo and Ai

photo courtesy of Immaculate Conception Seminary

Gerald Wutkowski Jr. photo

Stocking Shelves

Bishop James F. Checchio, front row, center, poses with members of the Service Options class at St. Thomas Aquinas High School, Edison, at the food pantry at St. James Parish, Woodbridge, Oct. 23. The students, all seniors, volunteered to be a part of the class and 15 were selected based on prior service experience. All of the food was donated to the St. James food pantry by the school through its Thanksgiving Food Drive.

Several members of the Service Options Club provided comments about the meeting.

“It was an eye-opening experience, seeing firsthand how much work people put in at the food pantry. It’s not easy, but rewarding.” said Charbel Maroun.

“Volunteering at the food pantry was an inspirational experience and it made me want to do it again and help people more,” said Esperanza Mojica.

When Nika Kudirka saw that Bishop Checchio was going to be one of the volunteers, he noted: We got to spend a day in the shoes of the food pantry volunteers and see how much goes into providing for the community.”

When Christrian Scaff saw that the bishop was going to join the effort, he said: “Working and talking with Bishop Checchio was a great experience. He was engaged in learning about us and told us a lot about his life experiences.”

Father Michael Tabernero photo

Prison Ministry

Student-athlete earns prestigious award

“Receiving this scholarship will help to offset some of the cost associated with attending a top-ranked institution as I pursue my goal of becoming involved in the health services medical field,” Collie said. “As a student-athlete, I wanted to be associated with a program that recognizes exceptional ability and encourages integrity and community responsibility.

“Maybe it stems from my Christian upbringing, but I can’t think of a better way to serve but through helping those in need,” she continued. “I have always found classes like biology and human anatomy fascinating because there is still a vast amount that is still unknown to us. The search for the causes of diseases and their cures is at the forefront of medical research. I gravitate to science because it is grounded in the search for truth, plain and simple.”

At Mount Saint Mary, Jordyn is a team leader in varsity cross country and varsity winter spring Track. She is a member of the National English Honor Society, Future Medical Professions Club, Society of Women Engineers Club, and serves as a New Jersey Regional Leadership Council Officer for Operation Smile.

Jordyn also volunteers at the New Jersey Veterans Memorial Home, and she is a state-licensed CPR AED technician.

Andre Bridgett, cross country/winter and spring track coach at Mount Saint Mary Academy, said, “Jordyn has fully embraced the attitude that you are what you believe. She wanted to know what she could do to get better with the sport. I expressed to her that what you perceive and believe is what you will achieve. Jordyn has trusted the process and is enjoying the fruits of her labor.”

Among her accomplishments at Mount Saint Mary:

• First place Oratorical Declamation Grand Tournament for Public Speaking (Paterson Diocesan Forensic League) - * qualified for the Grand National Tournament.

• NJ Regional Leadership Council Officer for Operation Smile

• International Student Leadership Conference with Operation Smile

• Senior Summer Scholar recipient

• Certificate of Award in Recognition of Honorable Achievement in Conceptual Physics

• Certificate of Award in Recognition of Honorable Achievement in Biology

• Scholarship Award Certificate in Recognition of Outstanding Achievement in Music Fundamentals

• Outdoor Track Coaches 2022 Recipient

• 2022 Skyland All-Conference Division Team athlete (400m)

Jordyn Collie, above, a senior at Mount Saint Mary Academy, Watchung, has been named a 2022 School Winner for the Heisman High School Scholarship. She was selected from an applicant pool of thousands of high school scholar-athletes graduating with the Class of 2023.

Matthew Luciani and Greyson Baker, students at Immaculate Conception School, Spotswood, help Felician Sister Antonelle Chunka, prepare Thanksgiving treats and blessings for men and women incarcerated in New Jersey correctional facilities. photo courtesy of Immaculate Conception School

Bishop Checchio blesses new sacred space at interparochial school

By Marianne Zanko Komek Correspondent

PERTH AMBOY — Upon prayer and reflection, Anacelis Diaz, principal, Perth Amboy Catholic School (PACS), discerned that Jesus wanted a chapel with his presence in the Eucharist in the building.

To accomplish the project, Diaz spent more than a year with her family and volunteers transforming a storage room into a sacred place where the Eucharist could repose and be adored by students and staff.

On Nov. 4, Bishop James F. Checchio blessed the new chapel. He was accompanied by his priest secretary and vice-chancellor, Father Roy Quesea.

Clergy who attended included: Redemptorist Father Slawomir Romanowski, pastor, Redemptorist Father Waldemar Wieladek, parochial vicar, and Redemptorist Father Eugeniusz Fasuga, parochial vicar, all at St. John Paul II Parish; Father Ron Machado, pastor, Most Holy Name of Jesus Parish; Claretian Father Gilles D. Njobam, pastor, Our Lady of Fatima Parish; Father Krystian Burdzy, administrator, Good Shepherd Parish; and Deacon Sergio Diaz, Our Lady of Fatima Parish.

A special program was presented at the blessing. Girls from the PACS Liturgical Dance Club performed a presentation of “I Can Only Imagine” by Mercy Me with choreography by fourth-grade teacher Michelle Diaz. The children also sang hymns taught by their music teacher, Renata Legutko.

“What is a blessing?” the bishop asked. “We pray that God sends his Spirit down upon us and blesses this new chapel and all of you who make PACS the special place that it is. Now you will have Jesus in your school building where

you can stop in and say a prayer and meet him just like when we go to church on Sunday.”

After proclaiming the Gospel of Matthew the bishop gave a homily, in which he said, “Jesus tells us that if you go to the altar and realize that your brother and sister have something against you, leave the altar and reconcile with them. We should not hold grudges, but forgive. If you’re going to receive Jesus in the Eucharist, you need to do that first. This chapel will remind us to always be a person of love and to share with all people.

“I thank you for all your good efforts,” he added. “We want you to know this morning that we love you, that we appreciate you, and that we’re grateful for you.”

He then blessed the chapel saying, “My brothers and sisters, let us pray that the Lord will make this chapel a good place to dwell and also by his power bless this water with which we will sprinkle as a sign of repentance and remembrance of our baptism. But first, let us remember that we are gathered as one in the faith and charity of the Catholic Church placed in the world as a sign and a witness of the love which God gives to all people. O God from whom every creature came forth into the light of life, you accompany all people with such great love that not only do you nourish them with your provident care, but you also mercifully cleanse them from their sins with the dew of charity and constantly lead us back to Christ the head. For in your merciful plan, you established that those who descend as sinners receive the sacred waters to die with Christ free from guilt and be made members and heirs with him to eternal reward.”

Bishop Checchio then sprinkled the assembled with holy water.

“The school asked to have this chapel,” he said. “They do everything for the love of Jesus. Now the students and staff can pray here. We are grateful to all the teachers and administrators for enlivening all of Perth Amboy with the presence of Christ through Catholic education. It would be wonderful if this would foster vocations to the priesthood and religious life. Prayer always does that.”

