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ISELIN – Joyful parishioners gathered at St. Cecelia Church Feb. 6 for a Mass to mark the beginning of the faith community’s centennial year.
Bishop James F. Checchio presided at the Mass and gave the homily.
Vocationist Father Deniskingsley Nwagwu, pastor; Vocationist Father Cyril Offlong, parochial vicar; Society of Divine Vocations’ provincial superior, Father Michael Reardon, and fellow Vocationist Father Louis Caputo concelebrated.
Just as St. Peter was prompted to trust Jesus when asked to once again cast his nets for fish (Luke 5:1-11), deeper involvement in parish ministries will not force the faithful to take leaps beyond their ability, but instead past their comfort zone, said the bishop in his homily.
“Jesus slowly asked more and more from Peter,” he said, eventually prompting the fisherman to make a lifelong commitment to discipleship. “It’s how Jesus works in our lives as well. He starts with lesser commitments, and encourages us to use our talents, gifts, and resources for his purposes.”
He continued, “As Jesus’ faithful disciples today, we are asked to contemplate how we can help proclaim the Gospel better, how to build up the kingdom of God here in Iselin in 2022… There is no St. Peter to do it, just you and I.
“As you begin this yearlong celebration, it is a perfect opportunity to pause and look at our lives, recommit ourselves to trust in God, and help us see clearly we rest in his hands: the perfect place to be. Not just now, but for the generations to come after us.”
Archival photos, gathered with the assistance of Woodbridge librarians, adorned the church narthex. Elizabeth Conway, chair of the 100th anniversary steering committee, narrated a short documentary which detailed the first chapter of the parish’s history.
In 1912, on the Colonia estate of Charles C. Freeman, a member of the New York Cotton Exchange, Catholic services were introduced to the area to minister to the Irish Catholic immigrants employed there. By 1919, the church was serving as a mission church to St. Mary Parish, South Amboy. Land was donated in the spring of 1923, and the original church, once the nurses’ recreation hall on Freeman’s Colonia estate, was purchased, dissembled, transported to Iselin’s Middlesex Avenue and reassembled at its current location.
The new church was blessed that year by Bishop Thomas J. Walsh of Camden.
