July 20, 2023

Anointed to Serve

Father Jose Manuel Lim was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop James F. Checchio June 24 in St. Francis of Assisi Cathedral, Metuchen. During Ordination, Bishop Checchio anointed the hands of the newly ordained priest with Sacred Chrism to prepare him for the sacred duties of offering the bread and wine, anointing the sick and blessing the People of God. The Ordination story and photos begin on pg. 3.

Photo by Mike Ehrmann

Bishop wishes all a summer of joy, blessings, reflection and renewal

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

What a wonderful time of year the summer is as life winds down and we can take time for reflection and renewal. For many in our diocese, reflection should be easy as the past few months have been filled with many joyful events.

Beginning in May, many of our youth throughout the diocese received First Communion. It was such a special time for each one of them. Indeed, I still remember mine, what a joyful day it was to receive our Lord in the Eucharist for the first time. My family was thrilled and there was always a big family party, too.

Throughout the past few months, many of our young people have also received the Sacrament of Confirmation. It was a blessing to be able to confirm so many and a joy visiting our parishes and interacting with the confirmandi and their families. The confirmandi had extra challenges in preparing for the sacrament, and I am certainly grateful for their perseverance through the COVID 19 pandemic as they prepared to receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit, who, no doubt, will reward them.

On July 7, I presided at my last Confirmation for now but look forward to beginning again in the fall. My gratitude goes to the parents who instilled in their children the faith which led them to Confirmation, a wonderful gift which will assist them throughout their lives. I am so grateful, too, to the teachers in our Catholic Schools and our parish catechetical leaders and teachers in our religious education programs who have prepared our youth for these important sacraments. We literally have an army of catechists passing on their love of Jesus and His Church to our youth. Thank you!

Last month, graduations provided many joyful occasions. I was able to attend our four Catholic high school graduations. The graduates who spoke at commencements remarked on their gratefulness for the opportunity to study in the unique atmosphere our Catholic schools provide. It was uplifting to hear our students speak about what they learned and how they came to know Christ better and had so many opportunities to put the divine law to love our neighbor into effect. Weddings also brought much joy to many. I was asked to receive the vows of some of our young brothers and sisters entering into Holy Matrimony. And Ordinations, which also took place recently, added to our joy. Four new transitional deacons and one new priest were all ordained for service to our wonderful diocese. A joyous blessing, indeed.

These occasions are always great to remember our own first love as we see it in them. It certainly lifts our spirits and helps us to recommit to our own vows as priests, religious or married couples. Jesus encourages us in so many ways! You will read about Father Jose Lim’s Ordination in this edition of “The Catholic Spirit,” as well as about our priests celebrating milestones. May these stories renew the love within us and help us to strive to share it more fully with those we meet each day.

So, I pray that the summer provides you with time to reflect on all the joy in your life as well as rest and relaxation to enjoy the outdoors. We’re blessed here in New Jersey with so many beautiful locations close by to enjoy. God created and entrusted the world to us and hence we need to make sure we are protecting it for future generations.

We can see the beauty of God all around us, and so we strive to do what we can to make sure it stays that way! Some of our schools and our diocesan pastoral center have now switched to solar energy to contribute to preserving our environment by using renewable energy. We all can do something, even small, within our own

homes to conserve energy. The summer reminds us in a unique way of this obligation as we get to enjoy the great outdoors.

Know of my love and prayers for you, and gratitude, too. As we relish the joyful events of these past months, I hope that you get a chance to enjoy the summer with family and friends and get a break from your regular routine! More importantly, I hope you find some time to renew yourself in God’s love this summer, especially through Mass, Eucharistic Adoration and your own personal

prayer time. God loves us and wants to refresh and nourish us in a way that only He can, so let’s make time for Him this summer too! God bless you all.

God bless, Most Reverend James F. Checchio, JCD, MBA Bishop of

Metuchen

Bishop congratulates Cardinaldesignate Christophe Pierre

Bishop James F. Checchio and the Diocese of Metuchen congratulate Archbishop Christophe Pierre, the apostolic nuncio to the United States, being named one of the 21 new cardinals by Pope Francis July 9 at the conclusion of the Sunday Angelus in St. Peter’s Square.

Cardinal-designate Pierre, who was named apostolic nuncio to the United States in 2016, has shared in great moments in recent diocesan history, including the diocesan consecration to

Jesus through Our Lady of Guadalupe in December 2019 at the Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi in Metuchen and the Pilgrimage in honor of the 40th Anniversary of the Diocese of Metuchen to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C in September, 2022.

Please join us in praying for Cardinal-designate Pierre and the newlynamed cardinals, who will be formally installed during a special consistory at the Vatican on September 30, 2023.

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cesses out of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, -

New priest challenged to lead others to Christ

By Christina Leslie Contributing Editor

METUCHEN – On June 24, the feast day the Church honors St. John the Baptist, the first of the New Testament prophets, Bishop James F. Checchio welcomed Jose Manuel Lim to the ranks of the distinguished clergy of the Diocese of Metuchen at a joyous ordination Mass in the Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi.

“His whole life was a pointer, leading others to Jesus,” the Bishop declared. “It was about witnessing, giving testimony attesting what is true. This, my brother Jose, is what you must emulate.”

Bishop Checchio and scores of priests and deacons from throughout the Diocese processed into the Cathedral to witness the ancient rite. Following the proclamation of the Gospel, Bishop Checchio bade him to “understand what you do, imitate what you celebrate and conform your life in the mystery of the Lord’s Cross.”

During his homily, Bishop Checchio continued his advice to the 32-year-old scholar and registered nurse, saying he had been called to give testimony about Jesus as one of his priests as an expert or specialist.

“Stay close to Him in prayer so your testimony will not be hollow,” the Bishop urged him. “Witness by living the promises you make today – celibacy, prayer, obedience – by your service to those in the diocese. Stay close to Jesus in your prayer each day.”

Addressing the new priest once more, Bishop Checchio said, “We need to make God our first priority each day … Now it falls to you, Jose, to carry on the tradition. Lay down your life, your wants, your desires, to take on Christ, give witness to Him daily. May all of us also join with you by prayer and service so we might share our friendship with Jesus and others who recognize him.”

Jose Manuel Lim was born in Paterson, one of two children of Vicente and Noemi Lim. Upon his graduation from Paramus elementary and public high schools, he earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from Rutgers University, New Brunswick, while serving as a research assistant there. Mr. Lim then served

two years as a registered nurse at Atlantic Health Overlook Medical Center, Summit.

In 2017, Father Lim began his journey to the priesthood by studying philosophy in Immaculate Conception Seminary at Seton Hall, West Orange. Two years later, he transferred to the Pontifical North American College, Rome, where he earned a Baccalaureate in Sacred Theology from Gregorian University and is continuing Licentiate in Sacred Theology studies from the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross.

During the course of his diaconal and priestly studies, Father Lim has served as a pastoral intern at St. Peter’s University Hospital, New Brunswick, and in campus ministry through the Duquesne Study Abroad Program.

Standing alone in the sanctuary, his beaming smile reflecting his joy-filled heart, the future Father Lim answered with a clear “yes” the questions whether he had come willingly and faithfully to the priesthood and would promise obedience to the authority of the priesthood. Bishop Checchio answered this assent, “May God, who has begun great work in you, bring it to fulfillment,” as the congregation responded with resounding applause.

Then, acknowledging this was a goal he would not achieve alone, Father Lim lay prostrate as the choir and congregation sang the “Litany of the Saints,” beseeching the heavenly hosts for assistance. As the last notes faded, he approached Bishop Checchio who laid hands on his head in silent prayer. Then, one by one, priests filed from the pews into the sanctuary to bless their fraternal brother in the same way.

The diocesan Festival Choir sang the ancient hymn “Veni Creator” as Father Lim was assisted by Father Michael Fragoso, pastor of Visitation Parish, New Brunswick, in first removing the vestments of a deacon, then donning the stole and chasuble of a priest. Once again kneeling before his shepherd, the hands of Father Lim were anointed with Holy Chrism before his fellow priests approached him for a fraternal embrace.

At the conclusion of Mass, Father Lim bestowed his first priestly blessings upon Bishop Checchio, extended family and friends. The new priest has been assigned to serve the community of St. Joseph Parish, Hillsborough, for two months before resuming his studies in Rome.

Top right, Deacon Lim processes into the Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi at the beginning of the Mass of Ordination to the Priesthood. Right, Deacon Lim kneels before Bishop James F. Checchio who says the Prayer of Ordination during which he called down the Holy Spirit ordaining Deacon Lim to the priesthood. Father Lim was ordained a priest June 24, the Solemnity of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist. Mike Ehrmann photos

Blame has no place in dealing with ‘slavery to corruption’

sent to hell, which is a place marked by the total absence of God—where God is not, life and light do not exist, rather, this is perpetual death and darkness.

In the second reading on the 15th Sunday in ordinary time, the final words in St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans drives home a sensitive topic, which needs to be addressed: “….for creation was made subject to futility, not of its own accord but because of the one who subjected it, in hope that creation itself would be set free from slavery to corruption.” [Rom. 8:8-23] What is this “slavery to corruption” suffered by creation? In particular, how has this “corruption” affected us humans?

It is the teaching of the Church that there will be a constant tug-of-war between Good and Evil in our world until Jesus’ Second Coming, which marks the culmination of God’s saving plan. At that time, Christ will triumph definitively against Satan and usher in the new age of glory—when those who are found righteous will live forever in a state of joy, peace and congruity in perfect unity with each other. Those who are not found to be in good standing with God will be

As we are in the midst of this flux preceding the Second Coming, nothing serves as a better example of our “slavery to corruption” or, better, “addiction to what is bad for us,” than the battle waged by adults and their children over illicit drugs. I am convinced that the increased use of fentanyl laced painkillers and heroin in our country is not the result of negligence by parents. If any of you, parents, have children with a drug problem, please do not blame yourselves. Why not? Because this affliction hits the best of homes where parents have sacrificed everything to make a better life for their families. How many of you have to make the four-hour commute into the City just to sustain the lifestyle to which your family has grown accustomed? How many of you live in two income families just to pay the high taxes, touring team registration fees and escalating costs of school tuition just to give your kids what you, yourselves, could not enjoy in your youth? You do not complain but do what you have to, in order to make a good life for your loved ones. So, there should be no finger-pointing when it comes to having an addict in the household.

Most health professionals concur

that there is a genetic pre-disposition to addiction in certain individuals—which means a hereditary propensity toward addiction which is passed on from one generation to the next or, maybe, it even skips a generation. This means that we are dealing with a pathology which is scientifically verified to be a disease. Addiction is a disease and its symptoms are, in Paul’s words “slavery to corruption,” in modern day terms, “an addiction to what is bad for us.” It does not affect every family—but those families should not boast that they escaped this nightmare because of good parenting skills. Granted the parenting skills helped, but there is also the inexplicable phenomenon known as “luck,” which explains why your kids sailed through school, college and life without having a brush with addiction to alcohol or illicit drugs. I say “luck” because your genetic pool was not corrupted. Now, why are some corrupted and some not, that is a mystery that has been at the forefront of scientific research.

What we need to do, then, is not throw up our hands and say that the stars have spoken and accept some sort of moral predestination which holds that some will be addicts and some will not, based on your DNA. No, we need to be pro-active and try to implement the following.

Grace allows our uniqueness to be lived in harmony

liturgical preferences.

The only things we have in common is that we are Catholic women who try to be faithful to our Catholic faith and our Carmelite vocation. We are called to be harmoniously united into a community under the same roof. And we can’t just take time out and drive off to the mall for relief!

I don’t have a twin sister. At least, as far as I know, I don’t. This means that there is no one who shares my DNA. I am quite unique. Actually, I believe that even identical twins have some slight genetic differences, so even with a twin, I would still be unique.

Since I am unique, there is no one exactly like me. Of course, this is true for each of us: we are each of us unique and each of us can say “There is no one exactly like me.” There are seven billion people on this globe, each of us unique and in some way different from everyone else.

The reason I write this is because we are 11 nuns in my community, 11 people different from each other. We all speak English, but some of us speak it as a second language. Our ages range from 28 to 94. Our family backgrounds span the globe from Asia to Europe, passing over the whole continental United States. We have different temperaments and different likes and dislikes, different political outlooks, and different devotional and

Living in harmony is not something we can do by ourselves. It doesn’t happen because similar-minded women want to join us. When God gives a contemplative vocation, the vocation is to a specific community. Our duty is to verify that the applicant has a vocation to our community. She may be very different from the rest of us. If God sends her to us, then he will give her, and us, the graces to live in harmony.

Ultimately, this is the challenge to every society: how can people live in harmony, people who are all similar as human beings and yet individually different? The important phrase is “in harmony,” not just “in tolerance.” Nobody wants to be tolerated. You tolerate mosquitoes if you can’t get rid of them. You don’t tolerate people; you cherish them, as God cherishes us.

And this brings us to the ultimate challenge of harmony: to live in intimate harmony with God. We are created in the image and likeness of God and yet God remains immeasurably different from us. Human language “really does attain to

God himself, though unable to express him in his infinite simplicity. Likewise, we must recall that ‘between Creator and creature no similitude can be expressed without implying an even greater dissimilitude’.” (CCC #43). Through faith, we can know him, and through love we become one with him, but we need to get used to being one with someone who is essentially similar and intrinsically different. The only comparison for this union is marriage: two similar and yet different persons becoming one. That is why the Sacrament of Matrimony is an icon of the union between Jesus and the Church. It is also why the highest stage of spiritual life is called Spiritual Marriage.

Here we are, 11 very different women

1. If your child has an addiction, get him or her help. Don’t close your eyes in denial because the problem will not go away on its own.

2. Don’t blame yourselves for what has corrupted your child’s life. Addiction is a disease for which there is no cure but, if treated professionally, can lead to a long and healthy life in recovery which means abstinence from alcohol and narcotics.

3. Our kids do not belong in jail if they are caught using drugs. They belong in medical facilities which can treat them through detox and rehabilitation.

This “slavery to corruption” of which St. Paul speaks is not limited to drugs and alcohol. We have people addicted to food, to gambling and extra-marital sex.

We are not called to judge those who are suffering from their slavery to corruption. We are called to bring the problem to light. We are called to get those who are victims, assistance and to comfort those whose families have been at odds with each other as a result of this horrible manifestation of evil within the homes of good people. Let’s not be quick to condemn parents or lock up their teens—instead, let us resolve to pray, to support and to bring awareness of the facts to those who remain trapped in this “slavery to corruption.”

Father Comandini is managing editor of The Catholic Spirit.

living in the same building. We are here to let God bring each of us into that intimacy with him, that deep intimacy with an invisible, inaudible, intangible, incarnate God, and to show the world that God’s grace can create among us a vibrantly united harmony with all our diversity.

So how does this harmony come about? There is a saying in the spiritual life: “The closer people come to God, the closer they come to one another.”

And if I do have a twin sister in heaven, then, dear twin, please pray for me!

Sister Gabriela of the Incarnation is a member of the Discalced Carmelites order in Flemington. Learn more at www. flemingtoncarmel.org.

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).

Making sure Jesus is always praised, adored, loved

By Father Gregory Zannetti Special Contributor

At the end of the Divine Praises we pray:

“May the Heart of Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament be praised, adored, and loved with grateful affection at every moment in all the tabernacles of the world even until the end of time.”

There are two ways we can honor this simple prayer: internally and externally.

Because we are human – composed of body and soul – we are to worship God both internally (in our heart, mind, and soul) and externally (in our body). That means that when we receive our Lord in Holy Communion, we are to do all we can to give God the greatest possible glory – to love Him as best we can.

During this Year of Parish Revival, let us strive to:

• Go to Confession. Sadly, many Catholics have forgotten the inseparable connection between the Sacrament of Confession and Holy Communion. So often we see long lines for Communion, but short lines for Confession.

• Be in the state of grace before receiving Holy Communion. This means that if we have committed any mortal sin(s), they must be confessed before receiving Holy Communion.

Even if one has not committed any mortal sin, it is good to go to confession regularly. I often recommend going once a month.

• Come to Mass prepared. We must approach the sacrament with a proper disposition – making acts of faith, hope and love in God.

• Unite all our prayers and sacrifices to the perfect sacrifice of the Cross.

that God could give us then Himself!

• Dress properly for Mass. We have often heard the expression “wear your Sunday best.” It may seem trivial today, but it is actually quite important. At Mass, we are at the Foot of the Cross. We come to meet Jesus. On this side of heaven, there is no greater thing we can do than be at Mass.

Also, the Church allows for reception of Holy Communion in two different ways: on the tongue or in the hand. I know faithful Catholics who have great love and reverence for Our Lord and do so receiving in both ways. The Vatican Document Memorial Domini states two strong reasons for maintaining Communion on the tongue, not only because it is

of profanation of the sacred species.”

As the Council of Trent tells us, every particle of the Sacred Host is truly the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of our Lord. Regardless of how a person chooses to receive our Lord in the Eucharist, on the tongue or in the hand, the most important thing is that we make sure our Lord is received with reverence.

Throughout the centuries, there have been many Eucharistic miracles (where the Host either bleeds or visibly becomes flesh). The science has always confirmed the same facts: heart tissue which has undergone extreme duress, of the same blood type, same male gender and lacking an earthly father’s DNA.

Yet despite these miracles, most

Annual Father Augustus Tolton procession to be joined by National Eucharistic Pilgrimage

ST. PAUL, Minn. (OSV News) – An annual procession to Father Augustus Tolton’s gravesite in Illinois will be joined next year by pilgrims walking the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage en route to Indianapolis, the Diocese of Springfield’s worship director announced July 9. Father Daren Zehnle shared the news with more than 200 pilgrims who participated in this year’s procession from a parish in Quincy, Illinois, with ties to Father Tolton, to his gravesite almost a mile away. Father Tolton (1854-1897) is the first identifiable Black priest in the United States, and he was renowned not only for

his holiness and preaching, but also for the considerable adversity he faced as a Black priest in the late 1800s. Pope Francis declared him “venerable” in 2019. Will Peterson, founder and president of Modern Catholic Pilgrim, the Minnesotabased nonprofit organizing the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, said Father Tolton is the first of six Black American Catholics on the path to canonization officially to be linked geographically to the national pilgrimage. He hopes others will be as well, as the national pilgrimage’s four routes will pass through cities where several of these “Saintly Six” lived and

ministered, as pilgrims make their way to Indianapolis for the National Eucharistic Congress in July 2024.

Father Augustus Tolton, born into slavery, was the first recognized Black American ordained to the priesthood and is a candidate for sainthood, is pictured in an undated portrait. An annual procession to the gravesite of Father Tolton, one of six Black Catholic candidates for sainthood, will be joined July 9, 2024, by pilgrims walking the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage en route to Indianapolis. —OSV News photo/CNS file

Catholics do not believe in the Real Presence. This is remarkable given that the Church has always taught and will always teach that the Blessed Sacrament it is truly the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus – for it is the “source and summit of the Christian faith.”

Given these truths, our thought, both individually and collectively, should always be: How can we make sure that Jesus is always praised, adored, and loved? If we commit ourselves to approaching the Eucharist both internally and externally, we may see a change in people’s belief in the Real Presence.

Father Gregory Zannetti serves as parochial vicar in St. James Parish, Basking Ridge. His column is the second in a monthly series that focuses on increasing devotion to the Eucharist during the Year of Parish Revival.

One would guess that most saints would have a devotion to the Eucharist, but here are 10 saints to learn more about and ask to intercede for us during the National Eucharistic Revival.

BLESSED CARLO ACUTIS

Born in 1991, Blessed Carlo Acutis was a young Italian boy who had a great love for Jesus in the Eucharist. This millennial is most known for his devotion to the Eucharist, for he documented all known Eucharistic miracles and even created a website containing information on each miracle. Though he died when he was 15, his devotion to the Eucharist inspired all those around him and enabled him to leave behind a beautiful testimony of his love for the Eucharist: his Eucharistic miracle website. Today all people throughout the world have access to his website to deepen their knowledge and love for the Blessed Sacrament.

Feast day: Oct. 12

BLESSED JULIANA OF MOUNT CORNILLON

After her parents died, Juliana was brought up in an Augustinian monastery at Mount Cornillon, Belgium. She joined the community, which ran a hospital for leprosy patients. Elected prioress about 1225, she made known earlier visions in which Jesus told her he desired a special feast for the Blessed Sacrament. This became her mission, despite opposition; even some of her nuns doubted her and accused her of misusing funds. She was forced to leave her monastery in 1246 and died a hermit. Her work led to the feast of the Body and Blood of Christ, also known as Corpus Christi.

Feast day: April 5

ST. HESYCHIUS OF JERUSALEM

St. Hesychius was a priest who wrote about the Bible in the liturgy. He viewed Scripture as “perfect wisdom, the point of departure and the point of arrival to which the whole of our existence should be conformed.” Hesychius preached on Easter at the place of the crucifixion, exalting the cross and Christ’s victory. Like St. Cyril of Jerusalem, he taught a realistic doctrine of the Eucharist, which he regarded as a sacrifice identical with that of the cross. Hesychius taught that Christ was present to transform us through our inner absorption of his whole being. “Keep yourselves free from sin so that every day you may share in the mystic meal; by doing so our bodies become the body of Christ.”

Feast day: March 28

ST. IGNATIUS OF ANTIOCH

This Syrian-born martyr, who gave himself the nickname “God-bearer” because of his certainty of God’s presence within him and who may have been a disciple of St. John the Evangelist, became bishop of Antioch about 69. Eventually he was arrested and sent to Rome, where

10 Saints who can bring us close to the Eucharist

priest of the French Alpine Diocese of Grenoble in 1834. In 1839, he left diocesan service to become a Marist priest and eventually became provincial of his congregation at Lyon. But, after making a pilgrimage in 1851, he understood that Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, to whom he was utterly devoted, had no specific religious institute. Subsequently, he founded the Congregation of the Priests of the Most Blessed Sacrament and the Servants of the Blessed Sacrament, an order of sisters, both devoted to perpetual adoration. He was canonized in 1962.

Feast day: Aug. 2

ST. PIUS X

Known as the “pope of the Eucharist,” Pius X was born Joseph Melchior Sarto in northern Italy. After being ordained for the Treviso Diocese in 1858, he served in small parishes before being named diocesan chancellor and spiritual director of the seminary. Pope Leo XIII named him bishop of Mantua in 1884 and a cardinal and patriarch of Venice in 1893. He was elected pope in 1903. During his pontificate, he lowered the age for receiving first Communion, encouraged daily Communion and daily Bible reading and promoted biblical study.

Feast day: Aug. 21

ST. TARSICIUS

his strong desire for martyrdom was fulfilled when he was thrown to the lions in the Colosseum. In seven letters written to Christians in Asia Minor and Rome, he stressed the need to heal Church conflicts, the authority of local bishops and the Eucharist as a source of unity.

Feast day: Oct. 17

ST. MARGARET MARY ALACOQUE

This French saint, who increased devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, spent her life in Burgundy. A pious child, Margaret was bedridden from ages 9 to 15 with a rheumatic illness. She gradually understood a call to religious life, and already had a mature prayer life when she entered a Visitation convent near Lyon in 1671. Between 1673 and 1675, she received four visions of Christ’s heart in flames, burning with love for humanity, with instructions to promote a special feast and First Friday devotions. Margaret, aided by a Jesuit priest, overcame disbelief and jealousy within her own

convent and saw the feast celebrated there and in other French Visitation convents in her lifetime. She was canonized in 1920.

Feast day: Oct. 16

ST. PASCHAL BAYLON

Born to a Spanish shepherd family, Paschal was said to have taught himself to read while tending sheep. At age 21 he joined an austere group of Franciscans, devoting himself to prayer and charity. He was sent on a dangerous mission to French Franciscans, and a shoulder wound he received caused him pain for the rest of his life. Long hours of prayer on his knees before the Eucharist earned this lay brother the honor of being patron of Catholic Eucharistic congresses. His emblem in art is a monstrance.