Bishop Checchio is on the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops committee to promote the Eucharist. He said, “This is a great event that coincides with the National Eucharistic Revival in our country now to increase our love for

Jesus in the Eucharist.”

Father Romanowski said that the principal “is very adamant about the importance of Jesus at the center of the school. She requested daily Mass, adoration during Lent, and also invited the community priests to hear confessions.”

Diaz, who was hired as principal in July 2021, said, “Father Romanowski supported plans for the new chapel and provided material assistance to obtain this goal. So many helped with making it a reality with their time and talent. Jan and John Connell helped with expenses. This sacred place will bring everyone closer to Jesus so that they feel his presence.”

Below, Bishop James F. Checchio incenses the altar and tabernacle at the new chapel at Perth Amboy Catholic School Nov. 4. In addition to Mass, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament will be offered at the chapel. Bishop Checchio serves on the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee to promote the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Bottom of page, Bishop Checchio poses with staff and students, including the Liturgical Dance Club, which performed a presentation of “I Can Only Imagine” by Mercy Me and sang hymns. Bottom of page left, the bishop greets students.

Mike Ehrmann photos

“We pray that God sends his Spirit down upon us and blesses this new chapel and all of you who make PACS the special place that it is.”

In the Gospel of today’s Liturgy we hear a beautiful promise that introduces us to the Season of Advent: “Your Lord is coming” (Mt 24:42). This is the foundation of our hope, it is what supports us even in the most difficult and painful moments of our life: God is coming, God is near and is coming. Let us never forget this! The Lord always comes, the Lord visits us, the Lord makes himself close, and will return at the end of time to welcome us in his embrace….Brothers and sisters, in this Season of Advent, let us be shaken out of our torpor and let us awaken from our slumber! Let’s try to ask ourselves: am I aware of what I am living, am I alert, am I awake? Do I try to recognize God’s present in daily situations, or am I distracted and a little overwhelmed by things? If we are unaware of his coming today, we will also be unprepared when he arrives at the end of time. Therefore, brothers and sisters, let us remain vigilant! Waiting for the Lord to come, waiting for the Lord to come close to us, because he is there, but waiting alert. And may the Holy Virgin, Woman of waiting, who knew how to perceive the passing of God in the humble and hidden life of Nazareth and welcomed him in her womb, help us in this journey of being attentive to wait for the Lord who is among us and passes by.

Is pre-synod process undercutting bishops’ authority?

Thanks to the Franco-Prussian War, the First Vatican Council was suspended in October 1870 and never reconvened. Before its unanticipated end, Vatican I did important work: it defined the universal scope of papal jurisdiction (and thus frustrated the claims of the new nationalists to authority over the Church) while spelling out the precise, limited circumstances in which the Bishop of Rome can teach infallibly on matters of faith and morals. Nonetheless, the council’s abrupt adjournment led to an imbalance in the Church’s self-understanding: Catholicism was left with a strong theology of the papacy but a weak theology of the episcopate.

As I explain in “To Sanctify the World: The Vital Legacy of Vatican II’ (Basic Books), the Second Vatican Council addressed this imbalance in “Lumen Gentium” (Light of the Nations), its Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, which made several crucial points: the Church’s bishops are the heirs of the apostles; the “college” of bishops is the contemporary expression of the apostolic “college” of Acts 15; and this episcopal college, with and under its head, the Bishop of Rome, has “supreme and full power over the universal Church” (LG 22).

Among other things, this means that local bishops are genuine vicars of Christ in their local Churches. Ordained to teach, sanctify and govern, the bishops are not mere branch managers of Catholic Church, Inc., executing orders from Roman corporate headquarters. Through their reception of Holy Orders in the highest degree, and because of their communion with the Bishop of Rome, a local bishop is empowered to lead the entire People of God given into his care, such that all the baptized in his diocese are called to mission, equipped for mis-

God’s gift of Savior was

By Deacon Charles Paolino

The Gospel passage read at the Christmas Mass “during the day” – the beginning of John’s Gospel — does not, at first glance, sound much like Christmas.

That Gospel does not mention the circumstances under which Jesus was born. By the time this account was written, the first three Gospels had fully reported those details.

Instead, John explored theological ideas, beginning with these verses:

“In the beginning was the Word; and the Word was with God; and the Word was God; he was in the beginning with God; all things were made by him; and without him was made nothing that has been made.”

It is no accident that the Gospel opens with the three words that begin the Hebrew Bible: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

The writer’s point is that the God who created the world is the God who took on the form of a human being in the person of

Jesus, born in the stable in Bethlehem.

By calling our attention to the Book of Genesis, John reminds us of what we learn in the tradition of Moses, that the all-powerful God who could exist alone in eternity in perfect happiness; who needs nothing outside of himself; chose — as an act of his inexhaustible love — to share his existence with other beings.

And by creating humankind, God has shared more of what is properly his — understanding, a free will, a spirit that will never die.

This is what John evokes with those words “in the beginning” as he sets out to record another act of love, God’s appearance in the world in the form of one of his own creatures.

God did this, in a sense, in order to create men and women anew; in order to remind men and women in the most tangible way possible of his desire from the beginning to share with them the eternal peace that only he has claim to.

He did it in order to give men and

sion and sacramentally supported in their efforts at evangelization.

As then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger put it in a reflection on Vatican II’s achievements, “Lumen Gentium” “reinserted into the Church as a whole a doctrine of [papal] primacy” that had become “dangerously isolated” from the world episcopate, even as it “integrated into the one mysterium of the Body of Christ a too-isolated concept of the hierarchy.” In these and other ways, Vatican II completed the work of Vatican I by expressing the Church’s self-understanding in a holistic, integrated way that drew on the vast riches of Scripture and tradition. This was no mean accomplishment, and it vindicated a century and a half of serious theological work, often undertaken in difficult circumstances.

Yet the question must be asked: Is Vatican II’s achievement in reaffirming the authority of bishops being undercut by the current preparatory process for the “Synod on Synodality” of 2023 and 2024?

Concerns on this front have been heightened by the release of the Working Document for the “Continental Stage” of Synod preparation: a series of assemblies that follow the local and national “stages” of this lengthy process. In the Working Document, the bishops are minority participants in continental consultations that must include (in addition to bishops, priests, consecrated religious and active laity) “people living in conditions of poverty or marginalization, and those that have direct contact with these groups and persons; fraternal delegates from other Christian denominations; representatives of other religions and faith traditions; and some people with no religious affiliation.” And what are the bishops to do in these continental assemblies? “They are asked

to identity appropriate ways to carry out the task of validating and approving” the “Final Document” of each continental assembly, “ensuring that it is the fruit of an authentically synodal journey, respectful of the process that has taken place and faithful to the diverse voices of the People of God in each continent.”

