Generosity, devotion of faithful yields heartfelt gratitude

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
 With a heart full of gratitude, I have some good news to share with you: we have exceeded our goal for the Bishop’s Annual Appeal. I am so grateful for your extraordinary generosity! It certainly is a testament to your faith and your actively trying to build a Civilization of Love here in our four New Jersey counties — Middlesex, Somerset, Hunterdon and Warren. You are a blessing to me and all those who will benefit from your generosity!
Passing our 2019 Bishop’s Annual Appeal goal of $7.2 million is a remarkable accomplishment that we achieved together as a community of faith-filled disciples. Your generous support of the ministries of the Diocese of Metuchen is an inspiration to me and gives me great hope. Our 2019 Bishop’s Annual Appeal will have a significant impact on the lives of so many and will help provide the necessary resources as we redouble our efforts to be truly people on fire with God’s love. A full report will be shared with you as the appeal closes in the coming month, so you can see how these funds are being used.
Please remember that the funds raised in the Bishop’s Annual Appeal are being used exclusively for the ministries outlined in the Appeal materials. These funds are restricted to the many vital needs funded by our support for such things as the formation of our seminarians and deacons, programs to assist couples through marriage preparation, and outreach to our youth and young adults, especially through our diocesan sponsored Catholic Center at Rutgers University. The Center is a ministry of Saint Peter University and Community Parish, New Brunswick.
The Appeal also enables us to continue our efforts in evangelization and catechesis, advocacy for human life and dignity, and effectively ministering to people of varied ethnicities and languages. We have dedicated funds to Catholic Charities which is committed to providing basic needs and counseling services for those struggling with the hardships of life. With 23 seminarians to support in their priestly formation, the needs keep growing in many areas of our ecclesial life. This is the most seminarians we have had in more than 25 years. We can accomplish all of these great things because of your generosity. I am blessed to be able to tithe my own income to this appeal which is truly worthy of our assistance.
In other good news, as you well know, our Diocese of Metuchen has spent the last year on a Year of Spiritual Awakening in preparation of our consecration to Jesus, through the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe. It has been a time of prayer, holiness, and a renewed commitment to living the Gospel message to the full.
It is partly because of your sacrifices along with the dedication of our priests, deacons and those in consecrated life that God’s grace keeps flowing throughout our diocese through your prayers, talents and charitable giving. God’s kingdom is truly being built up in our midst, even amidst these challenging times we live in.
I pray that in this Year of Awakening we all will have a renewed supernatural perspective. I pray that we grow in friendship with one another and Christ and remain enthusiastic for the Gospel message He has entrusted to us as His disciples in 2019 here in our diocese so that we can live our mission. I am humbled and grateful for the generosity witnessed in this year’s Bishop’s Annual Appeal. The success of our appeal combined with the spirituality of our Year of Awakening provides us the opportunity for reflection and discussion.
God is trying to do something beautiful for us and through us. The pains we have experienced these past years have been difficult in so many ways, but we know God can make good come from all; He even did this from Calvary. I truly believe it is not a pain of death, but similar to the pain of childbirth, with God using all to provide us with something new for our Church. Jesus constantly tells us throughout the Scriptures to not be afraid; so we move forward, renewed and confident in His love, praying for healing for those who need it most and insight into building a better way forward for us all.
I am looking forward to and praying for the graces God will send us especially in the coming week as I and more than 100 pilgrims journey to Mexico to the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe. There we will have the opportunity to kneel in front of the “tilma,” where our Lady’s image was miraculously imprinted. I will be praying in gratitude for our grace filled Year of Spiritual Awakening, and for the outpouring of the spirit on each of us as I consecrate our diocese to Jesus through Our Lady of Guadalupe in December.
Now, as we near the conclusion of our Year of Spiritual Awakening let us all continue to pray to Our Lady of Guadalupe. We need her powerful intercession so much in our day. Together, let us continue our mission and prepare to be consecrated under the maternal care of Our Virgin Mother of Guadalupe while we build a Civilization of Love right here in our midst. Know of my gratitude and love for you, and please continue to pray for me too!  God bless you all.

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