Feast day: May 17

ST. PETER JULIAN EYMARD

The patron saint of Eucharistic devotion, Peter Julian began adult life, like his father, as a cutler. But he became a

Tarsicius was likely an acolyte, a deacon or even a layman in Rome during the time of Emperor Valerian’s persecution. He was martyred while taking the Eucharist to Christian prisoners -- beaten to death with sticks and stones by a mob of pagans on the Appian Way when he would not surrender the Communion he was carrying. One tradition claims he was buried in the cemetery of St. Callistus. Pope St. Damasus I suggested an early cult by describing his martyrdom in a fourth-century poem. His legend was further embellished in the 19th-century novel “Fabiola.” Tarsicius is the patron saint of first communicants, altar servers and the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament.

Feast day: Aug. 26

ST. THOMAS AQUINAS

Thomas so shocked his noble Italian family when he entered the Dominicans about 1244 that his brothers imprisoned him for a year. But he would not yield and studied under St. Albert the Great, becoming a master of theology in 1256. For the rest of his brief life, the “dumb ox,” as he was dubbed, taught, preached and wrote, producing the monumental “Summa Theologica,” highlighting the theology of the Eucharist. His thinking became enormously influential in later centuries, and he was named a Doctor of the Church in 1567.

Feast day: Jan. 28 - - -

By Arkansas Catholic Staff, OSV News Arkansas Catholic is the newspaper of the Diocese of Little Rock

A collage showing St. Pius X, Blessed Carlo Acutis and St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, all of whom had particular devotion to the Eucharist. OSV News photo/courtesy Sainthood Cause of Carlo Acutis, CNS

At top, priests and deacons of the Diocese pray during the Ordination of Father Jose Manuel Lim June 24 in the Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi, Metuchen. At left, Father Lim bestows his first blessing upon Bishop James F. Checchio. At right, Father John G. Hillier lays hands on Father Lim as a sign of the unity of the

Left, Father Lim lies prostrate before the altar acknowledging his complete dependence on God, while the Litany of the Saints is sung, seeking their prayers to strengthen him. At right, Father Lim blesses his mother, Noemi, and father, Vicente. Mike Ehrmann photos

Father Lim’s first Mass a time of joy, gratitude

By Deacon Patrick Cline Correspondent

Just a few hours after being ordained to the priesthood June 24 by Bishop James F. Checchio in the Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi, Metuchen, Rev. Jose Manuel Lim celebrated his Mass of Thanksgiving in the Church of St. Mary of Mount Virgin, New Brunswick.

Father Lim shared that he planned it so the entire day would be filled with his joy of becoming a priest.

Concelebrating the Mass were Father Jonathan Toborowsky, vicar general, and Msgr. John Fell, director, Office of Priest Personnel, as well as brother priests from Metuchen and other dioceses.

Father Lynx J. M. Soliman, parochial vicar, St Aloysius Parish, Caldwell,

persecution; to speak in the light; to proclaim from the housetops what they have heard. Father Soliman said, “Jesus called those men by name just as he has called Father Lim by name … to go into a world that desperately needs Jesus.”

Father Soliman also described Father Lim has “having the charism of hospitality.”

Father Lim has been assigned as parochial vicar in St. Joseph Parish, Hillsborough, from July 6 through September 6, prior to returning to Rome for further studies. There he will complete his Licentiate in Moral Theology with a focus on medical ethics at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross.

During his Ordination Mass, a newly ordained priest’s hands are anointed by the bishop with the Sacred Chrism and

sional stole worn when the priest hears his first confession.

When each parent is eventually called home to God their respective vestment is buried with them. Then upon entering into the gates of heaven each parent can present their garment and say to Jesus, “My son, too, shared in your priesthood.”

As Father Lim presented the Maniturgium to his mother, Noemi, and the stole to his father, Vicente, the significant presentations proved to be emotional moments for members of the congregation.

The day after his first Mass, Father Lim celebrated Mass for the Sisters of Jesus our Hope at their Motherhouse in Bloomsbury.

He worked closely with the members of this community at the Catholic

Deacon Vincent Brigande, also a nurse, who served as a Deacon during the first Mass, worked with Father Lim at St. Peter’s University Hospital and knows that being a nurse and a priest will have many benefits in his priestly ministry.

Deacon Brigande described Father Lim as having “brought joy to all he encountered at the hospital, patients and staff as well. I am sure they were drawn in by that joy that he demonstrated every day and shared with others.”

At the end of the Mass Father Lim expressed his gratitude to God for his vocation, to the Bishop for ordaining him and to his parents for all their many gifts and blessing to him in his life, and to all his family. He also thanked his brother priests for concelebrating and all those present and asked for their continued

Above, after celebrating his first Mass of Thanksgiving in St. Mary of Mt. Virgin Church, a worship site of Visitation Parish, New Brunswick, Father Jose Manuel Lim gathered for a photo with Bishop James F. Checchio and his brother priests, deacons, seminarians and servers from several dioceses. At far left, Father Lim accepts one of the Offertory gifts from his father, Vicente. At right, Father Lim prays during the Consecration.

Gerald Wutkowski Jr. photos

Faithful, advocates mark first anniversary of Roe reversal with Mass, Rally for Life

Some 350 advocates for the sanctity of pre-born human life gathered in Trenton from across New Jersey June 24 to commemorate the first anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s reversal of its 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which had legalized abortion at all stages of pregnancy.

The pro-life advocates, including a contingent from the Diocese of Metuchen, began their day by attending a Mass for Life celebrated in St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral, Trenton, with Msgr. Joseph Roldan, Cathedral rector, serving as principal celebrant and homilist.

After Mass, the assembled communicants walked to the nearby New Jersey Statehouse Annex where they joined other advocates for a peaceful and prayerful Rally for Life organized by NJ Right to Life.

“We come and pray together for the birth of all God’s children,” Msgr. Roldan observed in his homily, pointing out that day marked the Nativity of St. John the Baptist.

“This day that we celebrate is the day our Supreme Court recognized the reality that life matters and no one has a right to end life,” he said. “Abortion simply ends life.”

Msgr. Roldan pointed to the emotional and fractious nature of the abortion issue, causing divisiveness within families, among friends, in the community at-large and even in parish communities.

“It’s for this reason, that many would rather not bring up the word or discuss the topic” because they view abortion as a political subject and something that should not be discussed among family and friends, he said.

“Abortion is not a political issue, although we have allowed it to become one,” he said.

Referring to the day’s First Reading

from the Book of Isaiah, “Before I was born, the Lord chose me,” Msgr. Roldan said that the Lord “forms and chooses all of us in our mother’s womb and the Lord has greatness for us.

“… with this greatness comes responsibilities,” he added. “As Christians, as God-fearing Catholics, we are called to action. The Church has and will always call us to defend all that is sacred and good.”

After Mass, a large group of congregants walked to the Statehouse for the rally where they prayed together and heard from an array of speakers, including prolife politicians, medical professionals and leaders of organizations who provide care for unborn children and

their mothers.

“I never thought I would see the day when Roe was overturned,” said Jennifer Ruggiero, Secretary for the Secretariat for Family and Pastoral Life, and diocesan director, Office of Human Life and Dignity.

Ruggiero was among a diocesan group of faithful who traveled by bus to the Mass and rally. They were joined by others from the Diocese who had traveled to Trenton on their own.

“It is hard to believe it has already been one year since the historic Dobbs decision. The Mass and Rally was an occasion to celebrate this victory, but also served to energize and encourage us to continue to do the everyday work still needed to build a culture of life and love,” Ruggiero stressed.

Among the speakers was Joan Fasanello, director of Life Choices, Inc., a pregnancy help center located in Phillipsburg, and St. Anne’s Center, a shelter for pregnant or homeless women with children, also in Phillipsburg.

“God has freed us from the mistake

of Roe v. Wade,” said Fasanello. “Today is a day to celebrate and to fill our hearts with peace, joy, compassion and kindness because that is what attracts others to our message.

“I get to work with expectant mothers who are heroes. They have learned that they don’t have to sacrifice their children to pursue their future, their children are their future – sacred, loved and redeemed by an awesome God.”

Mary Stadnyk, associate editor, Diocese of Trenton, and Mary Morrell, editorin-chief, Diocese of Metuchen, contributed to this story.

Top: Missionaries of Charity from Asbury Park pray during the Mass for Life celebrated by Msgr. Joseph Roldan, rector of St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral, June 24.

Mary Stadnyk photos

Bottom: Members of the Diocese of Metuchen gather behind their banner which proudly states their reason for attending the June 24 Mass and Rally for Life in Trenton. Courtesy photo

New pastor draws warm welcome from Alpha parish

By Deacon Patrick Cline Correspondent

On June 3, St. Mary Parish, Alpha –a word that means beginning – celebrated such a moment with the installation of Father Dawid J. Wejnerowski as its pastor.

Bishop James F. Checchio served as principal celebrant and homilist at the 5 p.m. Vigil Mass of the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. Father Wejnerowski served as concelebrant.

In his homily, Bishop Checchio reflected, “Sometimes we hesitate to take an action or accept responsibility unless we fully understand the impact of that action in our future lives. But when it comes to faith, Jesus asks up to commit ourselves without such knowledge.”

Directing his comments to Father Wejnerowski, the Bishop instructed him, “Your primary responsibility as pastor will be to direct this community to grow in that supernatural gift of Faith. Gratefully this parish has always symbolized that faith and trust.”

Father Wejnerowski felt the call to the priesthood in his native Poland and began his preparation in seminary there right after high school. He completed his studies at Sts. Cyril and Methodius Seminary in Orchard Lake, Mich., an institution with strong ties to the Polish American community. Bishop Paul G. Bootkoski ordained him on May 26, 2012, at the time the youngest priest in the Diocese.

St. Mary on July 1, 2021, Father Wejnerows ki served as a parochial vicar at Immaculate Conception, Annandale; St Bartholomew, East Brunswick and the Cathedral of St. Francis, Metuchen. Father Wejnerowski said that this assignment would be the first time in his priesthood that he will be the only priest in the parish. It is a situation that will be new to him but not problematic.

Father Wejnerowski said, “I truly love this parish and the parishioners. From the first day I arrived they have been warm, welcoming and supportive to me.” The continued applause that followed his installation indicated that the feeling is mutual. He hopes to attract the

The Borough of Alpha, formerly known as Vulcanite, was incorporated by the State of New Jersey in 1911. It was named for the Alpha Cement works. But the beginning of the parish goes back to 1903 when a number of primarily Hungarian Catholic workers from the cement plant came together to form a new Catholic community in the area.

By August 1903 the first Church was dedicated, and services were held. The current church building was completed in September 1957 and the original building was torn down in 1973.

In his remarks at the end the Mass

he thanked Bishop Checchio for installing him as the pastor and said he was humbled by the Bishop’s confidence in him. He also thanked the parish staff, everyone who contributed to the celebration, including Deacon John Van Haute, the servers and the choir.

Father Wejnerowski said one of the great joys of his installation Mass was the presence of his mother Danuta, who had traveled from Poland to be part of the celebration. Not having any brothers or sisters and having lost his father Jozef two years ago, her presence was a special comfort and blessing for him.

After the Mass Father Wejnrowski said this was his mother’s fourth trip to visit him. On the previous occasions he and his mother had done all the usual tourist things. This time Mrs. Wejnerowski said that the area in and around Alpha was so beautiful they should just stay local. She also commented on the warmth of all the parishioners she had met.

Mary King, who has been a member of the parish all her life and received all her sacraments in the church, speaks of the parish as her second home where she finds comfort. She describes Father Wejnerowski as a very loving pastor who, “has become very much a part of the community since he arrived. He is welcoming to everyone and at the end of each Mass he thanks the congregation for attending.”

Centennial brings new pastor to Hackettstown parish

By Deacon Patrick Cline Correspondent

The Parish of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Hackettstown, referred to by parishioners as St Mary, is one of the oldest parishes in the Diocese of Metuchen. On the morning of June 4, the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, Bishop James F. Checchio installed Father Leopoldo (Leo) Salvania as pastor of this vibrant parish.

Bishop Checchio was principal celebrant and homilist for the Mass with Father Salvania concelebrating. The Bishop referred to the day as a very appropriate day to be installed, saying, “It reminds us that the Trinity is a mystery that we can never understand but must accept on faith.”

Speaking directly to the new pastor the Bishop said, “Father Leo … it’s a wonderful day for you to become pastor and lead this parish community of St. Mary. It is a wonderful reminder for all of us that we need to trust in God’s love. Gratefully, this is a parish with a very strong and very, very long tradition of living that faith and trusting in God.”

The Bishop also paid tribute to the past generations of parishioners who faced numerous challenges in building St. Mary Parish.

Although the parish is celebrating the 100th anniversary of its establishment at the present location, it was originally

established by the Diocese of Newark as a mission in the 1850s and the original church building, now the Knights of Columbus Hall, was dedicated in 1864. The first resident pastor was appointed in 1872. The anniversary celebration will continue through this August.

Born in Baler in the Philippines, Father Salvania entered the seminary directly after high school, where he completed his philosophy requirements. He was studying to be a nurse when he applied and was accepted by the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Semi-

nary, Ill. After completing his studies for the priesthood, he was ordained May 28, 2011, by Bishop Paul G. Bootkowski.

Prior to being named administrator of St. Mary in August, 2022, Father Salvania served as a parochial vicar in the parishes of St Mary, Alpha; Sts. Philip and James, Phillipsburg; St. James Basking Ridge, and Our Lady of Victories, Sayreville.

Both of Father Salvania’s parents, Flora Abaricia and Raymundo Salvania are deceased. He is he oldest of three children: a sister who lives in Singapore and a brother in the Philippines

Though Father Salvania does not recall a specific moment when he felt called to the priesthood, he believes that even in elementary school he had an interest in the vocation. He was strongly influenced by an uncle, a priest who he remembers “for his kindness and generosity. I hope to be like him as a source of vocations and an inspiration to the youth of this new parish.”

Father Salvania is very excited about being named pastor of such a very generous and supportive parish of 1200 registered parishioners. From his first day in the parish he felt very welcome. He admits that at the installation Mass he was both excited and nervous, “about fifty/fifty.”

As part of the installation, the clergy and staff, parish finance and parochial committees and the lay trustees of the parish were officially presented to Father Salvania. He promised to work with them and consult them in their areas of responsibility. He then led the congregation in reciting the Profession of Faith. After the Bishop formally presented him as their new pastor, the parishioners responded with a large round of applause.

At the end of the Mass, Father Salvania thanked all the people who contributed in any way to the celebration; his family and friends for being present and especially to Bishop Checchio for his trust in appointing him pastor and for installing him on that day.

Celebrating the 10 a.m Mass June 4, Bishop James F. Checchio installed Father Leopoldo Salvania as pastor of Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish, Hackettstown. Ed Koskey Jr. photo

Bishop James F. Checchio joins the St. Mary Parish congregation in applause for Father Dawid J. Wejnerowski who was installed as the Alpha parish’s new pastor during the vigil Mass June 3. Ed Koskey Jr. photo

‘A Way of Being Church’

Hispanic Ministry leaders discuss pastoral needs of Latino Catholics

By Anna Githens Correspondent

On June 16, the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops voted overwhelmingly in favor of a 10-year plan to address the pastoral needs of Hispanic/Latino Catholics.

The following day, on the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, some 250 delegates gathered with Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R., Archdiocese of Newark, and Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney, Diocese of Paterson, for the Region III Encuentro of Hispanic Leaders held June 17 in the Diocese of Metuchen’s Pastoral Center.

During the day-long conference delegates from New Jersey and Pennsylvania discussed outreach to Latino Catholics, the National Eucharistic Revival and Pope Francis’ worldwide call to be a synodal Church.

Cardinal Tobin served as principal celebrant for the Mass, which was concelebrated by Bishop Sweeney and some 15 priests from different diocesan delegations. In his homily, the Cardinal reflected on the relationship between the events and the feast days in the Church.

“The Sacred Heart of Jesus took flesh in the heart of Mary,” Cardinal Tobin said in his homily, which he preached in Spanish. “We say in the Angelus, ‘And the Word was made flesh.’ In Mary’s heart, the flesh became Word. … Jesus teaches us the wisdom of love, and Mary teaches us how to accept that wisdom.”

The Bishop continued, “We are celebrating this feast [Immaculate Heart of Mary] together at a precise moment in history, as our gathering takes place the day after the assembly of the bishops of this country approved a new National Pastoral Plan. And we are journeying with all the Catholics of this world along the synodal path, listening like the disciples on the Road to Emmaus to discern how we must change to live a more abundant life. We are looking for more than new documents, because synodality is not a program, but a way of being Church.”

Speaking on the National Eucharistic Revival, he said, “It is more than a catechesis on the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Sacrament of the Altar, but an awareness that the celebration of the Eucharist commits us to a mission. But the fruits will only multiply if the faithful learn that the Eucharist they receive is destined to make them missionaries who bring the presence of Christ, who is now in them, to people who do not yet know the Lord.”

circles. We pray and feel holy, but what about the rest? Where is Christ outside the Church, especially those who are more in need?” he questioned.

Referring to the U.S. Bishops’ National Pastoral Plan, Andrés Arango said, “I think it’s a blessing.” Arango, who serves as the Bishop’s Delegate for Hispanic Ministry and director of Evangelization for the Diocese of Camden, stated that one of the top priorities of the plan “is the youth and how we can serve them.”

Luz Escobar, administrative assistant in the Office of Hispanic Evangelization and Pastoral Ministry for the Diocese of Metuchen, agreed. “We have more relations with the parents and grandparents because they come from Latino and Spanish countries [and] don’t speak English well,” she said. “We need to involve the youth in activities in the dioceses because they are the bridge between the first and second generations.”

During his talk on “Becoming Eucharistic People” Arango pointed out, “I think before we can be Eucharistic people, we need to have a personal encounter with Jesus,” he continued. “My spiritual father was a bishop in [my native] Colombia, and he used to ask us, ‘How much are you in love with Jesus?’ He said the measurement is how much time you spend alone with Jesus every day, not just going to Mass, not just praying the Rosary, but intimately speaking with Jesus.”

Father Ronal Vega Pastrana, parochial vicar in Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Bernardsville, suggested ways to strengthen that relationship such as placing a ciborium on the altar after Holy Communion to create a greater awareness of Christ as the faithful pray.

“The secular [world] is pushing us to be active all the time,” the priest explained. “God pulls you toward him to think about what you’re doing, not just go through the motions, and to refocus.”

Kathia Arango, director of the Office for Hispanic Catholics for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, added that the National Eucharistic Revival is a great opportunity to be together as a family. “Especially us as immigrants, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is a place where we can encounter our family.”

Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R., Archdiocese of Newark, principal celebrant, processes into the Mass celebrated for the Region III Encuentro of Hispanic Leaders held June 17 in the Diocese of Metuchen’s Pastoral Center, Piscataway. Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney, Diocese of Paterson, not pictured, served as concelebrant. —John Batkowski photo Center photo shows Hispanic Delegates of the Diocese of Metuchen. —Jossie Ramos photo Bottom photo, delegates from different dioceses gather for small group discussion following the first talk, “Becoming Eucharistic People,” by Andrés Arango. —Mike Ehrmann photo

Those sentiments resonated with Deacon Asterio Velasco, director of Hispanic Ministry for the Archdiocese of Newark. “Our call to be synodal means walking and working together, clergy and laypeople, so that we all participate. Sometimes we are tempted to stay in our

Reflecting on the day, Angelina Rodriquez, Hispanic leader from Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish, observed, “This meeting had all the best, the organization and the themes impacted me in some way. It has enriched us on how to live the Eucharistic Revival, it has been a meeting where they have guided us on how to improve our community of faith, see and guide others, and how to find that light source … I can personally say that my heart has been filled with strength to continue giving the best of myself within my parish and outside of it. Following the mission of the Church, I thank God for being part of this unforgettable encounter.”

With prayer, the heart does have its reasons

Article 176 - Catechism of the Catholic Church Series

Paragraphs 2697-2719

(ccc 2701).

God speaks to us through his Word. Through our words, mental or vocal, our prayer takes flesh, enabling our hearts to “be present to him to whom we are speaking in prayer” (ccc 2700). Quoted in the Catechism, the 4th century Early Church Father, Saint John Chrysostom (347-407), teaches: “Whether or not our prayer is heard depends not on the number of words, but on the fervor of our souls” (ccc 2700).

writings of the spiritual fathers, works of spirituality, [and] the great book of creation…” (ccc 2705). Challenging us to be “humble and faithful, we discover in meditation the movements that stir the heart and we are able to discern them” (ccc 2706). The fruit of authentic meditation is going from darkness to light and asking with sincerity: “Lord, what do you want me to do?”

The 17th century French philosopher and mathematician, Blaise Pascal (1623-1662), in his famous book Pensées (Thoughts), wrote: “The heart has its reasons which reason knows nothing of … We know the truth not only by the reason, but by the heart.” This quote succinctly summarizes the three major expressions of the life of prayer.

In this section of the Catechism, these three expressions are described as vocal prayer, meditation, and contemplative prayer. What all three have in common is the recollection of the heart. The Catechism explains: “The Lord leads all persons by paths and in ways pleasing to him, and each believer responds according to his heart’s resolve and the personal expressions of his prayer” (ccc 2699).

The first major expression of the life of prayer, called vocal prayer, founded on the union of body and soul in human nature, associates the body with the interior prayer of the heart. This first expression of prayer follows Christ’s example of praying to his Father and teaching the ‘Our Father’ to his disciples. The Catechism explains: “To his disciples, drawn by their Master’s silent prayer, Jesus teaches a vocal prayer, the Our Father”

The Catechism describes vocal prayer as “the form of prayer most readily accessible to groups” and, likewise to individuals, as it is “an initial form of contemplative prayer” (ccc 2704). Since we are body and spirit, “we experience the need to translate our feelings externally. We must pray with our whole being to give all power possible to our supplication” (ccc 2702). God seeks those who worship in Spirit and in Truth, “and consequently living prayer that rises from the depths of the soul. He also wants the external expression that associates the body with interior prayer, for it renders him that perfect homage which is his due” (ccc 2703).

The second major expression of the life of prayer is meditation, which “is above all a quest” (ccc 2705). The human mind “seeks to understand the why and how of the Christian life, in order to adhere and respond to what the Lord is asking” (ccc 2705). What are the best resources to help us in the quest of “meditation”? The Catechism tells us that “to meditate on what we read helps us to make it our own” (ccc 2706). As such, an array of resources are suggested, including “the Sacred Scriptures, particularly the Gospels, holy icons, liturgical texts…

The Catechism tells us that methods of meditation are “many and varied” (ccc 2707). If we are serious about our spiritual lives, we owe it to ourselves “to develop the desire to meditate regularly” (ccc 2707). However, we need to be aware that “a method is only a guide; the important thing is to advance, with the Holy Spirit, along the one way of prayer: Christ Jesus” (ccc 2707).

The act of meditation “engages thought, imagination, emotion, and desire” (ccc 2708). Saint Augustine calls such desire “holy desire” because, with the other faculties, it “deepen(s) our convictions of faith, prompt(s) the conversion of our heart, and strengthen(s) our will to follow Christ” (ccc 2708). The Catechism further explains: “Christian prayer tries above all to meditate on the mysteries of Christ, as in lectio divina or the rosary. This form of prayerful reflection is of great value, but Christian prayer should go further: to the knowledge of the love of the Lord Jesus, to union with him” (ccc 2708).

The third major expression of the life of prayer is called contemplative prayer. Quoting from the Spanish Carmelite nun Saint Teresa of Avila (1515-1582), the Catechism states: “Contemplative prayer [oracion mental]…is nothing else than a close sharing between friends; it means

Wrestling with the questions of God

I holding on to God like a crutch that I fear might give way at any minute? I had no idea what God was really asking. The options were endless, and it was too early in the morning to consider them all.

But consider them I would, over time, because once God asks a question, it never leaves you.

lying on his deathbed. While surrounded by his admiring students, who tried to comfort him while he wept, one student asked, “Why are you crying?”

Rabbi Zusya replied, “I’m scared.”