That is, the bishops are note-takers, not teachers; is diminishment of the episcopal vocation, which is in striking contrast to Vatican II’s teaching in “Lumen Gentium,” are further intensified by reports that, in the final Synod assembly in Rome (presumably in 2024), there will be no votes on propositions by the attending bishops — the normal way a Synod expresses its judgments. Rather, reports of the bishops’ discussions will be prepared — by the Synod General Secretariat that designed this process? — and given to the pope, who will then craft a Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation (the document that completes a Synod’s work) as he pleases.

Thus, extreme ultramontanism — a form of papal autocracy that might make Blessed Pius IX blush — is being layered onto the depreciation of the world episcopate.

This has nothing to do with Vatican II. The bishops should make that known while asking for the restoration of their authority in this process.

people

women access to that peace through their communion with the child in the manger and the man on the cross.

Beyond the Book of Genesis, we find the history of God’s relationship with the Jewish people — a relationship in which God repeatedly fulfilled his promise to rescue his people from the consequences of their own failings and from the fury of their enemies.

Beyond the first verses of John’s Gospel, we find the history of Jesus’ ministry in which he responded with compassion to the needs of other people — the embarrassed groom at the wedding feast; the man born blind, the woman accused of adultery, the hungry crowd on the mountainside, the father whose son was near death, the sisters of Lazarus.

The observance of Christmas has taken on characteristics far removed from these traditions.

The furious retail season, the excesses of food and drink — these things come with each Christmas, but at times

seem almost opposed to Christmas.

Amid all this, a feeling does arise that makes Christmas, as Charles Dickens put it, “a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time . . . of the long calendar of the year when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely ….” But as Dickens suggested, this elevated condition of human beings does not last the year ‘round.

By proclaiming John’s Gospel at Christmas Masses, the Church asks us to think not only about the scene in which a child was born to poor parents in an obscure time and place but also about the whole sweep of God’s relationship with humanity, and to see that it consists of repeated acts that demonstrate that the Father cares for his children.

What better carol could we sing about such a God than the words of John’s Gospel:

“Of his fullness we have all had a share, love following upon love.”

Charles Paolino is a retired permanent deacon for the Diocese of Metuchen

‘act of his inexhaustible love’ for his

Solemnity of Christmas

By Msgr. John N. Fell

The celebration of our Savior’s birth has acquired a long and rich tradition. Part of this tradition is manifest in the fact that the Church does not assign only one set of prayers and Scripture readings for the Masses on Christmas, but rather four different sets. The Gospel readings provided for these liturgues — Vigil Mass, Mass during the Night, Mass at Dawn and Mass during the Day — each illuminates a particular facet of the “tidings of great joy” that graced humanity the day that Jesus was born.

The Gospel chosen for the Vigil Mass is St. Matthew’s account of the genealogy and birth of Jesus (Matthew 1:1-25). Sometimes regarded only as the dull incantation of a series of so-in-so begot so-in-so’s, the genealogy actually provides a complex and fertile setting in which to situate the Savior’s birth. The list of Jesus’ ancestors is not intended so much to provide an exact family history, but rather to demonstrate that Jesus is the long-awaited fulfillment of God’s promises and actions from the beginning of creation. Included in this list are holy people and scoundrels, women and men, Jews and gentiles, the famous and the obscure — a genuine cross-section of those who would be called and blessed by the awaited Messiah. The genealogy highlights the fact that the coming of Jesus was not only a radically new event in the history of salvation, but also the fulfillment of a longheld set of hopes and dreams for the betterment of the world. In Jesus, not only the promises made to Abraham and David (to have descendants as numerous as the stars of the sky and to rule over God’s people forever), but also the promises made to every person who ever trusted in their God would be fulfilled in a way more wonderful than anyone could have ever imagined.

At the conclusion of the genealogy, Matthew presents his account of the birth of Jesus: Joseph is very much the key subject. His fears about Mary’s pregnancy are allayed by an angel in a dream and he is instructed to name the child “Jesus,” which means “God saves” — an important clue as to the identity and mission of the baby.

The Gospel chosen for the Mass during the Night is St. Luke’s proclamation of the savior’s birth — “In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus . . .” (Lk 2:1-14). In this text, we learn so many things about the Messiah. First, his birth in Bethlehem, the ancestral city of King David, further reinforces the hope that the child will be the eternal heir to David’s throne. Next, the poverty of his birth — the setting of the cave or stable, his placement in the manger (feedbox for the animals), being wrapped in ragged bands of cloth — all emphasize that the Son of God has truly become one with his people — and the lowliest of his people, too! This child’s majesty will be shown in his love for his Father and people, not in the pomp of his lifestyle. But lest we forget that this is truly

the Divine Son of the Eternal Father, the skies are filled with angels proclaiming this child to be the “savior . . . Christ the Lord!” (Lk 2:11), and singing “Glory to God in the highest . . ..” (Lk 2:14).

The Gospel for the Mass at Dawn is the continuation of St. Luke’s presentation of the circumstances surrounding Jesus’ birth (Luke 2:15-20). In this scene, the glory of the angelic choirs is replaced by the coming of the shepherds to witness the child’s birth. In this story, the shepherds represent the common folk — all who work to support their families and build a better life for themselves and their communities. These are the people who are not particularly famous or influential over large groups of people — this child in the manger came for them as well. God’s love would not be restricted to the powerful, but would be lavished on each and every human being — an extension of the good news of the Messiah’s coming that could scarcely have been imagined before Jesus.

In this reading, we also get a glimpse of the depth of Mary and Joseph’s love for the child. We learn that Mary “kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart” (Lk 2:19). Because we know this story so well, we can easily lose sight of the human drama that was involved. Mary and Joseph’s love and care for the child amidst all the tumult of his birth and life is a testimony to how pleasing to God the love of parents is for their children. In Mary and Joseph all parents are raised up and united with the Lord for their goodness to their offspring.

Finally, the Gospel assigned to the Mass during the Day proclaims the fullness of the divine majesty that surrounds Jesus. Taken from the exalted Preface of St. John’s Gospel (1:1-18), the text reveals that the child in the manger is none other than God’s word made flesh, the eternal Son of the Father. And it is this fact that makes the rest of the story so important — this is not simply the story of a young boy born in lowly circumstances that made good, nor of a man who was able to weave together a compelling human philosophy — in this child in the manger we see our God’s fullest revelation to his people. We acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God, as our most complete picture of what our God is like — a God who shows himself to be the fulfillment of humanity’s most noble hopes and dreams, a God who reaches out to the mighty and to the lowly, a God who sent his Son to draw all humanity into the embrace of his love. It is the coming and the presence of such a God made manifest in Jesus that we gather to celebrate this Christmas. And, in this time of Eucharistic Revival, we rejoice that it is this Jesus who becomes present to us — body, blood, soul, and divinity — in the Eucharist at every Mass. May we resolve to come and adore him this Christmas to be sure, but on each and every Sunday when he deigns to come among his beloved people — us!

