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People of all faiths are welcome to participate in meetings of the Bereavement Group at Our Lady of Mt. Virgin Parish, Middlesex, Sept. 30, Oct. 7 and Oct. 21. Meetings will be held from 1:30 to 3 p.m. at the Parish Center (formerly Our Lady of Mount Virgin School). 

Nearly two years after the last diocesan Blue Mass was celebrated at the Cathedral of St. Francis in Metuchen, hundreds of law enforcement personnel of all faiths will again file into the cathedral, where Bishop James F. Checchio will celebrate the 19th annual Blue Mass at 10:30 a.m. on Sept. 29.

The Exaltation of the Cross — a feast that speaks to us about someone who was also larger in death than he was in life: Jesus of Nazareth. Indeed, there were those who thought Jesus was a renegade, a blasphemer, a trouble-maker; yet, the small pocket of those whom he healed, taught and touched has mushroomed over 2,000 years, claiming innumerable converts who have come to acknowledge this Jesus not only as an ethical model and a miracle-worker but as the anointed one, the Christ, the long-promised savior whose humanity sanctified ours and whose divinity made satisfaction or, better, atonement, for our sins!

Article 154 - Catechism of the Catholic Church Series Paragraphs 2258-2269 The Fifth Commandment teaches: “You shall not kill” (Exodus 20:13 and Deuteronomy 5:17).

ANNANDALE – Enveloped in soft light and prayerful silence, adorers at Immaculate Conception Church Aug. 13 were led to discover an immutable truth: Jesus’ love and healing serves as the perfect end of a busy week.

PISCATAWAY — Nine days before former Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, the first bishop of the Diocese of Metuchen, was initially scheduled to appear in a Massachusetts courtroom to plea to the three counts of sexual assault leveled against him as the result of his alleged crimes dating back to the 1970s, Bishop James F. Checchio received a letter in the mail from StoneBridge Business Partners.

The last weeks of August were filled with emotion for Stacey and Paul Miller, who were preparing to send their only son, Jacob, back to college.

Along with the Labor Day holiday which reminds us of the dignity and purpose of work, September always brings a change in mindset as the summer break and vacations end, and we return to “normal” life.  This year, however, life has been anything but normal. There was a major earthquake in Haiti and tragedy reigned in Afghanistan. Hurricane Ida devastated parts of our state, and the ongoing pandemic is still claiming too many lives and even creating challenges for our schools.   

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Sixty-two floors up in the southeast corner of One World Trade Center, where the North Tower once stood in Lower Manhattan, now-Deacon Stephen Kern locked eyes with his administrative assistant, who was kneeling under her desk paralyzed in fear as the building shook around them.

Article 153 - Catechism of the Catholic Church Series Paragraphs 2221-2246 Our discussion of the Fourth Commandment to “honor your father and your mother...” (Exodus 20:12 & Deuteronomy 5:16) continues with a review of its relationship to the duties of parents, and then the duties of civil authorities and citizens, as well as, the political community and the Church.

Two weeks ago today, on the Feast of the Dedication of St. Mary Major Basilica, at St. Anthony Church, Hawthorne, Salesians of St. Don Bosco Sister Natasha Roig, joyfully said, “Here I am Lord, You have called me,” and with that her Rite of Religious Profession began. What is significant about her vocation is that it is another sign of how St. Augustine of Canterbury Parish, Kendall Park, continues to promote vocations.

LAURENCE HARBOR — Because of the COVID-19 or coronavirus pandemic, many events and celebrations had to be postponed over the past 15 months.  Religious celebrations were no exceptions to that disruption: marriages, baptisms, first holy Communions and confirmations were all impacted. The installation of pastors at parishes in the diocese also had to be rescheduled. 

SPOTSWOOD — When Father John “Jack” O’Kane was officially installed as pastor of Immaculate Conception Parish at a Mass July 24, it was a role he had yearned for.

WOODBRIDGE — A priest with a great devotion to the Blessed Virgin is the new spiritual leader of St. James Parish.

CARTERET — Living and carrying out their ministry was not just a journey for Christ’s disciples, Bishop James F. Checchio told the congregation at St. Joseph Church, but “a way of life.”

BELVIDERE — Prayers from the faithful of St. Patrick and St. Rose of Lima parishes descended on Father Charles A. Sabella at his Mass of Installation as pastor at St. Patrick Church July 10.

“How many people like to play the Pick-6 Lottery?”  Most of us would love to win this; however, there is an internal struggle involved here between “do we buy a ticket, since we always lose,” or “do we take the chance again?” Most of us, who play, will gamble again because, to quote the Lottery Commission: “You have to be in it to win it.”

FORDS — Standing before a small crowd gathered in the sun-drenched community room of St. Paul the Apostle Senior Residence, Bishop James F. Checchio imparted his blessing on the newly built home, asking God to make it “a place of goodness and a center of love.”

This August 22nd is the celebration of the principal patroness of our diocese: The Queenship of Mary. As I think of this beautiful feast in honor of Our Lady and the maternal role she plays in the life our diocese, I am reminded that this coming November 19 will mark the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Diocese of Metuchen by then-Pope, now St. John Paul II. A remarkable milestone in the life of our “young” local Church. We continue to build upon what has been given to us. It is “our turn,” so to speak, to be the workers in the Father’s vineyard. 

On September 20, 1519, Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese navigator working for Spain, led the 1st expedition to circumnavigate the globe, via the Pacific Ocean, in search of valuable spices in the Moluccas.