As the leaves change color and the air turns crisp, we look forward to the Thanksgiving Holiday, a day of feasting, football and family and a time for us to give thanks for the many blessings we share. Sadly, more than 40 million Americans live in poverty and are not able to afford basic necessities, including housing, utilities, food, clothing and healthcare, let alone Thanksgiving dinner. Last year, in the United States, one of the world’s richest countries, one in every six children lived in poverty and the poverty rate among seniors was near 10 percent.

METUCHEN — “Do you realize that you are part of God’s plan to restore the order that was lost?” Bishop James F. Checchio asked the hundreds of law enforcement personnel gathered in the Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi Oct. 17 for the 18th annual diocesan Blue Mass. “He has called you to cooperate with Him to help answer people’s need for protection and help, especially in times of great turmoil and chaos.”

METUCHEN – Young Catholics from the diocese were reminded that they can have an impact on the lives of others, whether it is at their school or for children thousands of miles away, at the diocese’s annual observance of World Mission Sunday.

For three days in late October, 78 pilgrims from the Diocese of Metuchen, led by Bishop James F. Checchio, went on a spiritual journey to Mexico. The pilgrimage was in preparation for the diocese’s consecration to Jesus through Our Lady of Guadalupe on Dec. 12, her feast day.

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, As we enter this final month of preparation in our year of awakening before consecrating our diocese to Jesus through Our Lady of Guadalupe, I want to share with you my opening homily from our pilgrimage to her shrine in Mexico City. I think it applies to all of us and can help us all prepare for the graces Mary wants to share with us:

As we approach the conclusion of the liturgical year, our readings place increasing emphasis on the end of our earthly lives and the end of time. Both our first reading and Gospel this Sunday, in fact, speak of our chief hope -- that we may continue to live eternally with Christ Jesus in heaven. We take heart in Jesus’ promise that God “is not God of the dead but of the living, for to him all are alive” (Lk 20:38).

Recently, the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) reported that suicide rates among American teenagers increased by an alarming 56 percent in the last 10 years. Sadly, suicide is now the second-leading cause of death among Americans ages 10 to 24 and is considered a public health crisis.

NEW BRUNSWICK — “Thanks for giving the witness some of you have done for decades,” said Msgr. Joseph J. Kerrigan to the medical personnel and supporters of Catholic Charities, Diocese of Metuchen, seated before him. “Let’s use this gathering … as a catapult for the next chapter.”

SPRING LAKE — Each year the priests of the diocese gather with their shepherd, Bishop James F. Checchio, for three days of prayer, celebration, study and fellowship. The convocation provides them an opportunity to step away from their daily life and activities in their parishes and ministries, and to spend time with the Lord and each other.

I recently heard a marketing expert explain how Halloween is one of the biggest consumer holidays of the calendar year. Many people love this day and decorate for it a month or more in advance of Oct. 31. In fact, it seems that, apart from Christmas, Americans spend more money on Halloween, tricks and treats, decorations and costumes, than any other holiday. Why this fascination with zombies (bodies without souls), ghosts (souls without bodies), tombstones, witches, wizards, monsters, animated pumpkins and scarecrows? Some sociologists allege that the reason for America’s growing fascination with the macabre, the occult and the dead is rooted in the erroneous notion that Halloween is a secular holiday. It is divorced from anything to do with family life, race, creed or sexual orientation. Nothing could be further from the truth, at least the part that asserts Halloween is a purely secular holiday. Perhaps in some circles, this is true but not the origins of Halloween, which takes us back more than 2,000 years ago to a tribe called the “Celts” that inhabited all of Ireland, most of the British Isles and part of France. The Celts celebrated the beginning of the new year on Nov. 1. This day symbolized the end of summer and the onset of winter. It was the time of the harvest. Celts believed that on New Year’s Eve, Oct. 31, the ghosts of the dead could roam the land from sundown on Oct. 31 until sunrise on Nov. 1. On Samhain, as this night was called, it was believed that the ghosts of the dead would rise from their graves, cause pranks and possibly ruin the harvest. To ward off these annoying spirits, the Celts wore costumes, usually made of animal heads and skins. They built a bonfire and paraded around the cemeteries of their dead until sunrise on Nov. 1.

Article 127 - Catechism of the Catholic Church Series Paragraphs 1667-1676 For most Catholic families, the grueling task of cleaning out the family home following the death of one’s parents or grandparents includes years of accumulated paperwork, some collectables, bric-a-brac and, of course, sacrament certificates, medals, rosary beads, crucifixes, statues of countless saints (including every possible variation of Mary), relics, water from Lourdes, Fatima, etc., and blessed oil in honor of St. Anne, St. Joseph, St. Jude, and St. Peregrine.

While shepherding a diocese calls for the commitment of bishop, clergy, religious and the lay faithful, Church theology and the law of the Church teaches that the priests of the diocese are the primary collaborators of the bishop in his role as Chief Shepherd. So, during my past three and a half years here in Metuchen, I have come to know our priests and have grown to love and admire them.

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time (C) “The prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds; it does not rest till it reaches its goal . . .” (Sir 35:17). These words from the Book of Sirach serve as an apt summary of our Gospel reading this Sunday. This week St. Luke’s Gospel, the Gospel of Prayer, provides yet another lesson on how to pray. Before the Lord God, Luke stresses, all must bow their heads and hearts as humble sinners.

EDISON — Festivities, family and prayer were the main ingredients for a joy-filled series of events to mark 50 years of faith-filled education on Tingley Lane.

MIDDLESEX — When the Diocese of Metuchen was established Nov. 19, 1981, it became the 24th largest diocese in the United States. Many sets of strong shoulders were needed to help carry it through its formative years and into a stable future.

PISCATAWAY — John Glynn, director, diocesan of Youth and Young Adult Ministry, addressed the athletic directors from schools throughout the diocese in advance of the upcoming CYM basketball season at the St. John Neumann Pastoral Center Oct. 1.

PORT READING — During a Sept. 29 liturgy, the congregation in a suburban Catholic church, many of them long-standing area residents, listened intently as their deacon shared sobering statistics of persons who had no place to call their own.

RARITAN TOWNSHIP — More than an hour before the Annual Solemn Pontifical Benediction and Blessing of Roses began at the Carmel Monastery Oct. 1, people arrived. They filled the pews of the small chapel, lined the walls and stood in the hallway just outside. They had come out of love for St. Thérèse of Lisieux, a French Discalced Carmelite Nun also known as “The Little Flower of Jesus,” to celebrate her feast day, to thank her for favors received and seek her help.

PHILADELPHIA — Sister Colleen Michelle Gibson, who was raised in St. Joseph Parish, Hillsborough, professed final vows as a Sister of Saint Joseph of Philadelphia Sept. 15 during a Mass at Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart Chapel, Mount Saint Joseph Convent, according to a release from the congregation.

Have you ever considered the fact that all priests, bishops and consecrated religious men and women first lived as members of the lay faithful, often as teenagers seeking to discern the vocation in life to which God was calling them, before they were ordained or consecrated to God?