Msgr. Fell is a Scripture scholar and director, diocesan Office for Priest Personnel

John the Apostle

first

century

December 27

John and his brother, James, Galilean fishermen called the “sons of thunder,” were chosen to be among the Twelve Apostles. John was with Jesus at the Trans-figuration, in the Garden of Gethsemane and on Calvary. It was to this “beloved disciple” that Jesus entrusted his mother’s care. John evangelized in Ephesus (Turkey), was exiled to the island of Patmos, and according to tradition lived to be 100. John and his community of followers are credited with writing the fourth Gospel, three epistles and the Book of Revelation.

Saints

SCRIPTURE SEARCH®

Gospel for December 25, 2022 Luke 2:1-14

Following is a word search based on the Gospel reading for Christmas, the Mass During the Night: the angelic announcement. The words can be found in all directions in the puzzle.

BETHLEHEM

2022 TRI-C-A Publications; tri-c-a-publications.com

DECREE AUGUSTUS JOSEPH GALILEE BETHLEHEM DAVID CHILD BIRTH FIRSTBORN SON THE INN SHEPHERDS FIELDS WATCH ANGEL THE LORD AFRAID GREAT JOY A SIGN MULTITUDE PRAISING PEACE

K G R E A T J O Y R K F P R A I S I N G O J W I E N S L E G N A O M L R A N F H I L Y S E U A S C A W I E L E H E L U T E D A O E P E J D T G B E L T H H L H E I I U O R I C C H O D E A T S R C H H T R I B S R U T N E C E D A V I D F D U S D B N T N G I S A E S O D R O L E H T H E I N N

Catholic Charities Receives Grant from Saint Peter’s Healthcare System to Feed Community

By Tiffany Workman

According to the Community Food Bank of New Jersey, more than 650,000 people face hunger in our state, and that number includes over 175,000 children—stats that most New Jersey residents would likely find surprising. Unfortunately, New Jersey has a very big food insecurity issue. The sad part is that most of those suffering, don’t know where to turn to get help.

Catholic Charities, Diocese of Metuchen, provides many services to those in need and one of those services is providing food to those who need it. One Catholic Charities location that helps feed the community is Unity Square located at 80 Remsen Ave. in New Brunswick. With food distributions happening at 11:30 am every Friday and a more personal Choice Food Model happening every Tuesday, clients are being offered between 20 and 30 pounds of food each week. The demand for food is growing, and thanks to Saint Peter’s Healthcare System, Unity Square will be able to reach more people than ever before.

Saint Peter’s Healthcare System recently awarded a $25,000 grant to Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Metuchen specifically for food pantry programs.

Saint Peter’s knows that among the vari ous social determinants of health, food insecurity has one of the most extensive impacts on the overall health of individu als. People who are food insecure are dis proportionally affected by chronic disease.

“The funds provided by Saint Peter’s will add to our food insecurity efforts at Unity Square in New Brunswick,” says Krista Glynn, service area director at Catholic Charities. “Healthy food op tions and wellness items are often in lim ited supply, but thanks to Saint Peter’s, we can now expand our ability to include such items.

What prompted Saint Peter’s to award this money to Catholic Charities? Jim Choma, vice president for Catholic Mis sion and chief development officer at Saint Peter’s Healthcare System, says, “We wanted to give back to the community that gave us so much during the pandemic.”

Choma explained that during the coronavirus pandemic, healthcare workers were working around the clock, including those at Saint Peter’s University Hospital in New Brunswick. Doctors, nurses and hospital staff were overwhelmed by the generosity of the community which displayed its appreciation in many ways including sewing masks and donating them to those in need, and providing meals.

Saint Peter’s is extremely thankful for the prayers and donations from the Diocesan community that helped sustain their healthcare team. “It is a true blessing to have Saint Peter’s Healthcare System partner with us to serve those area residents who are experiencing food insecurity,” says Julio Coto, executive director, Catholic Charities, Diocese of Metuchen. “During the season of giving, we’ll be able to give so much more thanks to the generosity of Saint Peter’s Healthcare System.”

Saint Peter’s Healthcare System has awarded one-time grants to 13 community organizations to address social determinants of health and enhance the lives

of residents in the communities served by the healthcare system, many of whom are among the most vulnerable. They believe that good health is a sound investment to improve quality of life for individuals and the community at large.

For more information about Catholic Charities Diocese of Metuchen, please visit ccdom.org. LIKE and visit us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter @ccdom1 to stay updated on upcoming events and ways we help clients get the services and assistance they need.

Workman is the Communications Specialist in the Office of Communications and Public Relations

Other Happenings Around Catholic Charities

• The Catholic Charities LifeSet program held a Bowling and Budgeting event where young adults about to age out of the foster care system received education on creating and managing a budget.

• The Social Service Center in Philipsburg received an abundance of turkeys, non-perishable food items, money and gift certificates to help others who are experiencing hard times have food on their tables on Thanksgiving.

• The YES Early Learning Center at St. Ladislaus represented Catholic Charities at “It Takes a Village” Covid-19 Free Fall Festival, which brought together residents and community resource providers to expand access to healthcare, as well as raise awareness of and provide information on the importance of Early Childhood Education.

(From left to right) Jim Choma VP For Catholic Mission & Chief Development Officer Saint Peter’s Healthcare System; Leslie D. Hirsch, FACHE, President and CEO, Saint Peter’s Healthcare System; The Bishop; Julio Coto, LCSW, Executive Director, Catholic Charities, and Anthony P. Kearns, Esq., Chancellor, Diocese of Metuchen. Michael Castronova photo (Saint Peter’s Healthcare System)

Prayer is the living relationship of the children of God with their Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit

Article 169 - Catechism of the Catholic Church Series Paragraphs 2558-2567

speaks of the “soul” and the “spirit,” but the “heart” is mentioned much more often. “According to Scripture, it is the heart that prays. If our heart is far from God, the words of prayer are in vain” (ccc 2062).

The Catechism asks: “What is prayer?”

The great Doctor of the Church, Saint John Damascene (675-749), defines prayer as “the raising of one’s mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God” (ccc 2559). Another Doctor of the Church, Saint Thérèse of Lisieux (1873-1897), defines prayer as “a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy” (ccc 2558).

When in the 19th century Lord Alfred Tennyson of England wrote the words “More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of,” little did he know that more than 100 years later people worldwide would continue to invoke his words, the meaning of which transcend time. They remind people of every age how prayer helps enhance, transform and accomplish a myriad of circumstances and situations when all natural efforts fail.

Prayer is God’s gift, the Catechism teaches, and “humility is the foundation of prayer. Only when we humbly acknowledge that ‘we do not know how to pray as we ought,’ (Rm 8:26) are we ready to receive freely the gift of prayer” (ccc 2559).

Have you ever observed a deer or other wild animal quench its thirst near a stream or other water source? This is a biblical image of prayer. The Catechism provides a similar image: “The wonder of prayer is revealed beside the well where we come seeking water: there, Christ comes to meet every human being. It is he who first seeks us and asks us for a drink…prayer is the encounter of God’s thirst with ours. God thirsts that we may thirst for him” (ccc 2560). It is most appropriate that the psalmist writes: “Like a deer that yearns for running streams, so my soul yearns for you, my God” (Ps 42). Prayer, then, “is the response of faith to the free promise of salvation and also a response of love to the thirst of the only Son of God” (ccc 2561).