His students questioned, “Why? You were like Abraham, like Moses to us!”

taking time frequently to be alone with him who we know loves us” (ccc 2709). Explaining further, the Catechism tells us: “In this inner prayer…our attention is fixed on the Lord himself” (ccc 2709). As such, although we may not always be able to meditate, “one can always enter into inner prayer (or contemplative prayer), independently of the conditions of health, work, or emotional state”… [because] “the heart is the place of this quest and encounter, in poverty and in faith” (ccc 2710). Contemplative prayer is similar to preparing ourselves for Holy Mass. “We ‘gather up’ the heart, recollect our whole being under the prompting of the Holy Spirit… (and) awaken our faith in order to enter into the presence of him who awaits us” (ccc 2711).

Contemplative prayer “is a gift, a grace” (ccc 2713), a participation in the mystery of Christ, “a covenant relationship established by God within our hearts” (31:33), “a union with the prayer of Christ insofar as it makes us participate in his mystery” (ccc 2718). How?

“Jesus illumines the eyes of our heart and teaches us to see everything in the light of his truth and his compassion for all men” (ccc 2715). In short, contemplative prayer is our willingness to “keep watch with [him] one hour” (Matthew 26:40).

The heart has its reasons regarding the three major expressions of the life of prayer. Deep within we surrender to the Lord and “turn our hearts back to [him] who loves us” (ccc 2711).

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

The words on the license plate loomed large before me – ARE YOU.

For the past 10 miles I had been engaging God with a litany of concerns, complaints and prayer requests, punctuated by an occasional thank you. The only voice I heard was mine, that was until I was forced to stop at a red light. Then God spoke, in the words on the license plate on the rear of the car ahead of me.

It was a question, though without a question mark; an open ended question, I thought, which would require me to fill in the blanks with possible options – am I being honest, with myself or God; am I being judgmental, of myself or others; am I trusting in God, as I say I am, or am

God seems to have that habit of forcing us to turn our gaze inward; to impede our relentless focus on what others have done wrong, or could do better, and to honestly evaluate how we can hold ourselves to the same standards.

Trappist monk Thomas Merton spoke of the spiritual life as a continual discovery of God in the most unexpected places. For many of us, that most unexpected place is often in our own hearts, so God continues to invite us into the unknown to meet him there. Often, the invitation begins with a question.

In his book “Yearnings: Embracing the Sacred Messiness of Life,” Rabbi Irwin Kula tells the story of Rabbi Zusya

Instead of being soothed, the Rabbi wept louder and said, “God won’t ask me why I wasn’t more like Abraham or Moses. He will ask me why I wasn’t more like Zusya!”

Being who God calls us to be often requires direction.

“Where are you?” God asks of Adam and Eve, as they hid among the trees after eating from the forbidden fruit.

God had no need of asking that question, for God knew where they were hiding, but they needed to be asked, to reflect on how and why their relationship with God had changed.

The young prophet, Jeremiah, found himself in a similar situation. God called him to be a prophet, but Jeremiah hid

behind his youth, telling God he was too young to be an oracle of God. His vision of himself was limited by fear and doubt, but God reminded him, as he often has to remind us, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you …”

Then, he asked Jeremiah the question: “What do you see?” In fact, he asked him twice, not unusual when you are dealing with teens.

Jeremiah then had two visions: the branch of an almond tree and the boiling kettle. He didn’t understand the visions, so God explained them, but he was now open to God’s purpose for him.

Walking with God is not always a walk in the park. I have learned that prayer often requires courage to face the questions we may be hiding from. God is adept at throwing out challenges with questions tailor made to our needs. That’s love.

Mary Morrell serves as editor-inchief of The Catholic Spirit.

Candidate for Ordination experienced ‘the spark that lit the flame’

By Deacon Patrick Cline Correspondent

The Rite of Candidacy is one of three steps men aspiring to the diaconate or priesthood must go through prior to ordination.

On July 6, 2023, Seminarian Bruce Cargill was accepted by Bishop James F. Checchio as a candidate for Ordination at a Mass in St. Bernard of Clairvaux Church, Bridgewater. Bishop Checchio was the principal celebrant and homilist at the Mass. Father Jonathan Toborowski, vicar general; Msgr. John Fell, director, Office of Priest Personnel, and Father Jose Lim, newly ordained priest of the diocese, along with a number of pastors and priests of the diocese concelebrated.

The Bishop asked the aspirant for candidacy, “Do you resolve to complete your preparation … to undertake ministry in the Church through Holy Orders?” And, “Do you resolve to form your mind and heart in such a way to serve Christ the Lord and his Body the Church?” After the reply “I do” to both questions, Bishop Checchio added, “The Church accepts your resolve with joy. May God who has begun the good work in you bring it to fulfillment.”

Cargill completed his pre-theology studies at Immaculate Conception Seminary School of Theology at Seton Hall University and will continue his formation at the Pontifical North American College in Rome. This seminary, located on Janiculum Hill overlooking Vatican City, prepares men primarily from the United States for the priesthood, but seminarians from other countries also attend.

In his homily, Bishop Checchio spoke directly to the new candidate. Noting that the day was the Feast of St. Maria Goretti, the Bishop recalled, when he was Rector of North American College, his visits to her tomb in Nettuno south of Rome as occasions for prayer and reflection. He stressed that Cargill would have other opportunities to experience and to discover the many places that Rome offers for quiet time and contemplation.

The Bishop also encouraged Cargill and all the men in formation to make

use of all the resources and opportunities available to them during their years of formation as they journey forward to where they believe the Lord has called them.

Bishop Checchio explained that, initially, candidacy was the final step before Ordination to the Diaconate or Presbyterate, after receiving the ordered ministries of Lector and Acolyte. But Pope St. John Paul II felt that candidacy should be first and changed the order in which the ministries are received.

In addition to the Rite of Candidacy, the Mass was an occasion for all of the seminarians of the Diocese, and men in discernment, to come together with their families and friends to celebrate Mass and support the new candidate and each other in their progress towards priesthood.

The Cargill family are parishioners in Immaculate Conception Parish, Annandale. And it was at a Mass in that parish that he first felt the call to the priesthood or as he said, “the spark that lit the flame.” He discussed the experience with a priest friend, Father Richard Carton, pastor, St. Vincent de Paul Parish, Stirling, who replied, “So what we are really talking about here is your vocation to the priesthood!” That was not the response he expected, but “it turned the spark, into a blazing fire!”

Cargill has two sisters, one older and one younger. Maureen Cargill, his mother said that as thrilled as she is for this opportunity for her son, “there were some tears, also, with him going away to Rome.” His father, also Bruce Cargill, said that his son’s vocation was not a shock. He feels, “It was supposed to happen and it occurred organically and was therefore not a surprise to me.”

Msgr. Fell thanked Bishop Checchio and all those at the Mass for their participation and asked for continued prayers for all the priests and seminarians and for an increase in vocations.

Following the Mass there was a reception in the parish cafeteria of St. Bernard of Clairvaux for all the participants. Before offering grace, the Bishop added his thanks to all present for attending and assured them of his continued prayers for them and requested their prayers for him.

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Is your marriage going down the right road . . . or is it a little off track? Life can be difficult, and so can the challenges you face in marriage. Does the distance between you seem wide? Are you already separated?

Looking for a better way? Retrouvaille can help and offers hope for a better relationship. Retrouvaille is a peer ministry of volunteer couples that can help you 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 couples of all faiths as well as non-religious couples. Retrouvaille can help get your relationship back on track.

Bishop James F. Checchio welcomed Mr. Bruce Cargill to the Rite of Admission to Candidacy for Holy Orders on July 6, 2023, at the Parish of St. Bernard of Clairvaux in Bridgewater. — John Batkowski photo

Class of diaconate candidates offer day of service to St. Joseph Shrine

By Deacon Patrick Cline, Correspondent

Service is at the very heart of a vocation to the Diaconate. The word diakonia is Greek for service. The three pillars of the diaconate are: the Ministry of the Word, the Ministry of Liturgy and the Ministry of Service.

So it is no surprise that, in addition to taking 36 credits of Master level courses and other classes, the Formation Program for Ordination to the Permanent Diaconate in the Diocese of Metuchen requires candidates to identify and perform an individual service project consisting of at least 30 hours.

For the 16 men of the Ordination class of 2024, the projects chosen ranged from hospital and prison ministry, food pantries, veterans’ assistance programs, and helping with Right to Life centers, among others.

The men are also required to select a service project in which the entire

class may participate. After discussing a number of options, this class decided to volunteer for cleaning, maintenance and light repair work at the Shrine of St. Jo seph, Stirling. Even though the Shrine is located in the Diocese of Paterson, many parishioners from the Metuchen Diocese benefit from a number of services and activities the Shrine offers.

The Shrine was established in 1924 and is operated by the Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity, an order founded by Vincentian Father Thomas Augustine Judge. He is also the one who opened the Shrine as a refuge for all Catholics, where they could be renewed in their faith and serve as missionaries to the world in their everyday lives.

While the Shrine has a maintenance staff that takes care of the physical facility, each spring the effects of winter weather necessitate additional effort and manpower. One of the candidates, Eric Koppi, a parishioner of Blessed Sacra-

The team and friends from Life Choices Resource Center, Metuchen, enjoyed a night of fun, laughter and fellowship June 22 at the Somerset Patriots Ballpark. Some 80 friends and families from the Center, The Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi, Metuchen, and St. Helena Parish, Edison, came together for the game and fireworks afterwards. Life Choices Resource Center was recognized from the public service announcer and on the scoreboard. The highlight of the evening was being invited onto the field to sing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” the unofficial anthem of North American baseball. Elaine Yunker, director of Outreach for the Center, shared, “It was a fun night and a great opportunity to proudly wear our “Choose Life” shirts and publicly show our love for God!” Life Choices Resource Center is a pregnancy help center that offers free pregnancy tests, ultrasounds and compassionate peer counseling. Contact them at 732 516-0822.

ment Parish, Martinsville, was speaking with the facilities manager about the possibility of the class offering a workday at the Shrine to assist in preparing for the increase in visitors as spring and summer approached. The manager welcomed the offer.

Koppi presented the idea to the class and a day in June was chosen for the project. Supplying many of the necessary tools themselves, the men arrived and, after many of them attended the 8 a.m. Mass in the chapel, began their various projects which ran the gamut from power washing the 9/11 Memorial, Stations of the Cross Garden and walkways, to weeding, trimming and sprucing up Shrine property. Joining the class for the workday was Deacon Stephen F. Kern, diocesan director, Office of the Diaconate.

In addition, the men applied new paver sand for the walkways and provided some basic masonry repair, mostly repointing of bricks and stones for the

Deacon candidates Jacinto Fernandez, Our Lady of Fatima, Piscataway and Harold De Freitas, St Augustine of Canterbury, Kendall Park, restore paver sand around the Shrine’s 9/11 Bell Tower.

The Permanent Diaconate Ordination Class of 2024 pose for a class photo during their summer service project at St. Joseph Shrine, Stirling.

Deacon candidate Anthony Scarpantonio, Sacred Heart Parish, Manville, attaches one of 14 new crosses he made for each Station of the Cross at the Shrine of St. Joseph, Sterling.

Deacon Patrick Cline photos

Blessed Mother Shrine and the Cross in the outdoor Stations Garden, with a number of men returning three additional evening to complete unfinished tasks, including redoing paver sand around the 9/11 Memorial and Bell Tower.

Left to right:

Fiscal Year 2024 state budget includes additional funding for nonpublic school transportation

In a July 12 press release, the New Jersey Catholic Conference (NJCC) has announced a significant increase in nonpublic school transportation funding in the Fiscal Year 2024 state budget, with the per-pupil ceiling being raised to $1,165 from $1,022.

The budget was passed by both Houses of the New Jersey Legislature on June 30 and signed by Governor Murphy hours before the new fiscal year began on July 1. Increased funding for nonpublic school transportation has been a leading issue for the NJCC, which serves as the public policy arm of the Catholic Church in New Jersey, and the New Jersey Council for American Private Education (NJ CAPE), which is a coalition of national organizations and state affiliates serving private elementary and secondary schools.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic created a shortage of school bus drivers, this budget increase will allow for a greater number of transportation routes and additional drivers. In his March 27 testimony to the Assembly Budget Committee on behalf of NJCC and NJ CAPE, NJCC’s Director of Education, Dr. George Corwell, said “the problem finding school bus drivers continues to be a disaster for the nonpublic school community. Transportation is the lifeblood of nonpublic schools, and to lose significant amounts of transportation affects the enrollment of nonpublic schools, even causing possible school closures.”

Corwell added that “many parents are unable to transport their child to a nonpublic school because they are working multiple jobs to pay tuition,” which creates an even greater need for safe, reliable transportation for students, many of whom come from underserved communities. In response to the increase, Corwell acknowledged that this year’s increase of $143 per-pupil adds more money to last year’s ceiling of $1,022, but feels

additional funding is needed to maintain a healthy transportation infrastructure, especially given the savings to state and local budgets that are realized when a student attends a nonpublic school.

“We are truly grateful to our supporters in the Legislature who fought on behalf of parents who deserve the right to have their children transported to the school of their choice. But funding remains at a lower level than is necessary because 85% of nonpublic routes are run by private contractors with no limit on

their profit margin.”

NJCC’s executive director, James King, extended his appreciation to Corwell, members of NJ CAPE, and Catholics across New Jersey who helped make the increase possible by contacting their legislators to raise awareness around this issue. “The outcome of this effort provides proof that when Catholics join together, we become a 2 louder, stronger voice with an increased ability to help pass laws that make New Jersey a better place for all who call it home.” The Fis-

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Catholic education is an excellent form of evangelization, Pope Francis said. “Indeed, education does not consist of filling the head with ideas,” he told people at his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square June 28. Education is “accompanying and encouraging students on the path of human and spiritual growth, showing them how friendship with the Risen Jesus expands the heart and makes life more humane,” he said. The pope continued his series of talks about “zeal” for evangelization by focusing on St. Mary MacKillop, the Australian founder of the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Sacred Heart. Australia’s first saint, she was born in 1842 near Melbourne and died in Sydney in 1909. Her order established schools and charitable organizations across Austra-

cal Year 2024 state budget also contained modest increases in technology, nursing services, and compensatory education.

School buses parked in Perth Amboy, home to Perth Amboy Catholic School and Assumption Catholic School. The NJCC announced that a budget increase for Nonpublic School Transportation will allow for a greater number of transportation routes and additional drivers across the state.

lia and was devoted to the care of orphans, neglected children, the homeless, sick and aged. “May St. Mary MacKillop’s missionary discipleship, her creative response to the needs of the church of her time, and her commitment to the integral formation of young people inspire all of us today, called to be a leaven of the Gospel in our rapidly changing societies,” the pope said. May her example and intercession support parents, teachers, catechists and all educators, “for the good of young people and for a more humane and hopeful future,” he added.

Life-size bronze statue of St. Mary Mackillop by sculptor Linda Klarfeld at the Australian Catholic University in North Sydney. —Photo from Wikimedia Commons

St. MacKillop can inspire educators to foster hope, pope says

Harrison Kugler photo on Unsplash

Students restore dignity, respect through upkeep of cemetery

By Tara Smith Special Contributor

On an embankment just yards away from Foothill Road in Bridgewater, marked and weathered gravestones dot a triangular plot of land that serves as the site of the Prince Rodgers Cemetery, a final resting place of former slaves.

Once deemed an abandoned site, the cemetery sat untouched for more than 100 years until its restoration and dedication in 2021. Now, the site is maintained by the Prince Rodgers Foundation, with the seasonal help of students from Immaculata High School, Somerville, who visit the site throughout the year to help upkeep the cemetery grounds.

“Service is a big part of our student life at Immaculata and it’s a core part of how we identify ourselves as a school community,” said Principal Ed Webber, a 1999 graduate of the school. “So, while it was no surprise to me when I learned that our students would be helping to maintain the grounds of the Prince Rodgers Cemetery, it did prompt a meaningful discussion about a necessary topic.”

Named for Prince Rodgers, who was born enslaved on Sept. 29, 1815, in Bridgewater, the cemetery was dedicated, 206 years to the day, on Rodgers’

birthday in the hopes of preserving his legacy for generations to come. The son of parents who were kidnapped from Africa, Rodgers was the first generation African man to be born in New Jersey of African parents.

Following the passing of New Jersey’s Gradual Abolition of Slavery law in 1804, which allowed for children of enslaved Blacks born after July 4, 1804, to be freed only after they attained the age of 21 years for women and 25 for men, Rodgers was freed on his 25th birthday. He later married Judith Ann Vanderveer and fathered six children, before his death in 1889.

His legacy lives on through his descendants, many of whom still reside in Somerset County, and through the various locations that bear his name, such as an avenue that cuts through his hometown and a baseball complex and park.

“Our students’ service at the cemetery is as much about raking leaves and pulling weeds, as it is about understanding Rodgers’ story and the stories of so many others who, like him, endured the horrors of slavery,” Webber said. “As a school, we have a responsibility to teach our students how to embrace history, no matter how troubling it may be; and, as a Catholic school, we have the added

responsibility of reminding our students that each of us is equally made in the image and likeness of God, all worthy of inherent dignity and respect, and it’s in that vein that we are called to serve others.”

Tara Smith serves as Director of Marketing and Communications for Immaculata High School, Somerville.

Immaculata students selected for Jersey Boys State

IHS students, from various grade levels, volunteer through the school’s robust campus ministry program to help with the upkeep of Prince Rodgers Cemetery, Bridgewater. Through the program, students may sign up for varied service opportunities throughout the school year. Photo courtesy of IHS

Save the Date!

ship, character, scholarship, loyalty and service in their schools and communities.

This year, Immaculata High School, Somerville, had five students honored to serve as delegates for American Legion Jersey Boys State, held the week of June 18-23 on the campus of Rider University, Lawrenceville: Roscoe Davis, Alexander Dzanoucakis, Matthew Levanda, Jon Moreno and Andre Rivera, all members of the class of 2024.

Davis was elected mayor of Fillmore City and, also, superintendent of schools. Levanda was elected prosecutor for Fillmore City and Rivera, political writer.

Under Davis’ leadership, his county, Vandenburg, received the Outstanding County and Sports Awards.

ALBS educates youth in the duties, privileges, rights and responsibilities of American citizenship. The program endeavors to provide a foundation for

Under his leadership, IHS student Roscoe Davis, center left holding a flag, and “citizens” of Vandenburg County, received the Outstanding County and Sports Awards during American Legion Jersey Boys State, June 18-23.

Photo courtesy of IHS

understanding self-government, a rational approach toward the solution of public questions, and faith in the ideals and processes of democracy.

Previous alumni of ALBS include governors, senators and Supreme Court justices, among other government administrators.

Perth Amboy Catholic School Summer Theater Program will be presenting “The Little Mermaid JR” on Saturday, August 5 and Sunday, August 6. This is the second year that PACS will hold a summer theater camp for students. Last year’s production, “An Encanto Inspired Play,” was a great success. Tickets are $10.

To reserve tickets call 732-442-9533 or email mdiaz@pacatholicschool.org.

St. Matthias student spearheads trooper memorial Knights honor Teacher of the Year

By Christina Leslie Contributing Editor

SOMERSET – A Catholic school student with a keen eye and a warm heart has rallied her Somerset faith community in honoring the memory of one of its own. Riley Beisser, an eighth-grade student in St. Matthias School, joined forces with the N.J. State Police this spring to memorialize Trooper Anthony A. Raspa, a 2004 alumnus who died while on duty in 2015 at the age of 24.

“My grandfather, Walter Kowal, is a retired State Trooper,” Riley began. “Three generations of my family visited the N.J. State Police Museum [in Ewing Twp.] over the Christmas break.”

As Riley examined the museum’s “In Memoriam” wall which listed the fallen, she recognized the name of Raspa, a fellow St. Matthias graduate. The lifelong Highland Park resident graduated from Bishop George Ahr High School, Edison, in 2008, and earned a spot in the 152nd New Jersey State Police Class, graduating in October 2013.

“When I realized he went to St. Matthias, I thought it was important for the school to show some recognition,” Riley continued. The student, who served as president of the school’s Student Council, proposed the idea to the board and consulted with principal Mary Lynch, deciding a plaque installed at the school would be a fitting tribute.

Kowal contacted the Raspa family for permission for the tribute; Riley, too, eventually met Raspa’s parents, Salva-

tore and Elizabeth, who she labelled as “great people.” The state police funded and designed the plaque through their State Trooper Fraternal Association, and sent representatives including Col. Patrick J. Callahan, N.J. State Police Superintendent, to Mass and dedication in St. Matthias Church May 18.

In a Facebook post by the law enforcement agency, officials expressed their appreciation for Riley’s project, saying, “The New Jersey State Police family is incredibly touched by such a thoughtful and considerate memorial from this wonderful young lady.” The plaque will be hung permanently in the school’s lobby.

Among the Raspa family members in attendance was the late trooper’s sister, Tina, who called the unveiling of the plaque “empowering, overwhelming and touching.”

Raspa, who was in seventh grade in St. Matthias School when her older brother died, recalled, “I remember a phrase they used when I was in school there: ‘No matter who you are, no matter where you are on your journey, you are welcome.’ When bad things happen, that type of community gets you through.”

Riley, now 14 years old, will begin her freshman year at Immaculata High School, Somerville, this fall. She plans to pursue a career path which involves writing. When asked how she would advise a fellow student who may feel powerless or unheard when trying to solve a need, she answered, “If you really feel something is important, do it.”

Knights of Columbus San Salvador Council #299 honored Perth Amboy Catholic School teacher, Mary Anne Weber, as Teacher of the Year at an awards ceremony at Assumption Catholic School, Perth Amboy, on June 23.

Mrs. Weber has been teaching accelerated mathematics to students in grades six through eight for 19 years.

Her dedication to her students and her love of the subject keeps her after school for tutoring long after the end of the school day. PACS is blessed to have such a caring and committed teacher.

Reflecting on the award, PACS principal, Anacelis Diaz, said, “I have had very few conversations with Mrs. Weber that didn’t involve curriculum and academic performance. She has been very instrumental in my own transition as a new principal to PACS by sharing her knowledge, honesty and willingness to continue giving of herself and talents for the best of our students. She is a treasure!”

The Knights annual awards ceremony honors individuals whose contributions have benefitted the City of Perth Amboy.

St. Matthias School student Riley Beisser, second from right, is flanked by Colonel Patrick Callahan, New Jersey State Police, and the family of Trooper Anthony A. Raspa, a former St. Matthias student, who died while on duty in 2015 and is now memorialized at the school through Riley’s efforts. Also pictured, from left, are Vanessa Hunter, friend of the family; Tina Raspa, sister, and Salvatore and Elizabeth Raspa, parents. —Timothy Larson photo

Young Catholic Professionals found new chapter to blend faith and work lives

By Christina Leslie Contributing Editor

A network of young Catholic professionals are striving to prove that faith and business can indeed mix to benefit themselves, the Church and the society in which they work, live and pray. The Young Catholic Professionals non-profit organization has instituted a chapter in northern New Jersey which aims to, as proclaimed in its mission statement, “work in witness for Christ” as members strive for personal and professional excellence.

YCP invites individuals in their 20s and 30s to “live and share your Catholic faith in the workplace – and find deeper friendships along the way.” Originating in Dallas, Texas, in 2010, YCP now hosts about 40 chapters throughout the U.S., its newest headquartered in northern New Jersey.

Membership in YCP chapters enables young professionals to join in such diverse, faith- and fun-based activities as happy hours, networking events and spiritual formation; access on-demand career and spiritual content, career training and resources; reap the benefits of personal mentorship from local Catholic executives and use YCP job placement resources and portal. The YCP hosts a weekly phone gathering each Wednesday at noon for communal prayer to St. Joseph, the patron saint of workers.

When approached in the planning phase of creating a YCP chapter in northern N.J., Bishop James F. Checchio welcomed and endorsed its establishment. In a June 7 letter to YCP’s national Dallas headquarters, he wrote, “As the YCP ministry helps young

Peter Blute, COO of Young Catholic Professionals, speaks to guests during the June 1 launch party for a YCP chapter in Northern N.J. held in the Hyatt Regency, Morristown.

These young Catholic professionals are among the more than 250 guests who accepted the invitation to “live and share your Catholic faith in the workplace – and find deeper friendships along the way.”

