Bishop James F. Checchio

Growing up, I recall my mother teaching us to give others the benefit of the doubt in regard to what others say about someone, “Believe none of what you read and half of what you see!” She wanted us to build our own impressions of people. Relatedly, she also taught us “if you don’t have anything nice to say, then say nothing!”

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

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, This edition of “The Catholic Spirit” is published a week before Thanksgiving and this year we indeed, have so many reasons to be thankful! We just recently finished our 40th anniversary celebration of the diocese, which was a time to remember the graces that have come to us throughout these 40 years. The diocese has grown so much over the years as the population increased and generations of faithful responded by building parishes, new churches, and parish centers to serve their spiritual and pastoral needs. Recently, I also participated in some parish celebrations for anniversaries, 175, 150 and 100 years, parishes that existed well before our diocese, and 40 years at St. Charles Borromeo Church in Skillman, the first parish established after our diocese was founded. They were wonderful, spirit-filled and crowded celebrations. Times to thank God!

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, With a grateful heart, I am able to share with you today that we exceeded the 2022 Bishop’s Annual Appeal goal by over one million dollars! We raised almost 8.4 million dollars this year. This is a great tribute to you and act of thanksgiving as we celebrated our 40th anniversary as a diocese. As you know, the needs have become greater given the pandemic and the recent inflation issues we are suffering from. I am told that many more elderly brothers and sisters are coming for assistance these days and the number of people coming has tripled since the beginning of the pandemic. The extra funding available to respond to all these many needs is a great relief. Yes, we are able to respond to so many of these needs in the name of Christ, thanks to your overwhelming generosity. This is a blessing and something we cannot do alone or as an individual parish, so you came together to respond as a diocesan community in a beautiful way. Thank you!