The next few paragraphs consider “Prayer as Covenant” and “Where Does Prayer Come From?” Sacred Scripture

The Catechism continues: “The heart is the dwelling-place where I am, where I live…the heart is the place ‘to which I withdraw.’ The heart is our hidden center, beyond the grasp of our reason and of others; only the Spirit of God can fathom the human heart and know it fully. The heart is the place of decision… It is the place of truth, where we choose life or death. It is the place of encounter, because as image of God we live in relation: it is the place of covenant” (ccc 2563). In short, Christian prayer “is a covenant relationship between God and man in Christ” (ccc 2564).

In discussing “Prayer as Communion,” the Catechism says that in the New Covenant, “prayer is the living relationship of the children of God with their Father…with his Son Jesus Christ and with the Holy Spirit” (ccc 2565).

Living a life of prayer is being in the presence of the Holy Trinity and in communion with him whom we have become united through the sacrament of baptism.

“Prayer is Christian insofar as it is communion with Christ and extends throughout the Church, which is his Body. Its dimensions are those of Christ’s love” (ccc 2565).

The final theme explored in this section of the Catechism is “The Universal Call to Prayer.” Prayer is for everyone. God calls us all to prayer, because he calls and invites us all to a personal relationship with him. The Catechism tells us that “in the act of creation God calls every being from nothingness into existence” (ccc 2566). Following the lead of the angels in Heaven, we humans are capable of acknowledging “how majestic is the name of the Lord in all the earth” (ccc 2566). Although we have forfeited our “likeness to God” through sin, we remain an image of God our Creator, and continue to desire him. The Catechism affirms: “the living and true God tirelessly calls each person to that mysterious encounter known as prayer” (ccc 2567). God always takes the initiative in prayer, an initiative always of love. “Our own first step [in prayer] is always a response” (ccc 2567). Prayer thus becomes a “reciprocal call, a covenant drama… [a drama that] engages the heart” (ccc 2567).

The very notion that the Creator of the universe, the God who always was and always will be, would have reason to initiate a conversation with a mere human being, is unimaginable. Why would God desire such communication? What would

Life Affirming

Supporters of Life Choices Resource Center, Metuchen, participated in the agency’s annual “Walk BIG for LIFE!” at Merrill Park, Iselin, Oct. 22. The prayerful event was highlighted this year by the new and growing Student Ambassador youth as they “Walk with Moms in Need.” Donations to the agency support its ministry of promoting and defending the sanctity of all human life, born and unborn. Life Choices offers sonograms and pregnancy tests, and provides parenting education and other services, as well as diapers and material needs.

Life Choices Resource Center is celebrating more than seven years as a faithbased Christian ministry. The agency provides loving help, hope and healing recognizing that each human being is made in the image and likeness of God and each life is a gift from him.

photos courtesy of Life Choices Resource Center

God have to converse about with such a creature? The answer can only be found within the mystery of God’s love for each and every human person, all people of all times and places. “Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love” (1 Jn 4:8).

Our love for God can only be true if it is authentic, because God’s love for us is always authentic, insofar as God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten Son to be born of a woman, Mary. He revealed Himself to the world,

but revealed Himself to Mary first: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God” (Lk 1:35). This is unimaginable love – a love that seeks us and provides us the necessary grace that we may never stop seeking him!

Father Hillier is director, diocesan Office of Pontifical Mission Societies, the Office for Persons with Disabilities and Censor Luborum

traveling when he was blinded

There are three from John

Woman saved by Daniel

Second word of a Latin hymn

Our Lady of ___

Father of Jehoshaphat

The Crown of ___

Brought by a wise man

According to Psalms, he says there is no God

Patron saint of jewelers

Bk. of the Pentateuch

The Holy Land

Prophet in Luke

Thomas Aquinas is patron saint of these Catholic institutions

These commemorate Jesus’ crucifixion

Longest of the prophetic books of the Old Testament

“You are the ___ of the earth” (Mt 5:13)

Patron saint of Scandinavia

Jesus healed his servant

Third of HIS

The golden ___

Got a toothache? Try this saint

A high priest

Author of Black Like Me who became a Third Order Carmelite

Abbr. for two NT epistles

Italian city of St. Clare

John, Paul and John Paul

She renamed herself Mara

Holiday has deep spiritual roots in U.S.

For the Missionary Families of Christ New Jersey (MFCNJ), the two most important aspects of Christian life are the renewal of families and the work of evangelization.

In the spirit of inviting others to a seat at the table of the Lord around the celebration of Thanksgiving, MFCNJ invited the diocese to send a speaker to a gathering of the group at St. Anne Parish, Fair Lawn, Nov. 19.

In his Thanksgiving message, Adam Carlisle, Secretary of Evangelization and Communication, reminded everyone that the first Thanksgiving was actually Catholic.

On September 8, 1565 — fifty-six years before the “first” Thanksgiving — Pedro Menéndez de Avilés and 800 Spanish settlers founded the city of St. Augustine (in Spanish Florida). As soon as they were ashore, the landing party celebrated a Mass of Thanksgiving. The celebrant of the Mass was St. Augustine’s first pastor, Father Francisco López de Mendoza Grajales, and the feast day in the Church calendar was that of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. As Carlisle noted, while we tend to think of

Adam Carlisle, center, Secretary of Evangelization and Communication, poses with members of the Missionary Families of Christ after speaking at a gathering for the lay community at St. Anne Parish, Fair Lawn, Nov. 7.

photo courtesy of George Santos

Thanksgiving as a secular holiday, it is important to realize that, from the very beginning, thanksgiving and evangelization were linked.

“We must never lose sight of the fact that our faith is a gift and that those of us who are blessed with the gift of faith have an obligation to share that gift — much like the missionaries who came to North America nearly 500 years ago — with the whole world, making disciples of all nations,” Carlisle said.

MFCNJ, a nonprofit Catholic lay organization, was founded in the Philippines by Frank Padilla in 1981 as an outreach to couples. It now has several missions around the world and about 15 in the United States, including St. Bernadette Parish, Parlin.

MFCNJ has about 500 members in the Diocese of Metuchen and more than

OBITUARY

Charity Sister Joan Eileen Butler, 88, who taught at the now-closed St. Peter the Apostle Elementary School, New Brunswick, died Dec. 10 at Bay Shore Medical Center, Holmdel.

Sister Joan Eileen was born in Jersey City, the daughter of John and Josepha (Kayet) Butler. She entered the Sisters of Charity Sept. 6, 1955.

Sister Joan Eileen earned a Bachelor of Science degree in elementary education at the College of Saint Elizabeth, Convent Station. Sister Joan Eileen was an educator and served in health ministry in New Jersey and Massachusetts.

In addition to Saint Peter’s, she taught at Our Lady of Grace School, Hoboken and Our Lady of Lourdes School, West Orange.