Photos courtesy of YCP

adults connect their faith and their work lives to deepen and renew their faith, it will add to the ongoing evangelization efforts in our diocese.

“I am whole-heartedly in favor of a ministry that motivates young people to share the Joy of the Gospel at home and in the workplace,” the bishop continued.

“Further, it is my hope that YCP’s focus on young professionals will help them engage in parish life.”

YCP North Jersey’s inaugural event, a June 1 launch party at the Hyatt Regency, Morristown, was a success, drawing more than 250 young Catholic professionals and YCP officers from its Dallas headquarters. Stephanie Schoenster, YCP marketing director for the chapter, called the gathering “just the beginning of many great YCP events,” adding, “we’re excited to see what God

has in store for us.”

Also in attendance was Megan Callahan, diocesan director of the Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry, who described her joy in seeing the project begin so smoothly.

“It was beautiful and surreal to see all of the hard work and effort come to fruition,” Callahan said. “This team of young adults saw a need for young Catholic professionals in New Jersey to be able to connect and grow together in faith, and they proactively took it on themselves to fill that need. I am excited to see how they continue to give the Lord their ‘yes’ as they invest in young working Catholics as they bring the joy of the Gospel into their workplaces all across the state.”

At the close of his letter to YCP endorsing its New Jersey chapter, Bishop

Checchio declared, “Certainly, the energies, ideas, talents and faith commitments of our young professionals are valuable, sought-after assets and refresh our parish communities. I look forward… to the blessings it will bring to the lives of its members, those they encounter in their daily lives, and the Church.”

Upcoming YCP events include a July 19 happy hour at Ghosthawk Brewing Co., Clifton, from 6:30 - 8:30 PM, and their Aug. 2 Executive Speaker Series at Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Ridgewood, from 7 - 9 PM. For further information, scan on the tree QR code or see youngcatholicprofessionals.org.

July 13, 2000

In the offering of his life for his mother and father.

Daniel Mark Anderl

Daniel, a young man of faith …

U Ushered at the Sunday noon Mass, greeting parishioners with joy and caring for elderly parishioners.

U Embraced the Sacrament of Reconciliation with excitement, especially walking out of Confession.

U Attended weekly praise and worship, and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament at Catholic University of America.

U Sang the loudest at Eucharistic Adoration, saying “Jesus gave me this voice so I’mma going to use it!”

… Shared by his peers at Catholic University

Class of 2014 - Saint Augustine of Canterbury School

Class of 2018 - Saint Joseph High School, Metuchen

The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C.

July 19, 2020

“There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for a friend”

JOHN 15:13

“Brothers on the journey - Catholic University of America”

Parishioner of Saint Augustine of Canterbury Parish, Kendall Park

Priest Milestones

Celebrating 50 years, Father Aniszczyk advises ‘listen to the Lord’

Father Leon Aniszczyk Celebrating 50 years

For Father Leon Aniszczyk, a retired priest of the Diocese of Metuchen, his call to service for the Church started at a young age. “I started as an altar server right after I received First Holy Communion,” he said, acknowledging also, “I had the example of good priests.”

Father Aniszczyk was born and raised in Bartniki, Poland, to a family who was very committed to the Church and who encouraged his growth in faith. When the Lord called him to consider the priesthood, he entered the Major Seminary of the Society of the Divine Word Fathers in Pieniezno, and the Major Seminary of the Diocese of Lomza, where he studied philosophy and theology.

In 1965 his studies were interrupted when he was drafted into the Polish military in which he served from 1965 to 1967.

Father Aniszczyk was ordained to the priesthood May 27, 1973, in the Diocese of Lomza by Bishop Alexander Moscicki. His first assignment was in St.

John the Baptist Church, Wizna, Poland. He later traveled to Belgium to study Portuguese in order to prepare for missionary work in Brazil. The work was cut short due to political unrest, so after eight years of serving in Poland he decided to move to the United States to be close to his two brothers who were living here.

In 1982 he settled in Philadelphia, where he served in St. John Cantius Parish and then, St. Ladislaus Parish. Following those assignments, he was accepted into the newly formed Diocese of Metuchen where he served the faithful for 36 years.

His assignments included the parishes of Sacred Heart of Jesus, Manville; Sacred Heart, South Amboy; Mary, Mother of God, Hillsborough; St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Bridgewater, and St. Mary of Ostrabrama, South River. In February 1992 Father Aniszczyk was assigned as temporary administrator of St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish, Sayreville, and was named pastor in September of that same year. He also served at Immaculate Conception Parish, Spotswood, and St. Mary of Czestochowa Parish, Bound Brook.

Since his retirement in 2018 he has been residing in Toms River. Although he currently has no parish assignments because of his travels, he does help friends when he travels to Florida and Poland.

Father Aniszczyk enjoys reading and cooks only out of necessity but continues to keep active and stay healthy. He is looking forward to staying close to his family.

He believes being a good example and demonstrating faith will convince people more than words. “I celebrate the Eucharist occasionally in public. I celebrate in a good way that people will see that I believe in the Eucharist,” he said. He noted that, as a pastor, he made time for special Eucharistic devotions and enjoyed hosting 40 Hours Devotions in his parishes.

Father Aniszczyk encourages those considering the vocation of the priesthood to, “Listen to the Lord and be open to his invitation to a vocation; to sacrifice your life and offer it for God and for the Church.”

By Karen Corpora, Correspondent

“I celebrate in a good way that people will see that I believe in the Eucharist.”

A SPECIAL SECTION OF THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

For vicar general, the priesthood has been about patience

How did a nice Jewish boy from Perth Amboy grow up to celebrate a quarter-century of Catholic priesthood?

To hear the Very Rev. Father Jonathan S. Toborowsky, who serves as Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia for the Diocese of Metuchen, explain it, “Looking back now, I see it as a gradual process.”

Born to Patricia, a Catholic, and Lawrence Toborowsky, young Jonathan was educated in his father’s faith of Judaism. He attended Perth Amboy’s Hillel Academy Hebrew Day School through the fifth grade, celebrating his Bar Mitzvah at age 13. He credited his maternal grandmother’s Catholic faith as the impetus for his new spiritual direction.

“After my parents divorced, my mother and I moved in with her,” he explained. “When she went to Sunday Mass, she brought me along. That was my first exposure to Mass and the Church.”

The Boy Scout troop chartered by St. Anthony of Padua Parish, Port Reading “brought me into contact with Catholic kids and the occasional Communion Breakfast,” he recalled, “and my best friends were altar servers, so I learned the ‘behind the scenes’ things in church life. The first real ‘thoughts’ were just about becoming Catholic and not about priesthood when I was not long out of [Woodbridge] High School.”

While working in local government as an aide to the mayor of Woodbridge Township and attending Middlesex County College, Edison, he received instruction in the Catholic faith and was baptized in September of 1990. Supporting his continued steps to a new faith tradition, Father Toborowsky said, were the efforts of St. Anthony’s new

“He had a zeal for getting people involved in parish life,” said Father Toborowsky, who subsequently served as a Lector, an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion, part of a collection counting team, helped to decorate the church and other duties. “All of these things over the years guided me to ask, ‘What is God asking of me?’”

The future priest was confirmed in June, 1991, and accepted as a seminarian in 1992, enrolling in Seton Hall University, South Orange, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree and graduated cum laude. He earned a Master of Divinity Degree and a Master of Arts Degree in theology and Church History from Mount St. Mary’s Seminary, Emmitsburg, Md., in 1998.

Father Toborowsky was ordained to the priesthood May 30, 1998, by Bishop Vincent de Paul Breen. His parish assignments include terms as parochial vicar at St. James, Basking Ridge; St. Mary, Alpha, and St. Thomas the Apostle, Old Bridge, before being named administrator, then pastor, of St. Lawrence Parish, Laurence Harbor, and pastor of Immaculate Conception Parish, Annandale.

Father Toborowsky has served in diverse roles in service to the Diocese of Metuchen, including as Dean of the Raritan Bay Deanery; member of the Presbyteral Council; member of the College of Consultors; associate director, Diocesan Office of Vocations; moderator of Proclaim the Good News, the diocesan radio show, and member of the Commission for Historical Records.

Despite these weighty responsibilities, he noted his favorite duties as a priest are “visiting the homebound and bringing

them Holy Communion; visiting the sick in hospitals and hearing Confessions,” he enumerated, “the ‘priestly’ things that I was ordained to do, rather than the administrative tasks that I must do.”

Among the greatest challenges Father Toborowsky has encountered as a priest were in supporting his congregations during disasters: St. James, Basking Ridge, during the aftermath of 9/11; St. Lawrence, Laurence Harbor, for Superstorm Sandy, and Immaculate Conception, Annandale, during the COVID lockdown.

The priest’s advice to someone considering a life as a priest reflects his own methodical journey. “I never jumped into becoming a priest,” said Father Toborowsky. “First, I thought about becoming a Catholic, then I thought about being involved in parish life. Only after a few years did the thought that ‘maybe God is calling me to the priesthood’ take shape.

Be patient and be open to the next step in God’s plan for you.”

On June 16, family, friends and fellow clergy united in St. John Vianney Parish, Colonia, for a celebratory Mass marking Father Toborowsky’s 25 years. The liturgy’s homilist, Msgr. Robert Fuhrman of Livingston, had been rector of St. Andrew’s College Seminary during Father Toborowsky’s time as a student, and had preached the new priest’s first Mass in 1998.

“You have proven your qualities by using your gifts,” said Msgr. Fuhrman. “You represent the Lord well in your assignments.” The congregation chuckled as he revealed his calculation that Father Toborowsky’s 25 years of priesthood spanned 9,148 days. Msgr. Fuhrman concluded, “Onward to the next 9,000 days… and more.”

By Christina Leslie Contributing Editor

Top left, clergy from throughout the Diocese and beyond gathered to concelebrate the silver anniversary Mass of Father Jonathan Toborowsky, diocesan vicar general, June 16 in St. John Vianney Church, Colonia. Bottom photo, the gifts of bread and wine were presented to Father Toborowsky by his aunt and uncle, Christine and Bill Capik. John Batkowski photos

Father Peter’s love of Mary, healing ministry, hallmarks of service

Father Peter Akkanath Chakkunny

Celebrating 25 years

Carmelite Father Peter Akkanath Chakkunny was born and raised in Kidangoor, Kerala, South India. Today, as he celebrates the 25th anniversary of his ordination, his community wrote in its newsletter, “He is in the USA doing a wonderful healing ministry in the hospital, especially to the terminally ill patients for the last eight years with miraculous results, especially during the COVID-19 time.”

Father Peter’s journey to the priesthood began in his childhood with his desire to become a priest. He credits the example of his parents’ strong faith which they passed on to their children, and the inspiration of his parish priests, nuns, and teachers, as making him strong in his desire.

After completing Infant Jesus elementary school in his hometown, Father Peter entered St. Joseph High School, also in Kidangoor. It was there that a Carmelite priest spoke to the students and introduced them to his congregation. “Inspired by his talk, I decided (after high school) to attend their Vocation Camp and joined this religious community as an aspirant,” recalled Father Peter. He chose to serve in the Carmelites’ Mission Region and went to Bhopal for further seminary studies.

Besides the Carmelite father’s talk,

Father Peter said his devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, which also began in childhood, helped him to choose the Carmelites. He noted that as a youngster every Saturday he attended a novena to the Mother of Perpetual Help in the parish. He added that in his elementary school there was a small Chapel dedicated to the Mother of Perpetual Help which he would visit to pray during school intervals. “It was there I experienced the protection of Blessed Mary,” he stated.

Before becoming a priest, Father Peter spent 14 years in seminary studies. It included a year as an aspirant, two years in higher secondary school studies, two years in the novitiate, two years of philosophy, a year of regency, three years of college and three years of theological studies.

On Jan. 8, 1998, in his Kidangoor home parish, Father Peter was ordained as a Carmelite priest for the Bhopal Province. His first assignments included helping in the formation of aspirants, serving for three months as Rector of the scholastics in Carmel Niketan, Jabalpur, as well as being Vocation Promoter for the Carmelites, a position he held for two years. In 2000, he began post-graduate studies in psychology. Two years later, he received a Master’s degree in psychology from Calicut University, India.

From 2002 to 2005, Father Peter worked as Director of Vikas Mytri Kendra, a center for Rural Development Ser-

vice Society, Silwani Bhopal. Afterwards, he completed a two-year fellowship in Clinical Psychology at Ramachandra Medical College, Chennai, India. For the next five years he served Sacred Heart Mental Hospital, Painkulam, India as a clinical psychologist. It was said that the patients appreciated his counseling and the way he handled their mental problems.

In 2012, Father Peter came to the United States to further his studies and to be the chaplain for the nuns at the Car melite Monastery in Flemington. While there he was actively engaged in the pas toral activities of the Syro-Malabar com munity, including preaching, administer ing sacraments, and even giving ongoing

Father Breen aims to serve as Christ’s beacon

Father Damian Breen Celebrating 25 years

A long-held desire to join the priesthood has served as a beacon for Father Damian Breen, leading him through a life in two separate orders and multiple countries around the world. Through it all, his goal was clear: “I always try to lead others to Christ.”

Father Breen, a native of Maryland, attended St. Clement Grammar School, Lansdowne. “I had a great Catholic education and was blessed to be raised in a Catholic family,” he recalled. Many of his Vincentian teachers he knew as a child inspired him: “From the age of seven years on, I knew I wanted to be a priest,” he recalled. “God’s call speaks to all of us in his own time.”

Despite considering careers such as architecture and public service professions, the desire to become a priest never left him. “The attraction to prayer and also to serve stayed with me, directed me to where I am now, and in many ways, still sustains me,” Father Breen said.

The young man began his priestly studies at age 14 in the Vincentian High School Seminary of St. Joseph Preparatory Seminary, Plainsboro, then attended

St. John’s University in Jamaica, N.Y., where he earned a bachelor’s degree in English with minors in philosophy and theology, all the while continuing his formation with the Vincentians.

Due to a decline in vocations, the Vincentians’ phasing out of pastoral work and focus on teaching led the future Father Breen to join the Benedictines to pursue parish work. He entered St. Mary Abbey, Morristown, where he was clothed as a novice in 1992 and professed simple vows in 1993. Upon professing his solemn vows as a monk in May, 1996, Father Breen took part in the Collegeville Biblical Studies program, traveling to Israel, Jordan and Egypt.

He taught English and religion at Morristown’s Delbarton School for 18 months, then continued his own education in St. Vincent Seminary, Latrobe, Pa., where he earned a Master’s degree in sacred Scripture in 1997 and a Master of Divinity degree in 1998. He was ordained to the priesthood on June 6, 1998, by Bishop Frank Rodimer in the Diocese of Paterson.

Father Breen has exercised his ministry as a parochial vicar in the parishes of St. Joseph, Mendham; St. Elizabeth of Hungary, Linden, and St. James of the Marches, Totowa, as well as the Metuchen Diocese parishes of Nativity of Our Lord, Monroe Twp., and Sacred Heart of Jesus,

formation for adults.

Father Peter’s last assignment came in 2015 when he was appointed as the Catholic Chaplain to Penn Medicine Princeton Health, Plainsboro. He continues to serve there, especially the terminally ill patients. Since July 4, 2021, he resides at St. James the Less Parish, Jamesburg.

Asked what advice he would give to a man considering a vocation to the priesthood, Father Peter said, “Discerning a vocation to the priesthood takes time, prayer, reflection, patience and attentiveness to God’s action. It also takes courage to respond to the interior movements of the Holy Spirit. Fear or resistance is a very common response among young men who are searching, and it does not mean you are not called to be a priest. If Jesus has placed a desire in your heart for priesthood, ‘perfect love casts out all fear’ (1John 4:18). Don’t let fear paralyze you. Instead ask a priest you trust to help with your concern.”

Reflecting on his 25 years of service, Father Peter said, “I rejoice in the Lord for the opportunity of being His faithful servant by the constant interces-

South Plainfield. Additionally, he has served as St. Mary’s Abbey vocations di rector and participated in an international program of studies on monastic formation for Benedictine and Cistercian monks and nuns in Rome, Italy.

Father Breen was named pastor of Corpus Christi Parish, South River, in 2013, where he has started the practice of adoration every Wednesday and First Fridays. His favorite aspects of the priesthood include celebrating the Holy Eucharist, administering the other Sacra ments, providing counseling to people and “being present to people in their highs and lows,” he said.

His biggest challenges have been culturally prevalent indifference, societal disdain of the faith, and the issues caused by secularism and relativism. He strives to be “present to people in their difficulties and their triumphs,” and sees fatherlessness and the collapse of the family in the present culture as huge challenges facing the Church. “The Church needs to be pro-family,” Father Breen said.

His hope for the future is that the Church will become stronger and more effective, and that people will be faithful disciples who are able to share the faith with others. Ever a teacher and a student, his newest goal is to increase his profi-

ciency in the Portuguese language, as Corpus Christi Parish is blessed with an influx of immigrants from Brazil.

His Benedictine formation has been “a great blessing,” he asserted, and the Benedictine charism, with its focus on being part of a community, has helped him in his ministry.

“Hospitality is part of the Benedictine charism,” he said, adding that he learned its value from his parents and Benedictine instructors. “It leads to fellowship, and once you have fellowship that leads to an opportunity for evangelization,” Father Breen concluded.

By Teresa Murphy, Correspondent

Adoration, Confessions focus of Father Da Silva’s ministry

Father Paul Da Silva

Celebrating 25 years

“I enjoy celebrating the Sacraments, especially the Sacrament of Confession,” declared Father Arlindo Paul Da Silva as he reflected upon his 25 years of priestly ministry. “I see happening what Christ came to do. For people who have been away so long, and carry the weight of sins, to see them lifted is the most inspirational thing.”

Father Da Silva was born in 1970 on the continent of Africa in Blantyre, Malawi, to the late Arlindo Ferreira and Maria Luisa Da Silva, who were of Portuguese descent. The family immigrated to the U.S. eight years later, and young Arlindo received his education in Elizabeth’s St. Patrick Elementary and High Schools. Upon his graduation as valedictorian, he attended St. Peter’s College, Jersey City, on full scholarship and graduated summa cum laude in 1993 with a dual Bachelor of Arts Degree in history and philosophy and a minor in theology. He became an American citizen in 1992.

Father Da Silva applied as a candidate to the priesthood for the Diocese of Metuchen, attending St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, Wynnewood, Pa., where he earned a Master of Divinity Degree, with Honors, in 1997, and a Master of

Arts Degree, with Honors, in theology in 1998. Father Da Silva was ordained May 30, 1998, in the Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi by Bishop Vincent de Paul Breen.

Over the course of his 25 years of ministry, Father Da Silva has served as a transitional deacon in St. Matthias Parish, Somerset, and parochial vicar in the parishes of St. Mary, Alpha; Our Lady of Fatima, Piscataway, and Immaculate Conception, Somerville, as well as chaplain in All Saints Regional Catholic School, Phillipsburg, and Immaculata High School, also Somerville. On the diocesan level, he has served on the seminary board; as Moderator of the Legion of Mary, and director of the Office of Multi-Cultural Ministries.

In addition to his role as pastor of Our Lady of Fatima Parish, Piscataway, since 2008, Father Da Silva currently serves the diocese as a member of its College of Consultors and Presbyteral Council, as well as on the school board of Holy Savior Academy, South Plainfield. He also is an executive board member for Life Choices, Inc, Phillipsburg.

Father Da Silva reaps the most joy in bringing others, especially college students, back to Confession and Eucharistic Adoration.

“We have confessions three times a week and get young people from [nearby] Rutgers University for adoration, so many around the times of mid-terms or final exams that the chapel isn’t big enough,” he said. “This past week, two seminarians told me the reason they went to the seminary was this chapel where they nurture this vocation. I love to help those away for a long time. It is a priority of mine.”

To those young men discerning a vocation to the priesthood or religious life, Father Da Silva has sage advice –ponder the decision free of emotion.

“He should maintain a strong spiritual life, receive the sacraments often and get a spiritual director free from emotion to give good guidance,” the priest said. “Go to Mass and confession frequently, and make sure your options are clear. A spiritual director is important; you can’t see clearly with emotion.”

By Christina Leslie, Contributing Editor

Father Kohlmann was impacted by life that fostered community

Father Vernon Kohlmann, SDV Celebrating 25 years

When Vocationist Father Vernon Kohlmann, born in 1943 in St. Cloud, Wisconsin, recalls the impact of his youth in a very rural farming community, his musings seem like meditations on God, creation and the human heart:

“Our farm was 95 acres with cows, chickens, pigs, two dogs, a shepherd and a collie, and in early years, two horses. Mom’s garden provided her with much canning that would be stored in our basement cellar, especially for the winter months.

“Nature and its seasons have much to do with any farm program. The work of plowing fields, cultivating corn, cutting hay; the expansive fields, the woods, that also gave pasture to our cattle, the presence of the rippling stream that passed through our land … they made one aware of the very ground on which we walked.

“It is to say, especially in looking back, that there was an atmosphere that gave incentive to life’s routines. Nature was providing almost a penetrating backdrop in its variations and vastness, while instilling a bond … through the expression of experience; it also gave a sense of worth … through the beauty of nature surrounding us.”

This was home for Father Kohlmann, and his two brothers, through eighth grade and the summers of high school and college. Then, he recalled, “One spring day, as we walked from the playground at school, my teacher, Sister Mary Louise … asked if I would con-

sider going to St. Lawrence Seminary in Mount Calvary about fifteen miles away.

“While I was inclined to pay some passing attention to the large cross that hung above the altar during the daily school-year Mass, and my brother and I used to play the ritual of a Mass – I wore a baby blanket for a vestment – I did not feel … a strong inclination to the priesthood.”

Still, Father Kohlmann filled out the application to that minor seminary and was accepted, attending four years of high school and two years of college. He recalled, “While in the college library, I noticed a picture on the cover of a “Glenmary Challenge,” published by the Glenmary Home Missioners. Several seminarians, or priests, were helping a disabled farmer in a field … If I would continue in the seminary that is where I wanted to go.

“Today, I look at it as a ‘fundamental option for the poor’ because it seemed to be an enduring principle that maintained itself through thick and thin over the years … It began to come to me that it is a focus the Church calls to all our attention, for it gives each of us to see a deeper poverty. It is present to all of our lives from the first moment of dependency when we were born into this world. An inherent reliance that could lead us to a heavenly Father.”

Though brief, Father Vernon’s experience with Glenmary, which began with the novitiate, has had a lasting effect. He explained that the charism of Glenmary Home Missioners is to establish a Catholic presence in rural areas and small towns, especially In Appalachia

and the poor, where poverty is twice the national level.

“The proclamation and witness to the Good News with a life that fostered community were at the center of that year’s experience,” recalled Father Kohlmann, noting, “For all my life’s happenings and inconsistencies, some things seemed to bear an enduring character. First, the early years of my life. Second, going five hundred miles south for a picture on the cover of a magazine. Third, the panorama of experiences during the time with Glenmary that fit so well with those opening years of the Second Vatican Council with its close attention to the Gospel and the meaning of community.

“It led me to weigh what Father Justin Russolillo, Society of Divine Vocations founder, sought to do … which

was to revive and reclaim those whose Father Kohlmann, who holds cer tificates in teaching in Wisconsin, North Dakota, and Mississippi, as well as a certificate as a geriatric nursing assistant, took his first profession of vows with the Society of Divine Vocations in 1994, and concluded studies in Immaculate Conception Seminary, Seton Hall University, South Orange, in 1998.

Father Kohlmann was ordained to the priesthood on May 23, 1998. Since then, he has served in St. Nicholas Parish, Palisades Park; St. Michael Parish, Newark; Father Justin Vocationary, Florham Park; St. Cecelia Parish, Iselin, and was in residence, St. James Parish, Woodbridge, from 2021-2023. He has been reassigned to St. Patrick Church, Wareham, Mass.

