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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!

September 11 is an emotional day for us all, as it always reminds us of the horrific terroristic attacks in our country that changed and took the lives of too many innocent people. We continue to pray for the victims and their families and all of us affected by that day’s tragic events. Gratefully, this year, we had a celebration that gives us a reason to offer thanks as our diocesan community gathered with Bishop Emeritus Paul G. Bootkoski at our beautiful Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi for a Mass of thanksgiving for his special milestone of 25 years of episcopal service. Indeed, we have much to be grateful for as 20 of those 25 years have been spent serving the faithful of this wonderful Church of Metuchen.

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, Amidst the slower pace and extra rest the summer provides, I had two beautiful experiences earlier this month that I want to share with you.

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, On Sunday, June 5, we celebrated the beautiful Solemnity of Pentecost. As you might know, it is one of the most important celebrations on the Church’s liturgical calendar. After the Sacred Triduum (Holy Thursday, Good Friday and the Solemnity of Easter) and the celebration of the Incarnation at Christmas, the Solemnity of Pentecost is the next most important celebration. To mark the occasion, our diocese hosted a vigil of prayer at the Cathedral beginning with the evening’s vigil Mass through midnight, hosted by our Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry along with St. Peter the Apostle University and Community Parish, the Catholic Center at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, as well as the Cathedral parish. How wonderful to see so many young people gather for this time of prayer with the Holy Spirit. Pentecost is such an important Solemnity because it is the Holy Spirit that continues the Divine Presence of God in our world, carrying on the work of Jesus in reconciling the world to the Father. With Jesus’ death, God’s work in the world does not come to an end. The Church, founded on Pentecost with the gift of the Holy Spirit, carries on Christ’s presence in the world. That means He can continue to act through you and me and every other Christian. This spring has spoiled me in that I have so readily seen the Spirit working to renew the face of the earth and our diocese. The work of the Spirit has been evident to me as throughout our diocese thousands of children and hundreds of adults received their first holy Communion. I have seen the Spirit at work in scores of confirmations celebrated over the past few months. The Spirit was shared as our new deacons and priest were ordained for service in our diocese. I also witnessed the Holy Spirit in our graduates at the four Catholic high school graduations I attended and heard such wonderful speeches given by our students about the faith imparted to them during their years at our schools. How grateful we should be to our administrators, teachers and staff, and their generous parents, too. No doubt, the Holy Spirit is moving the hearts of all our elementary, high school and college graduates as they prepare for the next phase of their lives.   

My dear sisters and brothers in Christ, May is one of my favorite months of the year. Perhaps it is that May is one of the months specially dedicated to our Blessed Mother, to whom I and many others have a special devotion. This is a time, too, when the Easter season is in full swing, and the readings from the Acts of the Apostles about the early Church are so inspiring. The Holy Spirit is seen acting so clearly in these readings, even in the midst of such great challenges. We know the Holy Spirit has not left us in our day, and I often wonder how the Holy Spirit is working right now in our Church and world, even as we face challenges of our own. No doubt, He is here with us, but do we look for Him and expect Him to act in our lives, too?     

Prayers for a blessed Lent! On Ash Wednesday, we heard the Prophet Joel in the first reading for the day’s liturgy call us to “return to the Lord with your whole heart!” How we need to do that this year as we seek to rest in Our Lord’s merciful Sacred Heart as we watch on television the horrific situation in the Ukraine with more than two million women and children fleeing their homes and homeland to Poland and other neighboring countries. Our hearts are indeed broken as we call out in prayer to our loving Father for all Ukrainians even as we assist them financially and in so many other ways.  

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, As we begin a new calendar year, we always make time to recognize our Catholic schools. Unfortunately, again this year we are challenged to celebrate Catholic Schools Week (January 30 – February 5, 2022) in the midst of rising COVID numbers and the disruption that has resulted. But, as always, our schools will rise to the challenge. I was very proud that our schools were able to offer in-person education last year to those families that wanted to have their children in school. In addition, for those families that preferred to have their students remain at home, a very successful virtual learning opportunity existed in every school. It was a great blessing to be able to serve our families, and I am so grateful to the pastors, principals and teachers that made it happen. The students were most cooperative too. Without a doubt, being able to keep our schools open during that challenging time was certainly a blessing.

How we need a little Christmas right this very minute! Many people are saying this Christmas will again be a subdued one. The pandemic continues and rising inflation has come down full force upon our country and, in reality, the entire world. The fears that have stalked us with our military overseas, threats of attacks and terrorism, all contribute to make us a little more somber this year. It also contributes to the weakening of the value and dignity of all human life and hence to life giving celebrations, like Christmas.

Know that you are in my prayers as we begin this synod experience. God has been good to us, and I have no doubt, will continue to be. Thank you for your fidelity to Him and His Church. The process will be guided by our reliance on our friendship with Jesus and the constant teachings of our Church.

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.   

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. 

My brothers, Ariel, Greg, Jay, Tim, Ronal, your being ordained in the year of St. Joseph will be something you will always remember, and hopefully you will take on from this day forward an even more special bond with St. Joseph. As you know, from Dec. 8, 2020, until Dec. 8, 2021, Pope Francis has asked for St. Joseph’s special intercession for the whole Church in his apostolic letter, “With a Father’s heart.” The introductory line gives us very simply the identity of St. Joseph as it begins “With a father’s heart: that is how St. Joseph loved Jesus.” St. Joseph was given a father’s heart to love with the love of our Father in heaven, not only Jesus, but also Mary and all of us, God’s children.

My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, The Spirit is gratefully alive in our Diocese and not even a pandemic can stop Him! Even amidst the great sorrows we have experienced this past year, there have been blessings, too, as some of you have shared with me about your renewed and deepened faith and a renewed appreciation for the Eucharist that truly is a gift. A fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit certainly helps us to renew ourselves and our commitment as Christ’s disciples, and hence renews and enlivens our Church.

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, Five years ago today, I was blessed to become your Shepherd. In sending me to your diocese, I remember Pope Francis said to me, “you must know a lot of people and clergy in your new diocese since it is so close to your home.” Obviously, he thought my transition from Rector of a college in Rome to Bishop in New Jersey would be eased by my friends and acquaintances. However, the opposite was true. I knew very few individuals here having met only a couple of Metuchen priests in my 24 years as a priest, and just a few lay people. Today, the Metuchen Diocese is my home filled with friends: clergy, religious and laity.

Jesus tells us, “I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life!” And, my brothers and sisters in Christ, how we need the light of life this year!  

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, I always enjoy having the opportunity to share some thoughts with you in “The Catholic Spirit.” Sometimes, the newspaper asks for my column a bit early, because of holidays and deadlines, so on Sunday afternoon, March 7, I began this column highlighting Easter since the paper would be published on March 25, right before Holy Week.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,    Just a few days ago, we entered into the season of Lent — a time which calls us to sanctify our lives and unite ourselves more deeply with Christ through prayer, fasting and almsgiving. But it is also a season which leaves us ripe for renewal; a time in which we renew our encounter with Christ and give witness to His word, as well as mindfully participate in the sacraments, especially the Eucharist, so that we may conform our lives to be more like His.