She also ministered as a Nurse’s Aide at Saint Anne Villa, Convent Station; Elizabeth Seton Residence, Wellesley, Mass.; and Omna Health Care, Montclair. She retired in 2006.

After her retirement, Sister Joan Eileen continued to live at Our Lady of Lourdes Convent where she continued to volunteer. In June 2022, Sister Joan Eileen moved to the Convent of Saint Elizabeth, Convent Station. Sister Joan Eileen had an uplifting and positive spirit. Her quick-witted manner brought laughter to those around her. She had great generosity and was always

friends and acquaintances. As a faithful Sister of Charity, she strove to make God’s love known in the world.

Sister Joan Eileen was predeceased by her parents; her sister, Gloria Giaimo; nephews Stephen Verheul, Frank Verheul and niece Judith Giaimo. She is survived by her Sister of Charity family, her sister Dorothy Verheul (Mukilteo, Wash.), many nieces, nephews, grand-nieces and nephews and many friends.

A funeral Mass for Sister Joan was celebrated at Holy Family Chapel, Convent Station, Dec.15. Burial was at Holy Family Cemetery.

1,000 in the Diocese of Passaic, said George Santos, a member of the group and St. Bernadette’s.

For information or to join the group contact George and Joyce Santos at georgesantos695@gmail.com.

Funeral arrangements were handled by Steven J. Priola Funeral Services, Parsippany.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to: Sisters of Charity Development Fund, PO. Box 476, Convent Station, NJ, 07961-0476.

An angel tells Mary she will bear a son

By Jennifer Ficcaglia Catholic News Service

One day, God sent the angel Gabriel on a mission. He wanted Gabriel to go to the town of Nazareth in Galilee and deliver a very important message to a young girl who lived there. The girl’s name was Mary. She was a virgin who was betrothed to a man named Joseph, who was of the house of King David. “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you,” Gabriel said when he visited Mary. When Mary heard Gabriel’s greeting, she was troubled and wondered what it meant. Gabriel knew what she was thinking. “Do not be afraid, Mary,” he assured her, ‘for you have found favor with God.”

Gabriel then shared with her the message God wanted him to relay. “Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus,” the angel announced. “He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his Kingdom there will be no end.”

Mary was confused. She asked Gabriel how she could have a baby when she and Joseph had not yet begun their married life together.”The Holy Spirit

your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God,” he said.

“Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord,” Mary said. “May it be done to me according to your word.” After Mary had spoken, Gabriel left.

Not long after, Mary traveled to Judah to visit Elizabeth. When Mary entered the house of Elizabeth and her husband, Zechariah, she called out a greeting. When Elizabeth heard it, the baby in her womb leapt for joy, and she was filled with the Holy Spirit. “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb,” Elizabeth said.

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ACCOMPANYING

Deacons from diocese focus on spiritual journeys at annual meeting

By Deacon Patrick Cline

EASTON, Pa. — To retreat means an act of moving back or withdrawing, usually with a negative connotation. But in Catholicism, to make a retreat means withdrawing for a while in order to move foreword renewed and refreshed to live our life in a deeper and fuller mode. At the St. Francis Retreat House Nov. 18-20, 44 permanent deacons from the diocese made their canonically required annual retreat.

The meeting provided time for the deacons to step back from their ministries and focus on their spiritual journeys. In ad dition, there were opportunities for them to renew relationships with one another that are such a vital part of the dimensions of or dained deacons. The attendees represented a span of diaconal ministry from six months of service to 40 years.

Msgr. Charles W. Cicerale, a retired priest from the diocese, served as the retreat master. The former pastor at St. James Par ish, Woodbridge, is a Licensed Clinical So cial Worker with many years of experience as a pastor, counselor and spiritual guide.

Msgr. Cicerale also shaped the theme of the retreat at four conferences on topics he believes are vital to the life of a deacon: prayer, suffering, vulnerability and ministry.

“God is hiding in the world and their role is to let him emerge,” Msgr. Cicerale said.

While providing meaningful insights on ministry from his own pastoral experiences, he offered recommendations for books and provided a number of handouts to allow pportunities for the deacons to continue reflecting on his insights and messages from the weekend.

The retreat also offered time for rest,

purpose. In addition, Msgr. Cicerale was available during the weekend for spiritual conferences and reconciliation.

Continuing a tradition started two years ago, a memorial service was held on Saturday afternoon to remember and pray for the deacons from the diocese who have died since the last retreat: Angel Perez, Thomas Klaas, Frank d’Auguste, David DeFrange (director emeritus of the Office of the Diaconate), Luis Moral, John Hanna.

bined for more than 120 years of service. An additional candle was lit in memory of all deceased wives of deacons.

On Saturday evening Deacon Stephen F. Kern, director, diocesan Office of the Diaconate, led a Service of Recommitment for the men. This was an opportunity to remember their respective ordination days and renew the promises that were made.

Msgr. Cicerale presided at Mass on the second morning and on Nov. 20, they

Deacon Paul Flor, who has exercised his ministry at Sts. Philip and James since being ordained to the diaconate by Bishop James F. Checchio at the Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi, May 25, described his first retreat as an ordained deacon as ”definitely inspirational.”

“It was very heartening [to be with] men who strive to serve our Lord in an enormous number of different ministries,” he added.

St. Augustine of Canterbury Parish member speaks at conference

By Cassidy Darcey

Madison Reda, a junior at Notre Dame High School, Lawrenceville, has many reasons to be proud. She is active in Peer Leadership, as a Student Ambassador, and as vice president of Photography Club. But, in addition to her notable contributions at Notre Dame, Madison recently had the amazing opportunity to speak at the National Catholic Youth Conference (NCYC) in Long Beach, Calif.

NCYC is a three-day experience where Catholic teens of high school age come together for a time of prayer, community, evangelization, catechesis, and service. It is the premiere Catholic youth event on a national scale that gathers people from across America. The experience that focuses on community and service in order to feel closer to Christ. This year’s conference welcomed 2,600 attendees.

Reda is very active at her parish, St. Augustine of Canterbury, Kendall Park. Guided by the Center for FaithJustice, she and other youth at St. Augustine’s par-

ticipate in the NeXt Level program, which provides Catholic youth and their mentors with the resources to create passion projects in their parishes, weeklong service immersion experiences and resources for advocacy and education. NeXt Level mentors led Madison and her peers in creating their own passion projects focusing on youth mental health, called PEACE of Mind. Their goal is to end the stigma behind mental health and bring education to the community. Reda’s leadership in PEACE of Mind (prevention, education, awareness, community, engagement) culminated in the invitation to speak at NCYC, along with five other teens from parishes in New Jersey. They all were chosen to speak about the projects they implemented in their parishes.

At the conference, Reda gave pre sentations at three breakout sessions to a total of about 300 people. She discussed her parish program and how attendees could begin similar passion programs in their own parishes.