By Mary Morrell, Editor-in-chief

For Father Kosmoski, 40 years is an invitation to prayer, reflection

Father David Kosmoski Celebrating 40 years

This year Father David B. Kos moski celebrates another milestone in his priestly vocation – 40 years of serving the Catholic faithful as a priest, and as pastor of St. Andrew Parish, Avenel, he has been shepherding his flock for the past 33 years.

Reflecting on his priesthood, Father Kosmoski said, “I can only thank God for his providence and the gifts he has given me. Every day I can say I am doing better than I merit. I am happy that God called me to point the light as I strive to walk in it.”

Father Kosmoski entered the semi nary in 1976 and earned bachelor degrees in philosophy and theology at the Uni versity of St. Thomas Aquinas, Rome. He also attended the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome where he completed a program specializing in retreat ministry and the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius.

Father Kosmoski was ordained on June 12, 1983, by Pope Saint John Paul II in St. Peter’s Basilica, Rome. His first Masses were celebrated in Lourdes, Lisieux and the Shrine of Knock in Ireland.

After returning to the states, his first assignment was in St. Francis Chapel, Boston, where he ministered to the workers and tourists visiting there. He then

studied in Boston College and earned a master’s degree in psychology which led to spending two years working at Arbour Psychiatric Hospital for Acute Care, Boston. He also spent time working with Project Rachel, a post-abortion healing ministry as a counselor.

Father Kosmoski has carried these skills with him throughout his priesthood serving the people of God with all their human frailties and sufferings. ”Through times of discouragement, God provides hope. In loss God provides his gifts. In

times of confusion, He brings his light,” he said. He continues to visit the homebound and the sick, counsels those who have lost loved ones and helps the needy in any way he can.

In 1990, Father Kosmoski was appointed pastor of St. Andrew Parish. His skills as a counselor have come in handy while serving his parishioners. “Celebrating 40 years of ordained ministry has been an invitation for prayer and reflection,” he said. The number 40 appears so many times in the Scriptures that it car-

ries a special significance for him regarding perseverance and salvation.

The most rewarding part of being a priest for him is the simplicity of the Mass and the power within it. “People are lost in so many ways like the people in the desert. God fed them manna and led them with a pillar of fire. The Lord is providing for us in the desert by giving us the Eucharist,” he reflected.

In this year of the Eucharistic Revival, St. Andrew Parish is sponsoring a trip to Egypt in September. Those on the pilgrimage will be invited to journal and reflect on what it is like to be in the desert and how the Lord cares for us. “In following Jesus, he makes us keenly aware that he is with us, especially in the Eucharist. Like the pillar of fire that led the people in the desert, he opens our hearts and minds to his word and guidance.”

Traveling is one of Father Kosmoski’s joys in life along with his three dogs, a koi pond, some doves, and a couple of parakeets. He also enjoys cooking and oil painting. “I like keeping busy,” he said.

When asked what his advice would be for someone considering a vocation to the priesthood he said, “Always remember you are a sinner first then go into a church and, in the silence of the heart, ask Jesus what you would like him to do for you and then ask him what he would like you to do for him.”

By Karen Corpora, Correspondent

Msgr. Malovetz advises remember the past, look to the future

Msgr. Gregory E. S. Malovetz Celebrating 40 years

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“I always say to people that I have been the pastor of probably three different parishes over the past 30 plus years,” said Msgr. Gregory E. S. Malovetz, who has served as pastor of St. Charles Borromeo Parish, Skillman, since 1989.

“When I first came [here] there was no church; we had a little mission church and we worshipped in the local high school. [Montgomery Township] was still the remnants of a farming community,” he said.

The 1990s saw a housing boom including many Catholics moving into the area. During COVID, many residents sold their homes, resulting in a “much more ethnically diverse parish than we ever had before,” Msgr. Malovetz explained, noting that St. Charles Borromeo holds large celebrations each year for the Hispanic-influenced feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe and for Our Lady of Vailankanni, beloved by the country of India.

As pastor, he led the parish through construction and the retirement of debt on a new church, built in 1993, and an attached pastoral center, constructed in 2006.

Msgr. Malovetz said the parish expanded from between 500 to 600 families

to 1,800 at its highest point. There are currently some 1,400 families in the parish.

Leading a parish for over 30 years has given Msgr. Malovetz the chance to know his parishioners. “You’re sort of the holder of the parish’s history,” he said.

Msgr. Malovetz was born in Elizabeth and grew up in Carteret. His family were parishioners in Sacred Heart Church, a Slovak parish. He and his twin brother and a younger sister attended the town’s public elementary and high schools.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from the University of Scranton, Scranton, Pa., and a master’s degree in theology from The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C.

Msgr. Malovetz was ordained on May 14, 1983, in the Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi, Metuchen, and has served as parochial vicar in St. Joseph Parish, Bound Brook; St. Peter the Apostle, University and Community Parish, New Brunswick, and St. Thomas the Apostle Parish, Old Bridge.

He was a representative for the County Seat Deanery to the Priest Council and served nine years as diocesan director of evangelization and as a delegate to the first diocesan synod. He also co-chaired the Commission for Synod Implementation.

“If I were to say anything I have learned in ministry, (it is that) you have

got to know where you came from (and) you’ve got to know what’s ahead,” Msgr. Malovetz said.

When asked what advice he would give to someone considering a vocation to the priesthood, he said: “My first advice is to know yourself. What are your gifts, what are not your gifts. …The grace of God in priests is going to help you perfect those gifts” and develop new talents,” he added.

Msgr. Malovetz noted the challenge

of priesthood now is interacting with people of diverse experiences and opinions, saying, “You’ve got to listen and find a kind of courage to move forward, but at the same time, [understand]… where people are at.”

He said going to church and attending Mass can offer Catholics grace, wisdom, strength and insight “to just give you a little push back into whatever you are going through” in life.

By Paul J. Peyton, Correspondent

Father O’Connor strives to ‘be there’ as a priest

Father Charles O’Connor

Celebrating 40 years

“A happy priest is one who really enjoys caring for people, who enjoys serving people,” said Father Charles T. O’Connor, who is celebrating the 40th anniversary of his Ordination.

“The key is to be there when there when they’re hurting, to be there when they are celebrating; to be there when they have questions, not as the answering guy, but as the listening guy; to allow people to pour their heart out to you in the Sacrament of Reconciliation when they have been broken by their own sins,” he explained.

Father O’Connor said he has been the longest serving pastor at St. Joseph Parish, Bound Brook, where he served 23 years (from 1990 until 2013), and St. Cecilia Parish, Monmouth Junction, where he has ministered for the past decade. He helped St. Joseph’s mark its 125th anniversary in 2001 and St. Cecilia’s its centennial in 2015.

“I’ve just loved being a pastor all of these years,” he said. “You don’t become a pastor just because the bishop gave you a letter (appointing you.) You become a pastor by getting to know your parish family, by truly becoming a father to them and a brother to them, teaching

them, but also being willing to learn from them, loving them and allowing yourself to be loved by them.”

Father O’Connor said St. Joseph’s parishioners come from about 40 countries, and he tried to speak in each parishioner’s native tongue as they came up for Holy Communion.

The son of a nurse and a police officer, he grew up in Newark and Kearny and attended St. Stephen School, Kearny; St. Benedict Preparatory School, Newark; and St. Peter Preparatory School, Jersey City.

He graduated from the College Seminary at Seton Hall University, South Orange, in 1979 with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and entered Immaculate Conception Seminary in Darlington where he received a Master of Divinity degree in 1982. He was ordained a transitional deacon and spent a year at Sacred Heart Parish, South Plainfield.

Father O’Connor was ordained a priest in the Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi, Metuchen, on May 14, 1983. His first assignment was St. Peter the Apostle University and Community Parish, New Brunswick. In 1985, he became a parochial vicar of St. Joseph and associate director of the diocesan Office of Vocations. He has also served as director of the diocesan Office for Hispanic Ministry and secretary to the bishop.

Farther O’Connor studied Canon Law at the Pontifical Gregorian Uni versity, Rome, graduating in 1990 with the degree of Licentiate in Canon Law (JCL). Upon his return to the U.S. and appointment as pastor of St. Joseph Par ish, he also took up the responsibilities of diocesan secretary for canonical affairs. In September 1998, he was appointed chancellor for the diocese. He returned solely to parish work in June of 2001.

Father O’Connor said the pandemic was by far his biggest challenge of his priesthood; as St. Cecilia Parish did not have streaming capabilities, he used his IPad to prerecord Sunday Mass for his parishioners and spliced in pre-recorded music and readings by liturgical and music ministers.

“I was celebrating Mass in an empty church,” Father O’Connor said.

For those men considering a vocation to the priesthood, he advised them to “check it out to be sure that God is calling you and not that you want be a priest.”

“We need good priests … we need faithful priests that are going to be compassionate, priests that are going to love their flock … that are going to have a shepherd’s heart,” he said.

Father O’Connor’s future goals are to travel to the Holy Land and step back from the administrative duties of the pastorate focusing more upon the spiritual aspects of the priesthood.

By Paul J. Peyton, Correspondent

Father Abraham Orapankal’s ministry spans the globe

Father Abraham Orapankal Celebrating 40 years

The first stirrings towards a life as a priest were planted in a youthful Abraham Orapankal as he watched his pastor in the southernmost state of Kerala, India.

“The way he was leading the parish, the pastoral care given to the people of the parish – it gave me a kind of seed of interest,” he said. The Orapankal family belong to the Eastern Catholic community with roots tracing back to the missionary activity of St. Thomas the Apostle, who traveled to India after Christ’s Ascension.

Father Orapankal entered the seminary in Assam, earned a bachelor’s degree from Christ King College, Shillong, and completed his theological studies at the Papal Seminary in Pune. He was ordained a priest on Dec. 17, 1983, for the missionary Diocese of Kohima in Nagaland. “Working as a missionary was the most fulfilling experience, struggling with the people and becoming one with the people in the villages,” he said.

Father Orapankal’s bishop sent him to New York to study at Fordham University so that he would be qualified to serve as resident professor of theology at the Orens Theological College in Shillong.

Little did he know the assignment would change the direction of his ministry. His trip to the U.S. was originally intended as “an opportunity to get the degree and return at the earliest possible,” he recalled, but a medical diagnosis of a very rare, incurable lung condition prompted doctors to recommend he remain in America where indoor temperatures were better regulated.

Father Orapankal earned a doctorate in leadership from Fordham and a certification in spiritual direction from the Shalem Institute of Spiritual Direction, Bethesda, Md. Disregarding medical advice, the priest returned to India to teach theology and serving as spiritual director for the seminarians for a few years, but his worsening health attracted the attention of his local bishop, who decided the priest should return to the United States.

Father Orapankal worked with RENEW International for six years, traveling the country and training others to promote Christian communities and faith-sharing groups, before being incardinated to the Diocese of Metuchen in 2010.

He served as parochial vicar in St. Bartholomew Parish, East Brunswick, from 2010 to 2012, and pastor of St. John Neumann Parish, Califon, from 2012 until he was appointed to his current assignment as pastor of St. Matthias Parish, Somerset, in 2018.

While at St. Matthias, he has worked to set up complete transparency in parish financial matters, and created more than two dozen small groups of parishioners who meet regularly to pray and share faith with one another. “That made the parish come alive,” he said. “That was an amazing thing. When the people gather to share the Word of God there is so much mutual support and fellowship.”

The priest said he strives to help people experience the power of God through the sacraments, and to show that “everyone is welcome here.” His hope is never to put obstacles in the way of those who are coming to the Church for help.

“They will come back if we have a welcoming attitude,” he said.

He uses the weekly parish bulletins as a tool for evangelization, sharing jokes to make people smile and draw them into reading inspirational stories related to the Gospel.

Father Orapankal advised prospective priests should focus only on Jesus, not whether they could be labeled a conservative or progressive.

“Focus on the word of God, not any other thinking-movement. We need to be Jesus-based, not any extreme. It is so easy to fall into ideologies. … That is what is polarizing the people.”

By Teresa Murphy, Correspondent

You become a pastor by getting to know your parish family …

They will come back if we have a welcoming attitude.

Father Maurice Carlton excels in serving the People of God

Father Thomas Maurice Carlton Celebrating 55 years

In its bulletin, Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, Whitehouse Station, lists Father Maurice T. Carlton’s role as “pastoral support,” a role he has been perfecting for 55 years.

Retired for five years after serving 15 years as pastor of St. Joseph Parish in High Bridge, Father Carlton has been in residence since 2018 at the Hunter don County congregation. This year, he marks his 55th year of ordination.

Before that, as a member of the Or der of St. Benedict, Father Carlton lived as a monk for years in the brotherhood of fellow members. But In 1991, he changed directions, becoming a diocesan priest.

“I talked to the Abbott and said, ‘I think I have to do more on the outside for pastoral work,’ Father Carlton recalled. “We had an amicable separation.”

Bishop Edward T. Hughes, the Metuchen Diocese’s second bishop, told Father Carlton he hesitated taking clergy from outside orders. “But I’ve heard too much about you,” the bishop told the monk. “We’ll take you.”

What did the bishop hear about the priest?

“That I’m OK,” Father Carlton said

with a smile. “He didn’t hear the bad stuff, that’s for sure.”

Father Carlton, 82, grew up in Jersey City, where he attended Mass with his parents but said he wasn’t an altar server. The “bad stuff” was well in the past; Father Carlton said he hung out with the wrong crowd in his youth.

He credits monks at St. Benedict’s Preparatory School in Newark with being influential in his eventual decision to become a priest. He continued his Catholic education in college, first at St. Peter’s in Jersey City, then St. John’s in

Collegeville, Minn., and eventually in Conception Seminary, Conception, Mo., where he earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy. Father Carlton, who was ordained March 9, 1968, in St. Mary Abbey, Morristown, also holds a Master of Divinity degree from the abbey.

It was while an undergrad that Father Carlton began attending daily Mass.

“And I got this tremendous urge,” Father Carlton recalled, while sitting in the Our Lady sacristy July 2 ahead of hearing confessions and the 5:30 p.m. Mass. “I told people that in 1960, God made me his No. 1 draft choice. And he very clearly said to me, ‘I want you.’ And then in the course of my life, every turn, favorable or not, I can see God directing my life.”

The directing has taken Father Carlton through a varied career in the ministry, from teacher back at St. Benedict’s to counselor with Worldwide Marriage Encounter; rector at University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind., to serving Metuchen parishes as parochial vicar, including St. Mary’s in South Amboy and St. Philip and St. James in Phillipsburg.

He said his “best gig” was as chaplain at McCarrick Care Center, now known as Parker at Somerset. While tending to the spiritual needs of older residents at McCarrick, Father Carlton

said his role also included celebrating Baptisms and weddings of family members, as well as funerals.

Residents there helped draw him closer to God, Father Carlton said, recounting one mesmerizing story about a woman named Regina whom he nicknamed “The Reg.”

“She was a wonderful, saintly woman,” Father Carlton said. “She lost her physical sight with age, but she discovered her spiritual sight.”

One day, the woman was near death; Father Carlton sat with her and asked if she saw Jesus. “She said, ‘I don’t see nobody.’ I told the doctor she is not dying tonight.”

She didn’t, but about three days later, the woman told the chaplain, “Remember you asked me if I saw Jesus? I’m looking at him right now, and he’s smiling, and it’s beautiful.” Father Carlton said she died that night.

Father Carlton advises any man considering the priesthood to think and pray about it. “You always have to ask yourself, I think, if not now, when?” he said. “I can’t do it now. Well, when can you do it? Don’t rush into anything, but always think of that option.”

By Anthony Salamone, Correspondent

Father Jan Bernas transcends obstacles to priesthood

Father Jan Bernas, SDB

Celebrating 65 years —————————————————

The early life of Salesians of St. John Bosco Father Jan Bernas was riddled with obstacles – the loss of both parents in his youth, the horrors of World War II in his native Poland, the affliction of disease – but his love of God and those less fortunate has sustained him through 65 years of priestly service.

Young Jan, born in July, 1930, in Oswiecim, Poland (the future site of the Auschwitz concentration camp), suffered the loss of his father when he was but three months old. He completed only two years of education before the Germans locked the schools and arrested the teach ers. By 1945, he recalled, “the Red Army freed us from Germany … My mother died. I was 15 years old with two grades, my brother and nothing else.”

A kindly teacher, recognizing his skill on an exam, advised the youth to approach the boarding school run by the Salesians for help. During a meeting with the order’s director, he declared his intention to pursue the priesthood, “but it was not true,” Father Bernas recalled sheepishly. “I said this only to be accepted… In reality, I wanted to flee before [my] vocation, but God’s love was stronger.”

His journey was slowed when he became sick with tuberculosis and the vice provincial discouraged him from continuing his studies. The prospective priest enlisted heavenly help; “I went before the altar of Our Lady saying, ‘My Mother, now I have only you.” Two months later, he was approved to continue his studies.

Father Bernas made his vows at age 20, attended seminary school in Krakow,

Poland, and was ordained there Aug. 8, 1958. Following 12 years as a parish priest in Poland, he earned a master’s degree in pastoral theology from the Academy of Catholic Theology, Warsaw, then served as director of the Salesian House in Poznan, Poland.

In 1982, Father Bernas completed a year of studying English and various African dialects before taking up missionary work in Zambia. The once reluctant priest candidate was put in charge of bringing seminarians from Poland and looking for new vocations; “I prepared six candidates for theology,” he said happily. “One of them became a diocesan

priest, another became a bishop… a boy I sent to the novitiate in South Africa wanted to be a brother, [and] recently celebrated his silver jubilee.”

Due to failing health, Father Bernas received permission to return to Poland in 1994, but the cleric soon answered the call to serve as chaplain for the Carmelite Sisters from St. Louis, Mo. A subsequent term in Goshen, N.Y., was followed by a request for a chaplain from the Little Servant Sisters of the Immaculate Conception, Woodbridge, in 1997, where he resides today.

By Christina Leslie, Contributing Editor

Prayer for Vocations

Our God and Father, your will is that all should be saved And come to the knowledge of your truth. Send workers into your great harvest, So that the Gospel may be preached to every creature And your people, gathered together by the word of life And strengthened by the power of the sacraments, May advance in the way of salvation and love.

We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen

Diocese transitions to solar energy for St. John Neumann Pastoral Center

By Kaylynn Ebner Correspondent

In late June, the Diocese of Metuchen put the finishing touches on a solar power project at the St. John Neumann Pastoral Center in Piscataway. The brand-new 500,000-kilowatt solar energy system will power the Center while offering both environmental and financial benefits.

Bishop James F. Checchio shared that transitioning to solar power has been an “important initiative in the Diocese since the 2015 encyclical ‘Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home’ was released.” Pope Francis’ second encyclical “encouraged us to look for ways in which we could have a positive effect on the environment, in our parishes, our schools and our diocesan center,” the Bishop said.

Laudato Si’ was a call to action for Catholics to take care of the earth in a much more thoughtful manner. The Holy Father called on the faithful to live more sustainably and to take steps to address climate change. For instance, he encouraged Catholics to focus on transitioning to renewable energy sources such as solar power in an effort to be better stewards of the planet.

“The urgent challenge to protect our common home includes a concern to bring the whole human family together to seek a sustainable and integral development, for we know that things can change,” wrote Pope Francis.

In response to this challenge, the Diocese started planning in 2019 for solar projects such as the recently completed array at the St. John Neumann Pastoral Center. The Covid-19 pandemic delayed

the timeline at first, but construction offi cially began in February, 2023. The Diocese partnered with Novitium Energy. with construction by New Road Eneergy. Overall, the project went smoothly.

“We were fortunate to have a mild winter this year, so the project wrapped up earlier than expected in June,” stated Steve Michalek, director of properties and facilities for the Diocese.

This was no small feat. The St. John Neumann Pastoral Center is a 100,000-square-foot building that houses the administrative offices of the Diocese of Metuchen, conference rooms, and the liturgical and religious offices in the Diocese, as well as the administrative offices of St. Peter’s University Hospital. Some 999 solar panels were installed to power the facility.

The installation was well worth the wait. In addition to being more environmentally friendly, the new solar array at the Pastoral Center is expected to offer economic advantages to the Diocese. According to Michalek, the Diocese obtained the solar panels at no out-of-pocket cost through its power purchase agreement. When the system flips on, the cost to purchase the solar energy will be less than what the Diocese would have paid a conventional utility company. Michalek anticipates that the system will save the Diocese more than $1.8 million over the 25-year lifespan of the system. “That’s a significant cost saving,” states Michalek.

Moreover, Michalek noted other building maintenance projects can sometimes be packaged with the solar installation such as a new roof or air conditioning system, providing further savings to

the Diocese. He indicated that the power purchase agreement also ensures the Pastoral Center will not go dark if the skies are cloudy, for instance. “The center will always be connected to the grid,” he explained. If it is not sunny outside, the system temporarily switches to traditional energy to power the site. This power will be available at a reduced rate.

Given all the advantages, Michalek says the project at St. John Neumann Pastoral Center is just the tip of the iceberg: “We had planned to do solar not only at the St. John Neumann Pastoral Center, but we also wanted to do feasibility studies to see what we could do throughout the four counties that comprise the Diocese.”

Other solar projects have been completed at Immaculata High School in Somerville and St. Matthias Church in Somerset, and a solar installation is currently underway at St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Old Bridge. Another dozen parishes and schools have also expressed interest in converting to solar

power. Some feasibility studies are already underway.

Michalek hopes all the sites that qualify for a solar buildout will be transitioned to this renewable energy source over the next five to seven years.

Looking toward the future, Bishop Checchio acknowledged that, in addition to the financial gains of solar energy, he hopes “it has a good effect on others, especially our faithful, to increase awareness of our call to be good stewards of all God has given us, and to protect those gifts for future generations to enjoy.”

Reflecting on New Jersey, in particular, as a place with “rich and varied landscapes of farms, rivers, mountains and beaches,” Bishop Checchio said, “It all cries out to us of a Creator who loves us and gave us creation to enjoy – and to care for.”

Bishop Checchio also extended special thanks to “all those who were involved in the work and oversight of this important initiative.”

At top, the St. John Neumann Pastoral Center, Piscataway, will be powered by a 999-solar panel array, pictured above, designed to save the Diocese $1.8M in energy costs. — Photo courtest of Novitium Energy

File photo

By Annie Nason Correspondent

In the final days before being ordained as a priest in the Diocese of Metuchen, then Deacon Jose Lim had a desire to go back and give thanks in a place near and dear to his heart – The Catholic Center at Rutgers University.

On June 21, just three days before being ordained to the priesthood, Deacon Lim (who graduated from Rutgers in 2014) gathered with close friends, fellow Rutgers alumni, and Catholic Center chaplains for a special Holy Hour, time of fellowship and honoring of Deacon Lim and his vocation to the priesthood.

“Thankfulness” was the word Deacon Lim used to open his exhortation in the Catholic Center chapel. When asked to reflect on his time as a Rutgers student, he fondly recalled the profound impact the Catholic Student Association had on him during these formative years. The impact of the community as well as the genuine relationships built there allowed Deacon Lim to encounter his faith in a new way.

“The Catholic Center was very much my spiritual home during my years attending Rutgers University,” he said, noting, “I met some of my best friends there and I encountered the presence of the Lord within those walls. Whether it was through the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, Eucharistic Adoration, Confession, spiritual direction, or simply a good cup of coffee and conversation, that building holds memories for me that are intimately linked to my returning to the Church and my eventual decision to discern a celibate vocation.”

Sister of Jesus Our Hope Anna Palka (who currently serves as a chaplain in the Catholic Center) hosted the evening and participated in CSA with now Father Lim during their time together at Rutgers.

“Since our time at the Catholic Center, he has been a man of deep prayer and sincere charity. He naturally led those around him to love the Lord. As I offer my own life to be consecrated to the Lord in my religious vocation, I am so grateful for Father Jose’s support and the witness of his vocational journey.”

This love for the Lord and a gifted-

ness in creating community with those around him was a sentiment echoed by just about every one of the seven individuals who honored Father Lim during the evening. Included, too, were reflections on Father Lim’s genuine heart, humility, and a true willingness to empty himself as Christ did.

After graduating with a nursing degree, Father Lim spent three years discerning with the Brotherhood of Hope when he realized that God was calling him elsewhere. He then returned home and worked as a cardiac nurse in Overlook Medical Center, Summit.

