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Editor’s Note: When Msgr. Seamus F. Brennan, former pastor of Immaculate Conception Parish, Somerville, and Msgr. Charles W. Cicerale, former pastor of St. James Parish, Woodbridge, retired in September, “The Catholic Spirit” asked them to reflect on their decades of experience in Catholic education. Natives of County Laois, my family benefited from the emphasis on faith and scholarship, fostered in our Catholic education in Ireland. For nearly 40 years of my 48 year-priestly ministry in America, I have been assigned to parishes with schools. As a young priest assigned to St. Philip and James Parish in Phillipsburg, which had a K-12 school system, including Phillipsburg Catholic High School, I had my first view of the American Catholic school system and was impressed by the spiritual and academic formations.

When she was a junior at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, life changed for Franciscan Sister of Penance Lisa Marie Shatynski. She began discerning religious life that year when her spiritual director suggested she read, “Discerning the Will of God,” by Timothy Gallagher. “By the end of that book, it was just blatantly clear that the Lord was calling me to religious life,” Sister Lisa said. She recalled telling her spiritual director, “I feel like God is my boyfriend.”

I recently had a wonderful opportunity to witness one of our third-year theologians (seminarians) become a Candidate for Holy Orders. The candidacy ceremony marks a moment in a man’s journey toward priesthood when, having achieved a certain level of qualification and maturity, he asks the Church to formally hear of his continuing commitment to prepare for the sacrament of holy orders for the sake of God and his people.

SOMERVILLE — Immaculata High School recently announced its seventh Hall of Fame class.

METUCHEN — Upon hearing about the search for a president of Saint Joseph High School, John G. Nolan was sure the position would be a perfect fit for him. It would combine his 35-plus years in fundraising experience, his commitment to his Catholic faith, and his dedication to the high school. His son, John, graduated from Saint Joe’s in 2009.

NEW BRUNSWICK — Saint Peter’s University Hospital recently recognized one of its longtime employees for 60 years of service.

In January 1973, the Supreme Court of the United States gave our nation Roe v. Wade and its companion decision Doe v. Bolton, and, in doing so, effectively removed every legal protection from human beings prior to birth. Over the past 47 years, millions of lives have been destroyed before birth and even during the very process of being born. Countless women have been traumatized so deeply by abortion that they spend years struggling to find peace, healing, and reconciliation. Men grieve because they could not “choose” to protect a child they helped bring into existence, and society has increasingly coarsened by toleration and acceptance of acts that purposely destroy human life.

The diocese's Blue Mass, which has been celebrated annually at the Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi, Metuchen to honor law enforcement personnel, this year was held on a local level because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the pandemic prohibited large gatherings around the state, Bishop James F. Checchio asked all parishes to recognize their community’s police officers.

PISCATAWAY – Like Catholic dioceses across the nation and even around the world, the Diocese of Metuchen eagerly awaited the release of the Holy See’s findings of its investigation into disgraced former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick – and the report finally came.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,  Over the past eight months, our lives have been steeped in an exhaustive state of disorder, uncertainty, and, at times, despair. All too often, we hear in the news or read about the loss, grief, isolation, fear, and suffering endured by all people as a result of the coronavirus – no one is unaffected by this global pandemic disease. Similarly, and again all too often, we hear analogous stories of the loss, grief, isolation, fear, and suffering endured by survivors of abuse, some of whom were subject to their abuse by some members of the clergy – and again, no one is unaffected by these horrific revelations of past abuse and occurrences of lack of proper leadership by those in authority. Indeed, the times through which we are living, in our Church and in our world, are like no other. 

James J. King of West Trenton, NJ has been named the new Executive Director of the New Jersey Catholic Conference (NJCC). It was announced by His Eminence Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R, Archbishop of Newark and President of the Conference. King succeeds Patrick R. Brannigan, who retired on October 4, 2019, after 13 years of service to the organization. King has served as the interim director for the past twelve months.

(Editor's note: below is a summary of  Catholic social teaching from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops) The Church’s social teaching is a rich treasure of wisdom about building a just society and living lives of holiness amidst the challenges of modern society. Modern Catholic social teaching has been articulated through a tradition of papal, conciliar, and episcopal documents. The depth and richness of this tradition can be understood best through a direct reading of these documents. In these brief reflections, several of the key themes that are at the heart of Catholic social tradition are highlighted.

NEW BRUNSWICK — The eight simple words, uttered Sept. 8 at St. Peter the Apostle University and Community Church, changed the course of the young woman’s life.

METUCHEN — Though pandemic restrictions limited the usual high number of worshippers for the diocese’s annual Hispanic Heritage Mass, the event was livestreamed so all families and individuals could participate.

My dear sisters and brothers in Christ, ​​​​​​​In the midst of our presidential election’s contentious campaign, many of our faithful have been telling me about their concern for the future of our country. I, as your bishop, and all of our clergy, too, are being asked to help Catholics form their consciences in accordance with God’s truth.

ASBURY — At long last, the spiritual journeys of five men reached a glorious summit as Transitional Deacons David Edward Keyes, Thomas William Lanza, Gustavo Andres Rodriguez-Perez and Gilbert Zachariah Starcher, and Oratorian Brother John Fredy Triana-Beltran were ordained to the priesthood.

We celebrate Catechetical Sunday on Sept. 20, the Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Each year, those designated to serve as catechists are called forth and commissioned for their ministry. In his encyclical letter, “Deus Caritas Est (God is Love),” Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI teaches us that the “Church’s deepest nature is expressed in her threefold responsibility: of proclaiming the Word of God (kerygma-martyria), celebrating the sacraments (leitourgia), and exercising ministry of charity (diakonia)” (25). This year, Church leaders, catechists and parents must find new ways of passing on the faith. COVID-19 has flipped our world, but God is still at work even amid the chaos.

Our strange summer is about to come to a close and we see our days becoming shorter! The long Labor Day weekend usually provides us with some extra rest, but for many in our diocese, it was anything but restful this year. Our Catholic schools and parish catechists have been working extra hard to reopen our schools and religious education programs.   

METUCHEN — “This is not the day we envisioned, the way we envisioned, but we can be sure the Holy Spirit is with us,” declared Bishop James F. Checchio during the Mass of the Rite of Ordination of Deacons in the Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi July 25. “It is a day of grace in the diocese.”

“A faithful friend is a sturdy shelter; he who finds one finds a treasure.” (Sir 6:14) The Connections Program at Catholic Charities, Diocese of Metuchen, which is supported by the Bishop's Annual Appeal, takes this verse to heart by connecting mentors with youth who can use a friend. What participants have found is that what starts out as a way to give youth a helping hand, often creates friendships that are treasured by the youths, the mentors and their families alike.