Reda spoke about social justice and

Catholic Social Teaching, a guide to living a moral and just life. The goal was to have participants identify areas of need in their own parishes and begin the process of creating their own programs.

Her favorite experience from the trip was when she was able to talk one-on-one to other Cathoplic teenagers about the important topic of mental and what they are doing to make a change.

Reda thanked Colleen Paras, her

ing her to join the NeXt Level program. Reda describes her as “her main supporter and role model.”

Tracey Reed, a Campus Minister and faculty member at Notre Dame, described Reda as someone who “has a fire in her.” Matt Greeley, also a Campus Minister and religion teacher, recognizes Reda’s leadership abilities and said she is a “source of pride for the Notre Dame family.”

Darcey is a senior communications

Madison Reda, right, a junior at Notre Dame High School, Lawrenceville, and member of St. Augustine of Canterbury Paish, Kendall Park, speaks to an attendee at the National Catholic Youth Conference in Long Beach, Calif.

photo courtesy of Notre Dame High School

Deacon Stephen F. Kern (front row, left), director, diocesan Office of the Diaconate, poses with fellow deacons from the diocese at their annual retreat Nov. 18-20 at the St. Francis Retreat House, Easton Pa.

Deacon Patrick Cline photo

Hot Wheels: Food truck nourishes bodies, souls of needy

By Christina Leslie Correspondent

HILLSBOROUGH — It takes many willing hands to ease the grip of hunger in Somerset County. Thanks to an innovative ministry at St. Joseph Parish, dozens of them are holding tight to the wheel and cargo of a bright blue messenger of hope.

The goal of the used food truck, named “Holy C.H.O.W.” (Christian Hospitality on Wheels), is to improve the lives of the hungry in the Manville area. A Scripture passage on the side of the truck reminds passersby to “Do justice, love kindness, walk humbly with your God (Micah 6:8).”

Each Tuesday evening, the truck, filled with hot meals prepared at St. Joseph Parish, departs for a parking lot adjacent to Christ the Redeemer Church, Manville. Since the truck’s inaugural trip in September, more than 450 meals have been distributed to the hungry.

St. Joseph parishioner and food truck volunteer Michelle Laffoon explained an anonymous donor had given the vehicle to the parish before the pandemic, and a committee was formed to discern its best use. The food truck ministry is in partnership with Somerville-based SHIP (Samaritan Homeless Interim Program), a faith based, interfaith and community funded, assisted and supported grassroots organization that offers programs and services to Somerset County area poor.

“We went into the community to see the need,” said Laffoon, whose husband, Christopher, is also involved in the project. “We created a 90-minute program to train workers how to serve, not just the food, but

serve the people. You have to have a soft heart and work together as a team.”

The process begins in the pews. With the aid of recipe cards and baking pans, willing parishioners prepare and donate casseroles four times a year for the food truck weekly trips, the scheduled bake depending upon in which section they sit for weekly Masses. Food is stored in the parish freezer in preparation for each Tuesday evening’s repast.

On the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, as on each Tuesday since September, multiple groups of willing volunteers began a multi-step production reminiscent of a military-style undertaking. Jeanine Cavanagh, the parish director of social ministries, outlined the schedule volunteers follow as they prepare, transport and distribute the meals. She noted, “It is our mission to provide nourishment on many levels, and offer great hope to individuals served.”

The day began at 7 a.m. as one volunteer visited Panera Bread in Somerset to pick up their donation of leftover breads and sweets for the meals. Cooks arrived at the parish kitchen about 11 a.m. to slide the casseroles into the oven, warm industrial-sized cans of green beans and load all hot food into the truck’s Cambro unit to stay at temperature. Meanwhile, the food truck was checked and replenished with all needed supplies for the evening: clamshell to-go containers, carbonated water, extra boxed and canned food, cleaning items, utensils and statistics paperwork.

The Holy C.H.O.W. food truck left St. Joseph Parish just before 5 p.m. to meet the evening’s mission volunteers;

Above left, volunteers in the Holy C.H.O.W. (Christian Hospitality on Wheels) food truck, which is a ministry from St. Joseph Parish, Hillsborough, recently served hot meals to the needy in a parking lot adjacent to Christ the Redeemer Church, Manville. Middle, from left, cooks Marilyn Stephenson, Gail Bellas, Joanne Gagliardi, Eleanor Ogdin and Jeanine Cavanagh, who is also the parish’s director, Social Ministries, pose for a photo. Right, the cooks prepare food at St. Joseph Parish. The food truck ministry, which serves the needy each Tuesday evening, has about 45 members. — Christina Leslie photos

all drove to the Manville lot where they set up the eating area, opened the food truck awning and began to serve at 5:30 p.m. Recipients of the ministry emerged slowly from the shadows, greeting the workers and patiently queueing for the hot meals as the temperature dipped into the low 20s. A worker led them in praying Grace before the meal, and the plates were filled with the foods chosen from the colorful outdoor menu board.

Laughter could be heard over the sound of the truck’s generator, and the atmosphere lightened as clients shared their gratitude for the meals.

“I lost my job and my home, and can’t always stay with my son,” shared “Mary,” a middle-aged woman bundled up against the cold. “Now I live in a hotel. These meals are great. I try to eat healthy.”

“Sam,” a young man who sheepishly requested to buy some food with his last remaining two dollars was incredulous when he learned the truck’s volunteers would bestow him with two dinners for free. Clutching his bounty, he uttered, “Thank you” repeatedly as he slipped away in the darkness.

New Holy C.H.O.W. volunteer and St. Joseph parishioner Jill Witt mingled with the clients and shared the reasons for her participation. “This is my home-

town” she said. “I used to be part of corporate America, but hated it. It’s good to give back. I think I found what I need to do.”

Father Francis “Hank” Hilton, pastor, reflected upon the food truck ministry, declaring it met the parish’s mission to nurture its priests, prophets and kings – three legs of a tripod, each integral.

“We pray, we serve, we build up community. Everyone knows what they are doing,” Father Hilton said. “We don’t just want the same 20 people doing everything. That’s not what it’s all about.”

The Holy C.H.O.W. food ministry has about 45 members and is growing, for it takes many behind-the-scenes workers to assist with truck maintenance, driver scheduling, food collection and other vital tasks to make the program a success.

Cavanagh insisted both volunteers and clients received gifts from the Holy C.H.O.W. project, explaining, “It truly is a work of God. Those that serve and are served… resonate the love and vitality of the Lord. The mutuality of God’s love is a gift to all involved,” she said.

“Our charity is love… and it is more, so much more than providing food. This is about nourishing body and soul. It is about serving up nutritious, delicious food with a heaping helping of hope!”

DIOCESAN EVENTS

Eucharistic Revival Lecture Series: The Mystery of the Eucharist in the Life of the Church, 7 p,m., the Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi. Father Timothy A. Christy will explore the USCCB’s document on the Eucharist. As Christians, we know that we need Christ to be present in our lives. He is our very sustenance as he reminded us: unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you (Jn 6:53). The Lord accompanies us in many ways, but none as profound as when we encounter Him in the Eucharist.