“It’s a poetic analogy” remarked Katie Cerni, who met Father Lim while he was a missionary in Florida State University. “But it’s powerful how, as a former cardiac nurse, Jose quite literally knows the heart of a person while also intimately knowing the heart of the Father,” she said.

Now ordained in the same Diocese that he first found a community within as a college student over a decade ago, there is something special about the full-circle aspect of his vocational journey; A true

Holy Hour for Vocations fills hearts of the faithful

By Deacon Patrick Cline Correspondent

On our own, we are not worthy, stated Father Thomas W. Lanza to those seated in the Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi June 23, “but Jesus makes us worthy. You will be made worthy.”

The Diocese of Metuchen celebrates a Holy Hour for Vocations and the Sanctification of Priests each year on the Friday evening before priesthood ordinations. This year Bishop James F. Checchio was principal celebrant of the prayer service which began with Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. The congregation included the Rev. Mr. Jose Lim, due to be ordained the following day, priests and seminarians, consecrated religious women and men and faithful from throughout the diocese.

The sung service was Evening Prayer I of the Nativity of St John the Baptist, recalling the observation of Bishop Checchio that, along with Our Blessed Mother and St. Joseph, he is the only saint to have two feast days, “which points to the exceptional man he was.”

In his homily, Father Lanza, who serves as director of the diocesan Office of Vocations, quoted the Acts of the Apostles where St. John the Baptist stated, “I am not worthy to unfasten the sandals on his feet.” He reminded the congregation of the prayer that all Catholics say before receiving the Eucharist – “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.” – then proclaimed, “I am not worthy, we are not worthy” be-

fore pointing to the Blessed Sacrament enthroned in the Monstrance on the altar, and adding, “But you are worthy.”

Father Lanza related an encounter with a very ill patient he visited in a hospital who upon recovering assured him, “You are where you are meant to be.” Recalling his own ordination three years ago lying prostrate in the Cathedral sanctuary he said to Deacon Lim, “As a priest you will lay down your life for God, but Jesus will raise you up, and you will do powerful things with Jesus working through you. You will be made an ambassador of God’s love and an agent of reconciliation.”

Father Lanza ended his homily by praying, “May God bless Jose, all our seminarians and all those discerning a vocation to the priesthood. It is a great life”

Following the homily there was a period of silence for personal prayer and reflection before the Blessed Sacrament. The evening ended with solemn Benediction.

Rev. Mr. Ai Van (Peter) Phan, who will serve at the parish of St. Bernard

of Clairvaux in Bridgewater during his diaconate year, said, “The prayer service reminded me of all the people whose prayers and support have contributed to my vocation. I would not be where I am today without them.”

witness that with an openness to the will of the Father, every piece of a story can be transformed for the greater Glory of God.

James Prumos, who will begin his second theology year at Immaculate Conception Seminary in August, believes the evening showed the prayers and support of the people of the diocese for all the men called to the priesthood.

Bishop James F. Checchio incenses the Blessed Sacrament during the Holy Hour for Vocations June 23 in the Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi. At left, consecrated religious from the Sisters of Jesus Our Hope and the Brotherhood of Hope joined priests, deacons, seminarians and the faithful who offered prayerful support for the vocation of the priesthood.

John Batkowski photos

Father Jose Manuel Lim, pictured here at his first Mass of Thanksgiving in St.-

ter with friends, fellow Rutgers alumnicial Holy Hour June 21, just days before his June 24 Ordination.

Gerald Wutkowski photo

Compiled from Our Sunday Visitor HEADLINES

Supreme Court rejects Biden student loan forgiveness for millions of Americans

WASHINGTON (OSV News) – The U.S. Supreme Court June 30 rejected President Joe Biden’s $400 billion plan to cancel or significantly reduce federal student loan debts for millions of Americans. The Biden administration’s student debt forgiveness program would have canceled $10,000 in such debts for individuals making less than $125,000 or households making less than $250,000. Pell Grant recipients would have been granted an additional $10,000 in debt forgiven. The Biden administration had argued the plan was lawful under a 2003 law called the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students Act, or HEROES Act, which permits the government to provide some relief to recipients of student loans in a “national emergency,” to ensure borrow ers are not left in financial difficulty as a result of such an emergency. But Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for a 6-3 majority, rejected that argument, arguing that the court’s precedent “requires that Congress speak clearly before a depart ment secretary can unilaterally alter large sections of the American economy,”

Supreme Court expands protections for workers seeking to observe holy days, Sunday rest

arguing the Biden administration overstepped its authority. After a more than three-year, COVID-era pause, borrowers will have to resume payments on their federal student loan bills this fall.

A sign calling for student loan debt relief is seen in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington Feb. 28, 2023. The Supreme Court June 30 rejected President Joe Biden’s $400 billion plan to cancel or significantly reduce federal student loan debts for millions of Americans. —OSV News photo/Nathan Howard, Reuters

High court strikes down affirmative action admission policies backed by Catholic universities

WASHINGTON (OSV News) – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled June 29 that institutions of higher education can no longer take race into consideration for admission, a landmark decision overturning previous precedent supported by many Catholic universities and colleges. As it has been used in higher education, affirmative action includes admissions practices that purport to increase the number of students admitted from his torically marginalized groups, such as Black and Hispanic students. Colleges and universities that take race into con sideration have argued that doing so is only one factor in a broader admissions process, which also includes a student’s grades, test scores and extracurricular ac tivities. Supporters of affirmative action policies argue that it is one method of helping to address the lasting impact of racism in American society. Opponents say race-based admission policies harm students who should be judged on their merits as students alone, with some arguing that Asian American students were disproportionality rejected in favor of White, Black and Hispanic applicants. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the 6-3 majority opinion, arguing admissions programs at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina violated the Constitution’s equal protection clause. The Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities, which describes itself as the

collective voice of U.S. Catholic higher education, said in a statement the high court’s ruling is “more than disappointing as it ignores the more-than-apparent effects of continued racism in our society.” It said the association’s members would “continue to create paths by which those in society who do not have opportunity find it at our institutions.”

WASHINGTON (OSV News) – The U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision June 29 in favor of a former postal worker who said he was denied a religious accommodation to observe Christian precepts on keeping holy the Lord’s Day by his former employer. The case Groff v. DeJoy concerned Gerald Groff, an evangelical Christian and former U.S. Postal Service worker, who was denied an accommodation to observe his Sunday Sabbath by not taking Sunday shifts resulting in the loss of his job. The Supreme Court found that federal law requires workplaces to make appropriate accommodations for their employees religious practices unless those practices cannot be “reasonably” accommodated without “undue hardship.” The court’s 1977 precedent in Trans World Airlines v. Hardison found that the “undue hardship” standard is met even at a minimal cost. But in Groff v. DeJoy, the court threw out that standard and ruled that an employer denying religious accommodations must show the burden of granting an accommodation would result in substantial increased costs. “Faced with an accommodation request like Groff’s, an

employer must do more than conclude that forcing other employees to work overtime would constitute an undue hardship. Consideration of other options would also be necessary,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote in his majority opinion. The Supreme Court’s ruling sends Groff’s case back to the lower court for reconsideration.

photo/CNS

—OSV

U.S. postal workers load their trucks as they begin their day in Carlsbad, Calif., Aug.17, 2020. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously June 29, 2023, in favor of a former postal worker who said that he was denied a religious accommodation to observe his Sunday Sabbath by not taking Sunday shifts that resulted in the loss of his job. —OSV News photo/Mike Blake, Reuters

A statue of Baltimore Archbishop John Carroll, the first Catholic bishop in the United States and founder of Georgetown University, is seen on the Jesuitrun school’s Washington campus March 3, 2022. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled June 29, 2023, that institutions of higher education can no longer take race into consideration for admission, a landmark decision overturning previous precedent supported by many Catholic universities and colleges.

News

file, Chaz Muth

WORLD & NATION

Bishop: Suffering from war, hunger ‘beyond human imagination’ in Ethiopia’s Tigray region

MEKELLE, Ethiopia — Stopping food aid in Ethiopia from the United States and United Nations caused severe hunger that has killed hundreds of people in the northern Tigray region in recent weeks, and one local bishop said the situation is “beyond human imagination.” Bishop Tesfasellassie Medhin of Adigrat stressed that the two-year war forced many to depend solely on humanitarian assistance. According to the bishop, thousands of people have been displaced into tented camps and schools and constantly cry for peace. Most of them lost everything in the course of the war, surviving two years of daily aerial bombardment, sieges and blockades. “We are dying to live in peace,” Bishop Medhin told OSV News in an interview June 26. “For the last three years, the situation in Tigray has been something difficult to explain. Words cannot express the situation. It is beyond human imagination.” Tigray, a semi-autonomous state in northern Ethiopia slid into war in November 2020, when Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali accused Tigray People’s Liberation Front, the rulers of the region, of over-running a national army based in Tigray’s capital, Mekelle. A peace treaty

ended the fighting in November 2022. The bishop estimates the war killed at least 1 million people and forced 5 million to 6 million people to depend on relief aid, which has been suspended by the U.N.’s World Food Program and the U.S. Agency for International Development over allegations of widespread theft of aid. In an email to AP, USAID called the decision to halt food aid “wrenching.”

Compiled from Our Sunday Visitor

People who fled their homes due to fighting between the Afar Special Forces and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front in Berhale, Ethiopia, wait for food near a makeshift compound in Afdera district, Feb. 23, 2022.

OSV News photo/Tiksa Negeri, Reuters)

Catholic university in Ukraine sends off

AKITA, Japan (— On July 6, 1973, light surrounded a wooden statue of Our Lady of All Nations at a convent in Akita, Japan, and the statue spoke to a novice, asking her to pray for the reparation of the sins of humanity and to be obedient to her superior. When the statue ceased speaking, it had a bleeding wound in its hand. The novice, Sister Agnes Sasagawa, would hear the statue of Mary talk two other times that year. In the meantime, Sister Agnes would encounter visions of her guardian angel and experience the stigmata, the wounds of Jesus Christ, as a wound in her left hand. She, the sisters of the Institute of the Handmaids of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist and hundreds of visitors would also witness the three-foot-tall statue perspiring as well as shedding tears, a phenomenon that continued sporadically, 101 times total, until 1981. With the 50th anniversary of the miraculous events from Mary now known as “Our Lady of Akita,” her messages to Sister Agnes continue to resonate, said Mark Miravalle, a theology professor who holds the St. John Paul II Chair of Mariology at Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio. Like Mary’s messages with other apparitions, they compel Catholics to an examination

A wooden statue of Our Lady of Akita is seen in this undated photo. On July 6, 1973, Sister Agnes Sasagawa of the Handmaids of the Eucharist in Akita, Japan, reported receiving messages from a wooden statue of Mary and witnessed the statue weeping many times.

OSV News photo/SICDAMNOME, via Wikipedia CC BY-SA 4.0

of conscience to “see if we can be more generous” in prayer, especially the rosary, offering sacrifices for the reparation of sins and returning to the Eucharist, he said. “That’s the message, and that is as timely now as ever.”

Sessions at upcoming Tekakwitha Conference to feature healing, renewal

lic university in Ukraine celebrated its commencement against all odds, sent forth with “blessings” into a “difficult world,” said its president, Metropolitan Archbishop Borys Gudziak. More than 500 students in humanities, applied sciences and business received their degrees from Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv, Ukraine, having completed their studies amid the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s full-scale invasion of their country. Only half of the graduating class was present, with the remainder attending a July 2 liturgy and graduation ceremony to ensure the chapel’s bomb shelter could accommodate those present in case of an

air raid alert. Nonetheless, “we did it. In spite of the coronavirus, in spite of the war, we came here,” said Archbishop Gudziak in his homily during a July 1 baccalaureate liturgy at which he presided in the school’s Holy Wisdom of God chapel. Joining him at the July 1 liturgy were Archbishop Visvaldas Kulbokas, papal nuncio to Ukraine, and Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich, who was in Ukraine to tour various humanitarian aid sites. “When I came here, I was told I would see the tears of the past, but also the future,” said Cardinal Cupich. “And so I have seen many tears of the sufferings of the past. But today as I look out at the graduates, I also see the future.”

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Honor ing Indigenous Catholics’ spirituality and traditions, the Tekakwitha Conference July 19-23 is expected to draw hundreds of attendees from North America and beyond. “Gathering for Heal ing Through Living Waters” is the theme of the 84th an nual conference being held in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington. In Dakota and Ojibwe spirituality, the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers in Min nesota is considered a place of creation and healing. St. Kateri Tekakwitha — a 17th-century Mohawk-Algonquin woman who was canonized in 2012 and is the conference’s namesake — also lived in a village established along a confluence of rivers in what is present-day New York. Presentations at this year’s conference will feature healing and renewal, said Shawn Phillips, director and pastoral minister of Gichitwaa Kateri in Minneapolis and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ Office of Indian Ministry. Originally from Idaho, Phillips grew up on the Nez Perce Reservation be-

fore he and his wife moved to Minnesota. He’s been a member of Gichitwaa Kateri for 35 years, and a director of the parish for six. Phillips, who is co-chair of the upcoming conference, said, “About three years ago, American Indians had a listening session with the bishops and the primary issue that American Indians in the United States wanted dealt with was boarding schools” affiliated with various religious orders, including the Catholic Church. “And so, this became the topic as healing from the boarding school trauma,” he told The Catholic Spirit, the archdiocesan newspaper. Conference details can be found at https://www.archspm.org/tekakwitha2023.

A statue of St. Kateri Tekakwitha is seen at Our Lady of the Island Shrine in Manorville, N.Y. Honoring Indigenous Catholics’ spirituality and traditions, the 2023 Tekakwitha Conference July 19-23 is expected to draw hundreds of attendees from North America and beyond to Bloomington, Minn.

OSV News Photo/Gregory A. Shemitz

Our Lady of Akita’s 1973 message to Japanese nun resonates today, say experts

Graduates of Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv, Ukraine attend Divine Liturgy and commencement exercises July 2, 2023, at the school’s Church of St. Sophia, Wisdom of God. OSV News photo/Ukrainian Catholic University

‘You never have anything until you give it away’: One graduate’s case for Catholic colleges and universities

By Dennis J. Wieboldt III Special Contributor

As I prepared for first-year student orientation at Boston College (BC) in the summer of 2019, I perused BC’s YouTube channel to find a tour or other video that could acquaint me with the campus I would soon call home. Instead, however, I found a lecture by a BC professor entitled “The Last Lecture with Father Michael Himes.”

Though his many published books and other addresses are replete with wisdom, what has frequently brought me back to Father Himes’s Last Lecture in particular is a phrase – seemingly contra

dictory at first glance – that he so often repeated in it: “You never have anything until you give it away.”

I did not decide to enroll at BC because it was Catholic, but listening to Father Himes before I embarked on my BC journey reminded me, as it still does today, of my time at St. Matthias School in Somerset, where I was a student from kindergarten through eighth grade. One of the principal lessons from my time at St. Matthias was embroidered on a t-shirt that every student preparing for Confirmation was given: “Faith without works

To my mind, Father Himes’s notion that “you never have anything until you

give it away” is but a more recent expression of the lesson that my teachers at St. Matthias first tried to inculcate within me so many years ago: the Christian faith is a giving faith. Indeed, the entire narrative of Christianity is of giving oneself away. From Christ’s giving Himself away on the cross to, in more recent times, Mother Teresa’s giving herself away in service to the poor, for example, Father Himes’s adage lies at the heart of the Christian faith itself.

Though the thought of having something by giving it away may seem contradictory, personal experience offers confirmation. Is not the act of loving someone the act of giving oneself away to another person?

My Catholic education has provided me with countless opportunities to learn from teachers, participate in programs, and enroll in classes that have profoundly shaped who I am today. While Catholic and non-Catholic schools alike can empower students to succeed academically and professionally, Catholic schools – in my view – are uniquely poised to form students’ minds and hearts.

The formative education on which Catholic colleges and universities rightly pride themselves offers students not only academic and professional credentials, but also dispositions of heart that enable graduates to give away that which they have learned. As Father Himes’s adage suggests, giving away the fruits of this education ultimately allows students to be transformed themselves by these same fruits.

During this time of year, many high school seniors are beginning the long (and challenging) process of applying to college. I too was once in these shoes, but as I reflect on my application process, I now realize that there was one important factor that I neglected to appreciate: the religious identities of the colleges and universities in which I was interested.

I am lucky that I found my way to BC for reasons other than its religious identity. Nevertheless, if I had one piece of advice for soon-to-be applicants, it would be to not overlook how much a Catholic institution can offer you over and above its non-Catholic peers.

From the humble mentorship of priests and women religious to spiritual retreat opportunities and innovative

courses that demonstrate the complementary relationship between religion and science, Catholic colleges and universities are, as BC’s president has remarked, places that “endeavor to educate a new generation of leaders – men and women who will be capable of shaping the future with vision, justice, and charity – with a sense of calling, with concern for all of the human family.”

This is not just advice I would give to prospective college applicants; it is also advice I have taken to heart myself. Next year, I will begin a J.D./Ph.D. program at the University of Notre Dame. As I went through my most recent application processes, the religious identities of the institutions to which I applied was among the most important factors I considered.

When it came time to ultimately make an enrollment decision, I knew that the academic and professional opportunities I would receive at Notre Dame would be analogous to those at other institutions to which I was admitted –including schools in the Ivy League and those more highly ranked by U.S. News & World Report. What I also knew, however, was that my time at Notre Dame would expose me to students, faculty, and programs that would contribute to my formation of mind and heart, thereby enabling me to continue to give away the fruits of my education and ultimately be transformed myself by these same fruits.

Dennis Wieboldt holds a B.A. and M.A. from Boston College and will begin a J.D./Ph.D. program in history at the University of Notre Dame in the fall of 2023. He can be reached at dennis. wieboldtiii@gmail.com.

Making the Good News Known

The Office of Communications and Public Relations is committed to making the Good News known and telling the stories of our parishes, schools, ministries and the faithful.

Do you have a positive, inspiring story to share about an individual within our local Church of Metuchen?

Is your parish doing something that lights a fire in the heart of our part of the world? We want to hear from you!

We invite you to share your news with us by emailing communications@diometuchen.org and, as always, news@catholicspirit.com.

“One of the principal lessons from my time at St. Matthias was embroidered on a t-shirt that every student preparing for Confirmation was given: ‘Faith without works is dead.’”

Father Michael Himes speaking to Boston College students at Agape Latte – a program sponsored by the Boston College Church in the 21st Century Center through which popular faculty and staff share faith-inspired stories.

Photo courtesy of Boston College Church in the 21st Century Center

Pope: Visit grandparents, elderly, bring joy to their hearts

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — God wants young people to bring joy to the hearts of the elderly and to learn from their experiences, Pope Francis said. “Yet, above all, the Lord wants us not to abandon the elderly or to push them to the margins of life, as tragically happens all too often in our time,” the 86-year-old Pope wrote in his message for the Catholic Church’s celebration of the World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly. The message was released at the Vatican June 15 in anticipation of the celebration July 23. The theme for 2023 is “His mercy is from age to age” from the Gospel of St. Luke. The Holy Spirit “blesses and accompanies every fruitful encounter between different generations: between grandparents and grandchildren, between young and old,” the Pope wrote in his message.

“To better appreciate God’s way of acting, let us remember that our life is meant to be lived to the full, and that our greatest hopes and dreams are not achieved instantly but through a process of growth and maturation, in dialogue and in relationship with others,” he wrote. “Those who focus only on the here and now, on money and possessions, on ‘having it all now,’ are blind to the way God works,” the Pope said in his message. “His loving plan spans past, present and future; it embraces and connects the generations.” God calls on everyone each day to look to the future and “keep pressing forward,” he wrote.

Pope Francis holds the hand of an elderly woman during an audience with staff and managers of Italy’s national welfare system (INPS) at the Vatican April 3, 2023. The pope said a nation’s welfare and social service systems are a reminder that everything is connected and everyone is interdependent on each other, especially younger and older generations. CNS photo/Vatican Media

Pope Francis’s Monthly Prayer Intentions

Papal Intentions:

July

For a Eucharistic life. Let us pray that Catholics place at the center of their lives the Eucharistic Celebration, which transforms human relationships profoundly and opens up an encounter with God and their brothers and sisters.

August

For World Youth Day.

Let us pray that the World Youth Day in Lisbon will help young people to set out on the journey, witnessing to the Gospel with their own lives.

More than

years of praying in unity for the world

Many of the faithful are familiar with Pope Francis’ monthly prayer intentions, but many may not know that the history of monthly papal intentions had its beginnings in the south of France in 1844 with the founding of the Apostleship of Prayer by Jesuit seminarians.

In the late 1900s, Pope Leo XIII desired to participate in this initiative of Catholics dedicating all they do in their lives to spiritually supporting the mission of the Church through prayer.

Pope Leo incorporated the Apostleship as a special mission of the Pope under the care of the Society of Jesus and began to commend monthly prayer intentions to the Apostleship, expressing his concerns for the Church and the world and asking all Catholics to pray for those intentions.

In 2016, Pope Francis renamed the Apostleship to the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network and made it a Vatican foundation.

Their mission is to mobilize Catholics through prayer and action in response to the challenges facing humanity and the mission of the Church. These challenges are presented in the form of papal prayer intentions.

Today, the Pope’s prayer intentions reach millions of Catholic worldwide, in great part though digital communication

and social media initiatives, including The Pope Video, a global initiative created in 2016 which has garnered 200 million views across all the Vatican’s social networks, and is now broadcast in more than 23 languages.

Father Frédéric Fornos S.J., International director of the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, explains the importance of the Pope’s intentions being conveyed in all languages and cultures: “The Heart of the Church’s mission is prayer, Francis tells us. Praying is entering into loving communication with the Father.

“This is a profound, intimate relationship, and there is no better way to speak to Him than in our own language, just as Jesus himself said, in his own Aramaic tongue: ‘Abba,’ ‘Father.’

“In order to pray for the challenges facing humanity and the Church’s mission, there is nothing better than to follow the prayer intentions of the Pope in our own language. Each of us prays in our own language while we are all united through prayer.”

To learn more about the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network visit www. popesprayer.va.

To watch the Pope’s prayer intentions, with archives back through 2016, visit https://thepopevideo.org.

Our Lady of the Visitation, you who left in haste towards the mountain to meet Elizabeth, lead us also to meet all those who await us to deliver them the living Gospel: Jesus Christ, your Son and our Lord! We will go in a hurry, with no distraction or delay, but with readiness and joy. We will go peacefully, because those who take Christ take peace, and welldoing is the best wellbeing.

Our Lady of the Visitation, with your inspiration, this World Youth Day will be the mutual celebration of the Christ we take, as You once did.

Make it a time of testimony and sharing, fraternization, and giving thanks, each of us looking for the others who always wait. With you, we will continue on this path of gathering, so that our world will gather as well, in fraternity, justice and peace.

Help us, Our Lady of the Visitation, to bring Christ to everyone, obeying the Father, in the love of the Spirit!

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July 9, 2023

Brothers and sisters, if we think about it, our lives are filled with miracles – they are filled with deeds of love, signs of God’s goodness. Before these, however, even our hearts can remain indifferent and become habitual, curious but not capable of being amazed, of allowing themselves to be “impressed”. A closed heart, an armed heart, that does not have the capacity of being amazed. To impress is a beautiful verb that brings to mind photographic film. This is the correct behavior before God’s works: to take a photo of his works in our minds so it is impressed on our hearts, to then be developed in our lives through many good deeds, so that this “photograph” of God who is love becomes ever brighter in us and through us.

Take time on your heart’s journey to visit Mary

By Deacon Charles Paolino

While we were visiting Turkey recently, we followed in the footsteps of Popes Leo XIII, Paul VI, John Paul II, and Benedict XVI to the place reputed to be the last home of Mary, the mother of Jesus. This is now a small stone chapel on Mount Koressos near the ancient town of Ephesus.

The chapel was erected on the original foundation of a structure said to have been the house that the apostle John constructed for the Blessed Mother.

The history of this place is too complicated for me to repeat here, but one might say that it begins with the episode reported in the Gospel of John in which Jesus, from the cross, tells the apostle, “There is your mother,” and the narrative adds that from that moment John took Mary “into his home.”

From that exchange and the fairly reliable tradition that John was banished by Roman authorities to Patmos in Greece, many have surmised that he brought Mary with him and settled her on the mountainside, away from Romans

and other troublemakers. Residents of a nearby village have believed that for centuries, and they have venerated the spot as Mary’s last home.

The weight of expert opinion on subjects like this, however, leans toward the idea that Mary spent her last years in Jerusalem and was buried there on a spot now marked by the Church of the Dormition. The Vatican has approved the chapel near Ephesus as a place for Catholic devotion – witness the visits by four popes – but the Church has not taken a position on the authenticity of the site.

Clearly, the crowd we found at the chapel was not concerned about this controversy. They – and we – were part of a constant stream of pilgrims who find their way to “Mary’s house” where they are ushered through the single room in a matter of moments. It takes so much effort to get there, and it’s over so quickly, that some might wonder if it’s worth it. Perhaps that question answers itself, at least for those who are motivated by devotion to the mother of the Savior. Perhaps it is enough that they take time out on their journeys to find this remote

spot where, in their hearts, they are close to Mary.

As the visitors stand in the long queue, they naturally chat with members of their own parties and with strangers. We did that too, striking up a conversation with a young couple from Piscataway. Imagine! We’re from Whitehouse Station, and they’re from Piscataway, and we meet in this place, five thousand miles away. Yet, considering the attraction, spending a moment, in our hearts, in the intimate surroundings of Mary’s home, perhaps such meetings are inevitable.

As folks finally reach the entrance to the chapel, they stop chatting. There is a hush as they step into the room almost gingerly, as though afraid to break something. Most touch the stones, assuring themselves that they are really there. Most, in their own ways, may have something to say to the Blessed Mother. Did Mary live here? Whether or not she did, her love for us and our love for her was enough to bring us to this mountain, to leave the world outside even briefly, and to pray, “Hail Mary, full of grace!”

Elderly or homebound can still participate in parish life

By Melissa Lesieur, OSV News

At one time in my life, I volunteered to bring the Eucharist to homebound parishioners directly from Sunday Mass. I would arrive at the person’s house with the consecrated hosts cradled in my pyx. We would read the Gospel of the day and pray the Our Father together before the person received Communion. Afterward, we might visit for a few minutes before I moved on to the next place. It was a ministry that I enjoyed because, over time, I got to know some of the elderly parishioners very well – people I probably never would have met otherwise.

I would hear about their younger days in parish life, and they would eagerly look to me for current information from the outside world. It was a privilege to bring Christ into their homes in that way, and to in return recognize Christ in them. The Church’s concern for our elderly and infirm is a blessing that has continued through the millennia since Jesus and the apostles.

However, being homebound also has its dark side. The people I visited were usually very lonely. They often felt alienated from family, friends, daily activities and parish life. Sometimes, even God could feel far away. Receiving the Eucharist weekly can help strengthen faith in God’s presence, but it’s easy for the homebound to still feel separated from the church or from purposeful living.

The pandemic shutdown gave the world insight into what homebound parishioners experience every day.

Livestreamed Masses and Zoom spiritual direction help, but technology cannot replace the tangible reality of living our faith, gathering in community or serving others. Elderly and homebound parishioners miss this part of life and need ways to remain connected with the Church, despite age or health issues.

Due to an illness, I was once homebound for almost a year. It was difficult. I appreciated the televised Masses and reception of the Eucharist from family members on holy days. Once, my pastor even visited so I could have Confession and be anointed.

Of course, I could pray on my own and stay in contact with friends through emails and text messages, but it wasn’t the same. Like the homebound I used to visit, I still felt alienated from the rest of the world.

An opportunity arose when our pas tor needed a parishioner to act as contact person for the children whose schooling is sponsored by the parish. The contact person would need to send out the birth day and holiday greetings on behalf of the parish and share the children’s correspon dence through the parish bulletin. This was something that I could certainly do! While homebound, I eagerly took on this role that connected me to parish ministry.

There are myriad ways our home bound parishioners can still participate in parish life. Depending on a person’s capabilities and talents, they can participate – at their own pace – from their home. Does the Society of St. Vincent de Paul need more mittens or blankets, or

“prayer shawls” for the ill? Homebound parishioners could knit or crochet those. Do the altar linens need to be washed and ironed? Someone could drop it off at a homebound parishioner’s residence. Does the parish website need to be updated? A homebound parishioner could do that.

Most importantly, homebound parishioners can be powerhouses of prayer. Often, they might not be strong enough to do anything physical for the church. However, they can always pray. I ap-

preciate my pastor asking me for specific intentions to pray for in the parish. In prayer, we are all together in Christ as his body. He is the one really ministering through us. Homebound or not, that is the greatest privilege of all.

World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly is observed July 23.

Melissa Lesieur is a freelance writer from Massachusetts who enjoys writing about God’s interaction with people’s lives.

An extraordinary minister of Holy Communion offers the Eucharist to a homebound relative in a still frame from the Pope’s July prayer intention video, produced by the Archdiocese of Detroit’s Department of Communications. The video was largely shot at Christ the King Parish in Detroit. —OSV News photo/Archdiocese of Detroit

The Kingdom of God will encompass the entirety of Creation

Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)

By Msgr. John N. Fell

In this Sunday’s Gospel, St. Matthew focuses our attention on the central theme of all Jesus’ preaching – the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom (Reign) of God refers to God’s dynamic Lordship over all creation, that is, to God’s will being fully embraced and executed by all he has made.

Jesus’ mission was to proclaim the coming fullness of that Kingdom and to be its starting point; the Kingdom’s arrival was the “good news” that Jesus had come to announce. To his disciples (the Church) he left the task, guided by the Holy Spirit, of nurturing and spreading the Kingdom to its inevitable destiny of encompassing the entirety of creation.

remainder of one’s life then becomes a matter of fully living out the implications of this crucial decision.

Because of its character as a mystery, we cannot achieve an exact definition of the Kingdom this side of eternity. We can, however, learn much about it from Jesus’ portrayal in the Scriptures. In fact, this Sunday’s Gospel provides us with three important pieces of information.

First, in the Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds (Mt. 13:24-30), we learn that the coming fullness of the Kingdom requires patience and discernment. The selection of those called to the Kingdom and those to be turned away is God’s decision.

This parable cautions us that the good person and the evil one are sometimes hard to distinguish clearly. The point is to leave the judgment of who is worthy of the Kingdom and who is not to God – God’s mercy far exceeds human patience; as the writer of the Book of Wisdom exclaims – though God is “master of might, [he] judges with clemency, and with much lenience [God] governs us” (Wisdom 12:18).

Joachim and Anne

first century

Crosiers

July 26

Not mentioned in the Bible, Joachim and Anne are first named as the parents of Mary in the apocryphal Protoevangelium of James, which may date from the second century. In this story, they are old and childless, like the Old Testament Hannah, mother of Samuel, when angels deliver the news that Anne will conceive a child. Anne was an especially popular saint in medieval England, and her feast was celebrated in the West by 1350; Joachim’s feast was authorized or suppressed by various popes, but was joined with Anne’s in 1969. They are the patrons of married couples; Anne is also the patron of childless women, expectant mothers and miners.

Saints

SCRIPTURE SEARCH®

The exact nature of the Kingdom of God remains somewhat of a mystery to us because of its imminent, yet future character. On the one hand, Jesus proposes the Kingdom as something which is present right in the midst of those with whom he is speaking; on the other, the Kingdom is also understood as something which must be allowed to spread and grow.

Scholars sometimes refer to this paradox as the “already, but not yet” character of the Kingdom. The theme of the Kingdom, which began in the later Old Testament period, clearly possesses an eschatological character, that is, it points us to the future. The aim of all Christ’s disciples is to encourage the coming fullness of God’s Kingdom, to foster its growth here and now so as to hasten its future consummation.

In the present world, we learn that Baptism is the means of entry into this Kingdom, that it demands a radical revision of moral conduct (the ways of the world must be set aside in order to embrace the ways of Jesus), and that it thrusts a fundamental choice upon each person – the choice of whether to accept God’s dynamic Lordship or not. The

The second story in this Sunday’s Gospel is the Parable of the Mustard Seed (Mt. 13:31-32). In this parable, Jesus is referring to the humble beginnings of the Kingdom which caused something of a scandal among his contemporaries – remember, they were waiting for a glorious ruler or conquering general. Instead, they got a small child laying in a manger in Bethlehem. From this tiny beginning, by the force of Jesus’ teaching and the Spirit-driven continuing witness of his disciples, this Kingdom is destined to embrace the entirety of creation.

Jesus’ final story is the Parable of the Yeast (Mt. 13:33). This parable brings the consoling revelation that the ultimate fulfillment of the Kingdom of God is inevitable. Just as yeast, once kneaded into dough, will eventually cause the whole mass to rise, so also the Kingdom of God, now that it has come into the world, can never again be fully divorced from it.

Even though it will encounter great opposition, the Kingdom of God will eventually succeed in its intended effect of transforming the whole of creation into the divinely promised eternity of justice, peace, and joy. The challenge that goes forth to all those who hear today’s Gospel is to assume our role in hastening the long-awaited, coming fullness of this Kingdom. Our mission is to take all the good that we imagine and hope for in heaven and to work diligently to make them real here and now.

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

Gospel for July 23, 2023

Matthew 13:24-30

Following is a word search based on the Gospel reading for the 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A: Lessons about the Kingdom. The words can be found in all directions in the puzzle.

PARABLE KINGDOM SOWED FIELD ASLEEP ENEMY WHEAT APPEARED SLAVES MASTER UPROOT BURNED SMALLEST BIRDS YEAST FLOUR LEAVENED MOUTH CHILDREN ANGELS FURNACE

SMALLEST

“Leave the judgment of who is worthy of the Kingdom, and who is not, to God.”

LifeSet hits a home run with monthly outing at Patriots’ game

By Tiffany Workman

On a Wednesday morning in May, at TD Bank Ballpark in Bridgewater, the Somerset Patriots were all set to play against the Portland Seadogs. Being that it was a weekday morning game, it brought in many students and teachers for class trips. The game also brought in the Catholic Charities LifeSet young adults and supervisors for their monthly outing.

The LifeSet program of Catholic Charities, Diocese of Metuchen, is an evidenced based model that provides life skills instruction and case management to young adults ages 17-21 who are aging out of the N.J. foster care system. The Catholic Charities LifeSet program services Essex, Middlesex, Mercer, Somerset, and Union counties.

The LifeSet young adults program members arrived in their suite to watch the baseball game and there was already excitement in the air. After the National Anthem, and the start of the game, they had lunch, participated in an ice breaker activity and then ventured off on a career exploration scavenger hunt where they had to find different items on a list and get signatures for them. This activity, as are many of the activities they do at their

outings, was designed to help Young Adults be more social and come out of their comfort zones.

Tova Baron-Loewenstein, director, has been with the program since it started in 2020. She said, “The program is going in a good direction, and we continue to enroll young adults.” She spoke about her specialists and how they each have different roles to play in the program, noting, “Immigration, banking, driver’s license, housing, employment, healthy relationships, coping skills, and mental health are all ways the specialists help our young adults.”

Lucas Salles-Couto is one of those young adults and he has been in the program for about a year. He recently restarted with LifeSet services because he needed help with independent living and college.

“I was able to get into Union County College, and the LifeSet specialists helped me with enrollment,” said Salles-Couto, adding, “I want to be a social worker and have the opportunity to help someone else like they’ve helped me.”

LifeSet specialists meet with young adults in the community on a flexible schedule in order to best meet their needs. The LifeSet program also provides a 24/7 on-call service. For specialists like Maria

Tolentino, who has been with LifeSet for 11 months, “the most rewarding part is seeing young adults coming to events, seeing them find their independence and being able to identify where they need help and where they don’t.”

LifeSet specialists receive extensive training and have small caseloads in order to keep young adults on the path toward their independent living goals. Specialists also work with young adults to address issues related to housing, education, financial literacy, parenting skills, creating and maintaining permanent relationships with supportive adults, and remaining free from judicial system involvement.

Although the average length of stay in the program is nine months, Aliyah Williams always comes back to all the events. When she started the program, through the Division of Child Protection and Permanency, Williams got her license, searched for an apartment, shopped for a car, and attended many events where she learned life skills like budgeting, and savings, with the help of LifeSet specialists. She lives in Trenton and doesn’t have the opportunity to socialize often, so the events are nice for herself and her twoyear-old daughter Khaliyah.

“The Lifeset program is the best,” Williams stressed. “You tell them what you need help with, and they help you.” Her daughter, Khaliyah, who is always a big hit at LifeSet monthly outings, has also become more social because of the events and is now friendlier with other kids.

ings put together? Where does the money

come from? The LifeSet program is an evidenced based modality developed by Youth Villages and administered in partnership with Catholic Charities.

Brooke Renkens, service area director, Catholic Charities Diocese of Metuchen, said, “The agency is out of Tennessee and incentivized levels of service, and a monetary incentive, that’s where the money comes from for all these events.”

Renkens went on to say, “strict standards make the program successful, it’s a program that supports a population that doesn’t get support.” She loves seeing young adults achieve lifetime success, finish the program and come back.

Michelle Raskin, a LifeSet team supervisor who has been with program since 2020 and with Catholic Charities for nine years, reflected on the program, saying, “I am pumped to have influence on the program and be able to build it and mold it. … to see how far the program has come is drastic.”

Young adults must be involved with DCP&P and be in an out of home placement at the time of enrollment of the program. All referrals must come through the Office of Adolescent Services and Young Adults are pre-screened for eligibility.

For more information about Catholic Charities Diocese of Metuchen or the LifeSet program please visit ccdom.org

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LifeSet Youth and specialists pose for a group picture at their Summer Outing at TD Bank Ballpark. —Tiffany Workman photo

“Each of us has, in one way or an other, fed lambs, tended sheep and fed sheep with the Word of God,” declared Deacon Lawrence J. Duffy to a congregation of men celebrating 25 years of diaconate service in the Diocese of Metuchen.

Bishop James F. Checchio was principal celebrant of a Mass in Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish, Bernardsville, which commemorated the Ordination Class of 1998. Members of the class and their wives gathered in thanksgiving for their vocation over the course of 25 years of ministry. Father John C. Siceloff, pastor of the Bernardsville church, served as concelebrant.

On June13, 1998, Bishop Vincent De Paul Breen ordained twenty permanent deacons and one transitional dea-

Prayer), while others have relocated. Eleven of the members of the class and eight wives joined in the Mass, including Deacon Duffy, director, Mission Services for St. Joseph’s Health, Paterson, and Deacon Benigno Ruiz-Diaz, who served as deacons for the Mass. Deacon Duffy, who organized and arranged for the Mass, also served as homilist.

In his homily, Deacon Duffy reminded the men of the questions asked by the Bishop at their Ordination examining if they resolve to live the life and ministry of a deacon. To the first three questions each man replied, “I do.” But to the last question, “Do you resolve to confirm your way of life always to the example of Christ, whose Body and Blood you are ministers at the altar” their answer was, “I do, with the help of God.”

the Gospels as he instructed the new deacon, “Believe what you read, teach what you believe and practice what you preach.”

In the Gospel for the vigil Mass that evening, the Lord tells Peter, “Feed my lambs.” Deacon Duffy recounted the many ways the deacons have exercised and fulfilled that instruction and their promises over the past 25 years: perhaps by leading an RCIA program, teaching CCD, baptismal or marriage prep, hospital visits, bringing the Eucharist to the homebound or conducting wake services and committals. “Let the words of Jesus penetrate our hearts and inspire us to continue the good works we do with even more enthusiasm,” he prayed.

He concluded the homily by remembering the women who have walked

Look to God with childlike wonder, pope says

By Justin McLellan Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Only by shedding feelings of personal greatness and regaining a sense of wonder in God’s love can people welcome Jesus into their hearts and lives, Pope Francis said.

With some 15,000 visitors gathered to pray the Angelus in St. Peter’s Square July 9, the pope reflected on the day’s Gospel reading from St. Matthew in which Jesus praises God the Father for hiding “things” from the wise and revealing them to the childlike.

Those things, Pope Francis explained, refer to Jesus’ miracles – restoring sight to the blind and healing lepers – which are “signs of God acting in the world” that are overlooked by the prideful.

God’s love, as reflected through Je-

sus’ miracles, “is not understood by those who presume to be great and manufacture a god in their own image: powerful, unyielding, vengeful,” he said.

“These presumptuous ones fail to accept God as Father; those who are full of themselves, proud, concerned only with their own interests: these are the presumptuous ones, convinced that they need no one,” Pope Francis said.

The childlike who are open to receiving God’s love, however, “have hearts free from conceit and self-love,” the Pope explained.

“The childlike are those who, like children, feel needy and not self-sufficient; they are open to God and let themselves be astonished by his works,” he said. “They know how to read his signs, amazed by the miracles of his love.”

Pope Francis urged Christians to ask themselves whether they let themselves

stop and be amazed by how the signs of God are working in their lives or if they notice them only in passing.

“Our lives, if we think about it, are full of miracles, full of signs of love, of signs of God’s bounty,” he said. “Before these, however, our heart can also remain indifferent and become set in its ways, strangely unable to be amazed.”

On the vigil of the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, June 28, Bishop James F. Checchio celebrated the 25th Anniversary Mass for permanent deacons and their wives in Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church, Bernardsville.

beside the deacons every day of their diaconate. He read a Prayer for Marriages written by a deacon, “and dedicated to that special person who is with each of us this day.”

Deacon John Kenny who serves at St. Bartholomew Parish, East Brunswick, commented on the blessing that the diaconate has been over the years. His wife Judith Ann added, “The experience has been a blessing for our entire family.”

After the Mass, Deacon Duffy and his wife, Denise, hosted a celebration for the class and Bishop Checchio at their home.

Pope Francis suggested that Christians draw attention to the signs of God’s love in daily life in by “photographing” them in their minds and “printing” them onto their heart to then develop them in their lives through positive actions, so that the “photograph” of God’s love “becomes brighter in us and through us.”

After praying the Angelus, the Pope recalled “with pain” the recent bloodshed in the Holy Land, where on July 3 Israeli forces launched a two-day ground and aerial attack on the city of Jenin in the West Bank. The Palestinian government reported that 12 Palestinians were killed in the raid and at least 120 were wounded.

“I hope that the Israeli and Palestinian Authorities can resume a direct dialogue in order to end the spiral of violence and open paths of reconciliation and peace,” the Pope said.

Photo by Father Roy Quesea

World Youth Day is about Christ or it’s about nothing at all

By Father Patrick Briscoe, OSV News

World Youth Day (WYD) brings together young people from every corner of the globe to celebrate their Catholic faith. Away from home and buoyed by the witness of their peers, it becomes possible for many to have a transforming encounter with Jesus Christ. But it is not friends, travel or universal embrace of the human spirit that make WYD a lifechanging, transcendent experience. Only Jesus Christ is capable of that.

In fact, ultimately, WYD cannot be about anything other than Christ the Lord. Even noble aims like service or expressions of diversity are insufficient organizational principles. And that is because, as Pope Francis has reminded us many times, the church is not a mere bureaucracy. The church is the People of God, the very body of Christ! And WYD, a visible and beautiful coming together of the church, must have Christ as its center and focus. Otherwise, it’s not worth hosting.

‘He is coming to me’

I’ll never forget the evening of worship that I was privileged to participate in as a newly ordained priest in Krakow. Hosted by the Knights of Columbus at Tauron Arena, over 20,000 young people gathered for catechesis, music and Eucharistic adoration. The evening included a Eucharistic procession, which passed several times around the arena. Leading

the procession, I recall the delight and emotion expressed by one pilgrim as we turned and began to head in her direction. Seeing the monstrance draw near, the young girl whispered just loud enough for me to hear, “He is coming to me.”

WYD serves as a catalyst for a more profound relationship with Jesus Christ. As young Catholics gather to worship, learn and pray together, the joy and energy present opens hearts and minds to the reality of Christ’s presence. Engaging in spiritual exercises that might not be a regular part of parish life for many young Catholics, pilgrims are invited to expe-

rience the living presence of Jesus in a tangible way. They meet Jesus in a privileged way in the confessional, in the Eucharist, and in catechesis. This encounter fosters a deep sense of intimacy and love for Christ, often igniting a desire to seek him with passion and commitment.

Finding identity in Christ

For many young people, World Youth Day offers an opportunity to nourish their faith. That means, first and foremost, discovering their identity in Christ. In Krakow, Pope Francis pointed to the encounter Jesus had with Zaccheus, urg-

ing young people to remember their identity as God’s beloved sons and daughters. The pope told us, “Jesus has taken upon himself our humanity and his heart will never be separated from us.”

The encounter with Jesus Christ, especially through the witness of the pope and other inspiring Catholics, reinforces the call to live a life centered on Christ. Through catechesis sessions, pilgrims receive guidance and inspiration, equipping them to face the challenges of the modern world with unwavering faith. I have seen over and over again how this encounter renews their commitment to be witnesses of Christ’s love in their communities and empowers them to live the Faith confidently.

Answering the call

When the focus is unabashedly on Christ, young people can hear the Lord’s voice more clearly and begin to know the plans of love he has for them. How many young people have discovered their vocation at WYD? How many have given their first “yes” to Christ to pursue his invitation to priesthood, religious life or marriage?

If WYD is misunderstood as a global gathering to demonstrate diversity or human fraternity, it’s not worth the time or the money. But an event that proposes Jesus Christ to hundreds of thousands of young people who are dying from not knowing him? Now, that’s worth everything. - - -

Father Patrick Briscoe, O.P., is a Dominican friar and the editor of Our Sunday Visitor.

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Sponsored RetreatsSt Francis Retreat House offers several weekend sponsored retreat, including a weeklong icon painting workshop, annually. visit stfrancisretreathouse.org to see list of current offerings.

Mini-Retreats - From Sept. through May, St. Francis sponsors monthly ‘mini-retreats’ which include all the elements of a full retreat in one evening – supper, presentation, discussion and prayer. Check our website for more information.

Private Retreats - Enjoy the peace and quiet of our retreat house with a private day – a DayStay from 8 a.m. til 4 p.m. or StayOver with overnight lodging for multiple days. Call the retreat house for more info or to make a reservation.

A Retreat House Sponsored by the Religious Teachers Filippini overlooking the Atlantic Ocean and Barnegat Bay. Offering days of prayer, retreat weekends, spiritual programs, meetings and staff days.

during World Youth Day events July 27, 2016. —OSV News photo/Jacklyn Lippel mann, Catholic Standard

40 “I took them by the hand to ___ them forth from the land of Egypt” (Heb 8:9)

DOWN

2 Pew attachment

3 Material for Adam and Eve?

4 “…before the cock crows, you will ___ me three times.” (Mt 26:34)

5 Jesus is the reason for the ___

6 Catholic Oscar-winning actress of “The Country Girl” fame

7 A biblical judge

10 Order founded by Jean-Baptiste de La Salle (abbr.)

15 Nahum follower (abbr.)

16 Morning prayer

17 Job’s wife told him to, “___ God and die” (Job 2:9)

18 An apostle

20 Brother of Abel

21 One of the faces in Ezekiel’s vision

23 “How Great Thou ___”

25 Opposite of 29D

Answers can be found on page 43

Costello - Runyon Funeral Homes

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No. 4371 BoylanFH.com

Jenna Marie Cooper, who holds a licentiate in canon law, is a consecrated virgin and a canonist whose column appears weekly at OSV News. Send your questions to CatholicQA@osv.com.

I am getting married and the priest my fiancé and I met with said we need new baptismal certificates. Why can’t we just use the ones our parents got when we were baptized?

(Portland, Maine)

ABaptismal certificates aren’t a one-and-done kind of document.

It is true that when you are baptized, you (or your parents, if you were an infant at the time of your baptism) receive a paper certificate attesting to the fact that your baptism took place on a certain day at a particular place.