St. Timothy and St. Teresa of Calcutta Awards. 11 a,m. (Location TBD). Hosted by the diocesan Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry honoring juniors and seniors from the Diocese of Metuchen. For more information contact Megan (Vantslot) Callahan, Director of Youth and Young Adult Evangelization at: mcallahan@diometuchen.org

Annual Diocesan Respect Life Mass – Noon, Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi. All are welcome to join us as Bishop Checchio commemorates the recent overturning of Roe v. Wade, in the Dobbs decision. A light reception will be held following the Mass. For more information contact: jruggiero@diometuchen.org or amarshall@diometuchen.org

Retrouvaille – Weekend for couples in troubled marriages. For information and registration contact Rich Colasuonno at 732-236-0671 or Annette Colasuonno at 732-672-0748.

Marriage Encounter – This Worldwide Marriage Encounter Weekend gives married couples the time and tools to revitalize romance, deepen communication, and nourish the spirituality in their marriage. Contact Tom and Ruth DeFalco 1-732-904-9636 for application and information.

AROUND THE DIOCESE

Retreat, Dec. 27, 7 to 8:30 p.m. – (Fourth Tuesday of each month) Mount Saint Mary House of Prayer, 1651 US Hwy. 22, Watchung, and on Zoom. Men have unique roles in life, husbands, fathers, grandfathers, the single life and religious life. Where can we find time to reflect on the loss and gain of our lives? Join our group over coffee or tea for life affirming discussions and prayer to find God in our lives and to make a difference in our own worlds. Freewill offering. Information and registration for all House of Prayer offerings can be found at www.msmhope.org, calling (908) 753-2091 or e-mail msmhope@msmhope.org. Registration is required 10 days in advance.

Virtual meeting, Dec. 29, 3 to 4 p.m. – (First and third Thursdays of each month.) Mount Saint Mary House of Prayer, Watchung. Join us on Zoom for an hour of lectio divina, prayer, conversation and small group sharing. Freewill offering. Information and registration for all House of Prayer offerings can be found at www. msmhope.org, calling (908) 753-2091 or e-mail msmhope@msmhope.org. Registration is required 10 days in advance.

Prayer service, Dec. 31, 9:30 a.m. 3 p.m. – Mount Saint Mary House of Prayer, 1651 US Hwy. 22, Watchung. Spend this last day of the year reflecting on the many gifts God has bestowed on you. Day begins and ends with communal prayer. Bring a bag lunch. Fee is $20-$30 as you are able. Information and registration for all House of Prayer offerings can be found at www.msmhope.org, calling (908) 753-2091 or e-mail msmhope@msmhope.org. Registration is required 10 days in advance.

Charity Fundraiser, Jan. 21, 6:30 p.m. – 10th annual fundraiser for Our Lady of Lourdes Knights of Columbus Council 6930, Our Lady of Lourdes Parish Hall, 390 County Road 523 Whitehouse Station. Comedy Night features comedians Eddie Clark and Paul Bond and Steve Trevelise of 101.5-FM radio. Dinner, desert and beverages. Proceeds support organizations such as Starfish Food Pantry, Hunterdon ARC, Clinton ARC, and Lyons VA Hospital. Tickets are $50 per person. Doors open at 6:00. Dinner at 6:30 p.m., show at 8 p.m. For tickets contact Tom DiQuollo at (908) 217-4330, tomdiquollo@gmail.com or Roman Hnidj at (908) 256-9760, rhnidj70@gmail.com

DIOCESAN PROGRAMS

Adoration and Mass at Pastoral Center On Tuesdays and Thursdays in the St. John Neumann Pastoral Center chapel there is adoration of the Blessed Sacrament from 9 to 11:45 a.m. followed by Mass. On Wednesday there is Mass at 11:45 a.m. Adorers are needed so Eucharistic Adoration can be offered before Mass begins. For more information, contact Angela Marshall at: amarshall@diometuchen.org.

Catechism in a Year for Women This virtual Women’s Group will meet each week on Sundays at 2:30 p.m. on Zoom for discussion of Fr. Mike Schmitz’s “Catechism in a Year” podcast beginning on January 8. For details, contact Cristina at cdaverso@diometuchen.org

“The Chosen” Study Series All young adult engaged and married couples are invited to join in a virtual study series based on the hit series, “The Chosen.” A different episode will be discussed each meeting and virtual watch parties will be planned sporadically. Meetings take place every other Monday evening at 6 p.m. on Zoom. For details or to join, please contact Cristina D’Averso-Collins at cdaverso@diometuchen.org.

Surviving Divorce Surviving Divorce is a 12-week program beginning March 2, for men and women seeking healing from separation or divorce. For information contact Ro Bersch at 908-313-5947.

Blue Rosary Guild The Office of Family Life is pleased to announce the creation of the Blue Rosary Guild. The purpose of the Guild is for community members of all ages to make pocket Rosaries for law enforcement officers, providing them with support and spiritual strength and promoting devotion to the Rosary among all the faithful. All materials and instructions will be provided and a Zoom virtual tutorial will also be scheduled. Anyone interested should contact Cristina D’Averso-Collins, Director of the Office of Family Life at cdaverso@ diometuchen.org.

SELLING YOUR HOME?

Willing to buy your home or townhouse in as-is condition. Quick 30 day cash closing. I’m a Licensed realtor in the State of NJ. Eugene “George” Pantozzi 908-392-2677 (call or text) georgepantozzi@hotmail.com

WINDOW & DOOR SCREEN REPAIRS

Installation of Fiberglass screens for your doors and windows. Pick-up and drop off services available. George & Sons: (908) 392-2677

FREELANCE WRITERS

The Catholic Spirit, official newspaper of the Diocese of Metuchen, is seeking freelance reporters to cover events and programs in the counties of the diocese: Middlesex, Somerset, Hunterdon, and Warren. E-mail resume and writing samples to: news@catholicspirit.com.

If

(Mark 10:21)

Contact

Office of Vocations (732) 562-2453 or e-mail: vocations@diometuchen.org

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY - GRAPHIC DESIGNER

The Catholic Spirit, the official newspaper of the Diocese of Metuchen, seeks a Graphic Designer to assist with the layout and design of its publication. The ideal candidate will have Adobe InDesign and Photoshop experience in a PC environment, be familiar with all aspects of electronic publishing, be well-organized and reliable, and have a proven track record of meeting deadlines. Interested candidates should forward their resume to hr@diometuchen.org.

ADVERTISING SALES REPRESENTATIVE

The Catholic Spirit, the official newspaper of the Diocese of Metuchen, seeks an Advertising Sales Representative to assist with the sale of advertising space. The ideal candidate will be responsible for initiating, developing, and closing sales of print media advertising in The Catholic Spirit by creating and building effective client relationships with area businesses and organizations. Interested candidates should forward their resume to hr@diometuchen.org.

“Come, Follow me.”

Is God calling you to serve as a priest, religious sister or brother?

you think maybe…

the