However, the official record of your baptism is not one piece of paper in a file, but rather an entry into a baptismal registry book. Your entry in the baptismal register in your parish of baptism then serves as the “master record” of your life as a Catholic. Baptismal registry books register the details of a person’s baptism, but also include room for subsequent major sacramental life events.

For instance, when a Catholic who was baptized as an infant later receives the sacrament of confirmation, this is recorded next to their name in the bap-

tismal register of their parish of baptism. If the confirmation happens in a parish other than the one where they were baptized, then the parish of confirmation must take care to contact the parish of baptism to ensure that everything is recorded properly.

Other life events that must be recorded in a person’s original baptismal register include reception of holy orders

and religious profession, or a woman’s becoming a consecrated virgin. Marriage in the church is also an important life event to be recorded in a baptismal register — and if a marriage is declared null by a tribunal, this would also be noted in the same place.

When Catholics request a copy of their baptismal certificate, their parish of baptism issues a brand-new hard copy based on the information in the baptismal register. This new copy will have a section on the back which relates all the biographical details recorded over the years in the registry book.

So, if you are requesting a copy of your baptismal certificate as part of your marriage prep, a newly-issued one lets the priest or deacon know about any previous life events, such as a prior marriage or previous reception of holy orders, which might present an issue or impediment with your upcoming wedding.

(Madison, Wis)

When I was an Evangelical I was told there was no such thing as ghosts and that paranormal phenomena were likely demons. What does the church say about this? Doesn’t the Church teach that there are such things as “apparitions?”

(Brandenburg, Kentucky)

AThe word “ghost” can refer to several different concepts. For instance, one use of the word “ghost” is as a synonym for “spirit” — think of how 100 years ago Catholics would refer to the Holy Spirit as the “Holy Ghost.” In that sense, since Catholics believe in spiritual beings, we would certainly believe in ghosts. But when people say there is “no such thing” as ghosts they are generally

using a more popular sense of the term to describe the souls of the dead who appear in, or otherwise interact with, the material world and those living in it. The church doesn’t have a specific teaching on these kinds of ghosts per se, although we can draw conclusions from other areas of theology.

We believe that all human beings have an immortal soul that survives the death of the body, and which will eventually be reunited with their resurrected body at the end of time. We also believe that the bonds of love can survive death, and that there can be communion between the living and those who have died – think of how we ask the saints to intercede for us with prayer. Within that communion, we sometimes read of people who report being visited and consoled by holy men and women, like Bl. Solanus Casey, and Bl. PierGiorgio Frassati during times of deep stress or illness.

Further, in accordance with our belief in purgatory as a time of post-mortem purification, we know that not every soul destined for heaven will get there right away. So, the idea of ghosts as souls who remain on earth due to some sort of “unfinished business” can be congruent with a Catholic world view.

Generally, hauntings or other para-

ANo, nobody “needs” a declaration of nullity to avoid hell, or even to participate fully in the life of the church. In fact, it’s never good to start the marriage nullity process because of feeling rushed or pressured by third parties. We are all required to live out the virtue of chastity according to our state in life and particular circumstances. This means, essentially, that a person can only enjoy sexual intimacy with a person to whom they are married. Divorce in and of itself is not necessarily sinful, and being an abandoned spouse is certainly

normal ghostly activity are likely connected to one of two things: either demonic activity – which warrants the involvement of the appointed diocesan exorcist – or a soul in purgatory who is somehow “stuck.” This is a situation where sincere prayers for the repose of that soul are in order. Interestingly, the Church of the Sacred Heart of Suffrage, not far from the Vatican, contains a small “Museum of the Souls of Purgatory” which reminds us to pray for those souls, displaying what the little church says are worldly relics of souls in purgatory reaching out to friends and loved ones for prayers.

It is also possible that something that appears to be a supernatural haunting in a given instance is actually something with an entirely natural explanation.

In any event, we should never seek out hauntings or try to contact the dead ourselves through means such as Ouija boards, seances, or psychic mediums. This is a grave sin against the first commandment and participating in such activities runs the risk opening a door to the demonic in our own lives.

On the other hand, apparitions are our term for instances when a person from heaven – most often Our Lady — appears to a certain person or people for a particular purpose or with a specific mes-

not a sin. But — as you correctly note — even in cases of divorce, separation or abandonment a once-married couple is still presumed to be married until potentially proven otherwise by a Catholic marriage tribunal. Because of this, a divorced Catholic would need a declaration of nullity if they wanted to marry another person (and it would be sinful to engage in acts proper to marriage with someone to whom they were not married).

But, if you are at peace living a chaste life as a divorced Catholic without seeking a new marriage, it’s perfectly fine to remain as you are.

sage as she did most famously at Lourdes and at Fatima.

Although Our Lady in her various apparitions is indeed a spiritual visitor coming from somewhere beyond this earth, it would be odd to call her a “ghost.” This is not only because Marian apparitions are very different from ghostly “hauntings,” but also because Our Lady – unlike our typical idea of a ghost –was assumed body and soul into heaven.

My husband abandoned me years ago. I know that I am married and that I am called to live chastely, and I am doing that. But my friend told me I will go to hell since I don’t have an annulment. Is that true?

Father James Gardiner, a Franciscan Friar of the Atonement, looks at a piece of art in the Purgatory Chapel at the Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land in Washington in this file photo from Nov. 2, 2021. —OSV News photo/Rhina Guidos, CNS

While we know that Jesus was crucified in Jerusalem around A.D. 33, the details of his sufferings and death have been confused and obscured over the past two millennia. In What Christ Suffered: A Doctor’s Journey Through the Passion, Dr. Thomas W. McGovern provides the most accurate, up-todate understanding of the physical sufferings of Jesus Christ, drawing on ancient Greek and Latin literature about crucifixion, discoveries of ancient images, archaeology, medical reenactment studies, and medical case reports. This volume corrects decades of myths and misunderstandings presented in books and articles and on websites — myths the author himself disseminated for years until he reanalyzed the data utilizing twenty-first century advances in modern medicine and archaeological discoveries.

This medical investigation of the Passion allows readers to enter more fully than ever into the reality of what Jesus suffered for our redemption. Drawing on the teachings of Pope Saint John Paul II in Salvifici Doloris, this book invites the reader to a deeper understanding of the meaning and value of human suffering — and how to practically apply it in their lives. By his sacrificial death on the cross, Jesus has won salvation for the whole world, redeeming even our sufferings through his incredible act of love.

Artists, like prophets, must share truth for a better world, pope says

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Under Michelangelo’s frescoed ceiling in the Sistine Chapel, Pope Francis told more than 200 musicians, writers, poets and other artists to be like prophets, pursuing true beauty and using their art to shake up the societies where they live.

As Christians, we know we have not been promised an easy, carefree life. And yet we resist suffering at every turn, despite Jesus’ clear and direct conditions if we want to be his disciples. The truth is most of us find the cross bitter. We’d rather not have to carry it, and we wonder why God demands it of us. In Sweet Cross: A Marian Guide to Suffering, Laura Mary Phelps reveals not only why suffering is a necessary part of our Christian life, but how we can learn to carry our cross without fear or complaint — and even to find that it is sweet. The secret is Mary.

Go to this link for a FREE study guide to go along with the book. https:// res.cloudinary.com/oursundayvisitor/ image/upload/v1666886092/free%20 samples/Sweet_Cross_Study_Guide.pdf

Artists and prophets “can see things both in depth and from afar” while “peering into the horizon and discerning deeper realities,” he said June 23.

“In doing so, you are called to reject the allure of that artificial, superficial beauty so popular today and often complicit with economic mechanisms that generate inequality.”

The audience with an international group of artists marked 50 years since St. Paul VI inaugurated the modern and contemporary art collection in the Vatican Museums by celebrating Mass in the Sistine Chapel with artists from around the world.

Pope Francis told the artists to distance themselves from depicting a “cosmetic” form of beauty “that conceals rather than reveals” and to instead create art that “strives to act as a conscience critical of society, unmasking truisms.”

What Christ suffered during his Passion for you is a powerful source of reflection and meditation.

Caviezel: ‘Sound of Freedom’ a ‘weapon of mass instruction’ to end child trafficking

By Gina Christian, OSV News

(OSV News) – A new film starring Jim Caviezel aims to move millions to end the scourge of child trafficking.

“Sound of Freedom,” directed by Alejandro Monteverde, will debut in theaters July 4 with Caviezel starring as Tim Ballard, who began his career at the CIA and then spent more than a decade as a special agent for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security battling child exploitation. Assigned to the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, Ballard was deployed as an undercover operative for the U.S. Child Sex Tourism Jump Team, infiltrating criminal organizations that sexually abused and trafficked children.

In 2013, Ballard and a team of former agents left DHS to form Operation Underground Railroad, a private foundation that assists international governments and U.S. law enforcement in dismantling criminal trafficking organizations that target children.

Ballard has testified before Congress on child trafficking and has advocated vigorously to raise awareness of the issue, which is estimated to affect at least 1.7 million children globally, according to the International Labor Organization.

For Caviezel, portraying Ballard – and replicating his dramatic real-life rescues of enslaved children – is a role second only to that of playing Jesus in “The Passion of the Christ,” with a similarly compelling mission.

Ahead of the film’s opening, the “Sound of Freedom” team is looking to sell “2 million tickets for 2 million children” trapped in trafficking, Caviezel told OSV News. “That’s been the goal all along.”

The film’s distributor, Angel Studios, is using technology it developed for its hit

Movie Review

series “The Chosen” to enable viewers to buy tickets so that others can watch for free, or to claim donated tickets if they are unable to afford the purchase price.

Both Caviezel and producer Eduardo Verástegui told OSV News that the film has been a labor of both faith and love for the past eight years.

“I was in Los Angeles and met Tim Ballard and his team – ex-CIA agents, ex-FBI agents – and I learned what they were doing, traveling around the world undercover, rescuing children that were kidnapped for sexual exploitation,” said Verástegui. “And I was in shock. I couldn’t sleep for a few days when they told me what was going on.”

Verástegui said he decided to counter the problem with “a weapon of mass instruction and inspiration – film.”

Caviezel and Verástegui drew on their deeply held Catholic faith to overcome what the latter called “so many obstacles” that gave way to “so many miracles” in making the film.

“Every time I do a film, I pray the Rosary and my prayer is that God would use us to really be whatever he needs us to be,” said Caviezel. “In this particular case, it’s a weapon against the greatest evil right now we’ve ever seen. And when the public really wakes up and sees this, it’s going to blow their minds how wicked those people (are) that do what they do with these children.”

I go to Mass every day. … Without that, there’s no way I can do what I’m doing right now.”

Caviezel also prepared for filming by attending Mass and receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation “to get as pure as I can in my soul,” he said, admitting that researching the horrors of child sex trafficking by working with law enforcement provoked both nightmares and tears.

In addition, “fasting had to happen,” said Caviezel, especially for a project that sought to expose the sexual slavery of children. “You’re going to have a lot of bad demons that are not going to like that. … Scripture says some demons can only be removed by prayer and fasting.”

The Holy Spirit provided inspiration for “taking and elevating” the script by Monteverde and Rod Barr into a triumphant story of good conquering evil, said Caviezel – and without directly portraying lurid details of the film’s subject matter.

In one scene, his character reviews a confiscated child pornography video to file a DHS report, but the film manages to convey the horror by instead showing only Caviezel’s eye as he types up his testimony.

“The scene wasn’t written that way, but … it takes you right to the edge,” said Caviezel. “I needed to take it to that point, because I needed the public to understand that when Tim would come home and his children would run to him, he would literally fall on his knees and start weeping in their arms.”

Verástegui said as producer he stressed the importance of “how we treat people on set,” particularly the child actors.

“They never knew what this film was about,” he said. “How can you explain what child pornography is to actors that are 5, 6 years old? The parents were there, and Alejandro (Monteverde) was literally protecting the integrity and the innocence of the children on set with their parents. He had that ability to tell them different stories to bring the emotions and the tears. In the editing, you see the real deal, but on set, they never knew the reality.”

Fact-based drama about a U.S. Homeland Security agent (Jim Caviezel) who becomes involved in the case of two young Honduran siblings abducted into sexual slavery by human traffickers and sets out to bring down the ring that kidnapped them. What begins as a heartrending descent into an underworld of utterly vicious cruelty and exploitation lightens eventually into the tale of a clever sting operation in which the operative is aided by a reformed gang member (Bill Camp) and a wealthy businessman (Eduardo Verástegui). The indefatigable determination of the protagonist, which not only imperils his career but subsequently drives him on to undertake a perilous rescue mission, is admirably heroic and uplifting. But it’s inextricably linked to the horrifying depravity against which he battles, making director and co-writer Alejandro Monteverde’s moving and valuable film challenging fare. Stylized violence, mature themes, a couple of mild oaths, a smattering of crude and crass language. The OSV News classification is A-III – adults. The Motion Picture Association rating is PG-13 – parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

Ballard himself was impressed by the film’s veracity, said Verástegui.

While viewing the on-set replay of the key rescue scene, the veteran operative “started crying … and broke in pieces,” amazed to see his life story amplified to aid others, he said.

He and Caviezel are passionate about galvanizing the film’s viewers to end child sex trafficking and enslavement.

“The power of this is that your heart gets on fire,” said Caviezel. “Why does it get on fire? Because they feel the love of Jesus. … You’re not afraid anymore.”

Gina Christian is a national reporter for OSV News. Follow her on Twitter at @GinaJesseReina.

“Sound of Freedom” (Angel Studios)

Jim Caviezel stars in a scene from the movie “Sound of Freedom.” Caviezel and producer Eduardo Verástegui share how faith prepared them for their new film. —OSV News photo/Angel Studios

Hope Stories’ podcast is ‘about lives,’ not ‘topics,’ says its host

TYLER, Texas (OSV News) -- Raised Baptist, Sister Josephine Garrett’s spiritual journey led her to embrace the Catholic faith in 2005. Deepening her commitment to the Church, she began her formation to become a religious sister in November, 2011. Her dedication and devotion culminated in November 2020 when she professed her final vows as a sister of the Holy Family of Nazareth. Sister Garrett has recently launched a new podcast, titled “Hope Stories with Black Catholics,” which is available at online at https://www.osvpodcasts.com.

“These conversations are not about topics, they’re about lives,” she told Our Sunday Visitor newspaper. “These

conversations are not about issues and agendas. They’re about people and the giftedness of the human person.” In the first episode of the series, released June 26, Sister Josephine sits down with friends and family to share stories of pain, struggle, consolation and joy that encourage even the most downhearted to participate in the hope of Jesus Christ more fully. Sister Garrett attended the University of Dallas, where she earned a Bachelor’ of Arts degree in political philosophy with a business concentration. Prior to entering religious life, she worked as a vice president in the home loans division of Bank of America, where she managed a staff of 200. Sis-

ter Josephine is a licensed counselor, offering her compassionate expertise as the school counselor for the cathedral grade school in Tyler. A highly sought after speaker, she has captivated audiences of up to 25,000 youths and young adults, sharing her inspiring message with passion.

This is an illustration for a new podcast called “Hope Stories,” hosted by Sister Josephine Garrett, a member of the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth. The first episode launched June 26, 2023, and is available at https://www. osvpodcasts.com.

New podcast, explores race and religion Antonio Canova: A rare glimpse into the process of creative genius

The terracotta sculpture “Immaculate Virgin” (c. 1818-1822) by Antonio Canova. The piece is part of “Canova: Sketching in Clay,” an exhibit featured at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., from June 11 through October 9, 2023, and at the Art Institute of Chicago from Nov. 19, 2023 to March 18, 2024.

OSV News photo/Luigi Spina, courtesy National Gallery of Art

By Jem Sullivan, OSV News

The neoclassical sculptor Antonio Canova is best known for his ethereal marble pieces that evoke the beauty of the idealized human form. A devout Catholic, Canova (1757-1822) began his artistic career at a young age under the guidance of his grandfather, a stonemason and sculptor. Gifted with exceptional creativity and technical skills, Antonio quickly became the most celebrated European artist of his time.

“Canova: Sketching in Clay,” a unique exhibit at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, offers visitors an extraordinary glimpse into Canova’s creative process of sketching models in clay for plaster molds, from which marble sculptures were then painstakingly chiseled. The exhibition is the first in over 50 years to highlight the sculptor’s terracottas (fired clay) sketches, many of which come from the Museo Gypsotheca Antonio Canova in Possagno, his hometown in northern Italy, and other European collections.

In our age of mass-produced objects, these masterworks in clay offer a rare visual connection to the human touch of an artist’s creative hand: One sees Canova’s rugged fingerprints in the clay.

Divided into three thematic sections – myths and legends, faith and monuments, and portraits, the viewer is led on a journey that spans Canova’s origins in Possagno and his major commissions in Rome, to the evocative clay models he created at the end of his life. While many of his celebrated marble sculptures depict Greek and Roman mythological figures, he created many pieces with religious themes, including imposing papal monuments to Pope Clement XIII in St. Peter’s Basilica, and Pope Clement XIV in Rome’s minor Basilica Church of Santi Apostoli, shown in this exhibit as a lifesized photo.

From over 30 sculptures on display, two religious themed terracottas stand out in their subtle, evocative power. The Penitent Magdalen is an intense piece of religious sculpture. Completed

A new podcast made available to listeners on Juneteenth promises to investigate the dynamics of race and religion in the United States through the lens of the Black Catholic Church. “The Ark and the Dove” podcast, released

June 19, the federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States, is for “anyone who wants to engage in conversations about the racial divide and desires deeper reconciliation,” Edward Herrera, one of the hosts, told Our Sunday Visitor, a weekly newspaper. “We think Catholics will be more naturally drawn to the project,” he said, “but we have tried to craft it in such a way that Catholics can share it with friends and neighbors to begin a conversation.” Listeners can tune in to the trailer and the four episodes that range from 35 to 55 minutes on Apple podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Google podcasts and Amazon Music.

OSV News photo/Ark + the Dove

in 1791, Canova’s sketch bears the imprint of his hands, with rough lines of rapid movement visible in the clay. The sculptor elevates the humble medium into a spiritually charged image of Mary Magdalene, whose feast is celebrated July 22.

Another religious clay sketch with historical significance is the Immaculate Virgin. Canova sculpts Mary of Nazareth as a young woman who exudes an otherworldly quality. Her slight figure is enveloped in a veil of many folds, dropping from the crown of her head to the sculpture base. Mary gently inclines her head to the right, drawing our eye to her beautiful, contemplative face in profile.

This terracotta sketch was completed between 1818 and 1822, only three decades before the Catholic Church formally defined the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, in 1854. Then-Pope Pius IX expressed the belief that the Virgin Mary was – from the first moment of her conception – by an unprecedented grace and privilege of God,

preserved from the effects of original sin.

Visitors are treated to numerous iconic works that invite one to marvel at the artistic process from clay to marble under the creative genius of Canova’s hand. In a companion video, visitors can watch a contemporary artist, in imitation of Canova, at work in the process called “pointing” that transfers an artist’s vision from a sketch in clay to plaster to marble.

A rare visual treat, this impressive exhibition is on view in the West Building of the National Gallery of Art, from June 11 through October 9, 2023, and at the Art Institute of Chicago from November 19, 2023, through March 18, 2024.

Jem Sullivan holds a doctorate in religious education and is an associate professor of Catechetics in the School of Theology and Religious Studies at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. She has served as a docent at the National Gallery.

OSV News photo/OSV

DIOCESAN EVENTS

Summer Family Rosary, 7 p.m. on Zoom. Sponsored by the Office of Family Life. R.S.V.P. to Cristina D’Averso-Collins, director, at cdaverso@diometuchen.org.

Celebrating Life! A Day for Grandparents & Seniors (55+) on the Feast Day of Saints Joachim & Anne, 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., St. John Neumann Pastoral Center, Piscataway. The day will include breakfast, fellowship, a guest speaker on “His mercy is from age to age…” and Mass. The event is free but registration is required. Call 732-562-1543 or visit: https://www.diometuchen.org/ humanlifeanddignity.

Diocesan Informative Day for Black Catholics. 10 a.m. to 12 noon, at the St. John Neumann Pastoral Center. In preparation for the National Black Catholic Congress XIII (NBCC) which is scheduled for July 20-23, the Diocese held a Day of Reflection in an effort to obtain insights and wisdom from Black Catholics in the Diocese. The day was a success. There are at least six representatives of the Diocese attending the NBCC. On August 12th they will share their experiences and information obtained at the congress and, hopefully, motivate each of us to work and promote the pastoral plan at both the diocesan and parish level. Call 732-562-1543 or visit www.diometuchen.org/2023nbc to register.

Retrouvaille Weekend, sponsored by the Office of Family Life, Diocese of Metuchen. Retrouvaille is a lifeline to help couples heal and renew their marriages. Six follow-up sessions are held after the weekend experience (no group discussions). All inquiries are confidential. For further information, contact Rich Colasuonno 732-236-0671 or Annette Colasuonno 732-672-0748 or email 3024@ helpourmarriage.org.

Children’s Choir Summer Camp hosted by the Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi’s Office of Sacred Music, in conjunction with the Diocesan Office of Liturgical Music, on the Cathedral’s campus Metuchen. All rising 3rd through 8th graders from any parish in the diocese are invited to participate. Participating Choristers will learn the basics of Music Theory, Gregorian Chant, do fun composerbased projects, and will sing for daily 12:10 Mass at the Cathedral. The week will end with a festive Ice Cream Party.

DIOCESAN PROGRAMS

Eucharistic Adorers Wanted

Now that the pandemic is over, Bishop Checchio would like to offer Eucharistic adoration at the St. John Neumann Pastoral Center, Monday through Friday, from 9:00-11:45 a.m. As St. Pope John Paul II noted. “The Church and the world have a great need of Eucharistic adoration.” Anyone who is interested in signing up should 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 which began 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 7 p.m. on Zoom. For details or to join, please contact Cristina D’Averso-Collins at cdaverso@diometuchen.org.

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.

Abortion Healing for Men This Base camp is an open-forum, weekly discussion group for men who have been impacted by abortion. It meets Tuesdays at 12 noon EST. The group is led by Greg Mayo, Men’s Abortion Healing Strategist for Support After Abortion. No registration is needed.

Catholic Charities, Diocese of Metuchen is Looking for Summer Volunteers!

To meet the increased needs of the community, Catholic Charities Food Pantry and Thrift Store, located in Phillipsburg, needs volunteers for the following:

Food Pantry Open M-F, 10am-3:30pm

- Unpack donated and purchased food

- Sort & stack food on our pantry shelves

- Prepare grocery bags for our clients

- Break down empty boxes & carry to trash bins

- Provide basic case management services and have an awareness of local resources or be willing to learn

Thrift Store Open M-TH, 11am-4pm

- Sort & put donated items on the shelves

- Price items donated to the store

- Help customers with any questions about items purchased.

If interested, please call Maria Hunter at 732-7381315 or email mhunter@ccdom.org; Contact: Tiffany Workman at tworkman@diometuchen.org or call 732243-4581

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

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY - BUSINESS MANAGER

The Catholic Spirit, the official newspaper of the Diocese of Metuchen, seeks a Business Manager to develop, implement, and oversee business strategies for the award-winning paper. The ideal candidate will be expected to establish production and quality control standards, develop budget and cost controls, and obtain data regarding the circulation, production and delivery specifications of the paper. 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.

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.

GIVE THE GIFT OF LIFE

One of our Diocesan parishioners is in urgent need of a kidney transplant. If you, or anyone you know have, “O” blood type you may be able to save a life! The procedure would be performed at St. Barnabas in Livingston with no cost to the donor. All general questions can be answered by the “Living Donor Institute” at rwjbh.org/ldi. If you think you can be an angel on earth, please email KidneydonorNL@gmail.com God bless you!

AROUND THE DIOCESE

Wine Tasting & Pairing

Aug. 10, 7 p.m. – Hope Through Education will host “The Vineyards of Italy” at Hamilton Farm Golf Club, Gladstone. For more information visit: www.hope througheducationusa.org. An independent organization, Hope Through Education provides disadvantaged children in central N.J. with scholarships to attend academically excellent, values-based schools. Scholarships are based on need without regard to gender, race, religion or ethnic background.

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