Tag Archives: Bishop James Francis Checchio

Bishop Checchio asked us to join him in prayer to Mary, Our Mother, Friday, May 1

Bishop Checchio has announced that the bishops of Canada and the United States have joined together asking us to to look to Mary, under her title “Mary, Mother of the Church” in our struggle against the COVID-19 pandemic. (Please click here to read the PDF of his letter)
To help us to turn to Mary, Bishop Checchio will be praying the Rosary and celebrating Mass at the Cathedral of St. Francis, Metuchen (stfranciscathedral.org). This will be live streamed from the Cathedral of St. Francis, Metuchen, at 4:00 pm this Friday, May 1. Prior to the celebration of the Mass there will be a live streamed public recitation of the Holy Rosary at 3:30 pm.
Please participate in this event, as indeed the most important help we have comes from faith in power of the Risen Christ and the gracious help of Mary, Our Mother.
Please note we have removed the live stream link as the event has been long over. Thanks 

Holy Week with Bishop Checchio of Metuchen Diocese – Live streaming.

This year Holy Week will be unlike any we’ve experienced before. To help you decide how you would like to keep this holiest week of the year, here are some suggestions. Attached here is a PDF of suggested activities as well as Stations of the Cross for COVID-19. Please click to read.

Unfortunately, no gatherings are permitted at the church during Holy Week. There will be no confessions.

The diocese will be live streaming Bishop Checchio’s Holy Week services on the Cathedral website: https://www.stfranciscathedral.org/

We will be carrying it live here on our website too. Please scroll below:

Here is the schedule for the live stream Holy Week schedule:

Palm Sunday, April 5, 2020 10:30am (blessed Palms are not to be distributed under any circumstance at this time by order of our Bishop, but may be made available for distribution at a later date!)

Monday, Evening Prayer and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, April 06, 2020 4:00pm

Holy Thursday, Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper, April 9, 2020 – 7:30pm

Good Friday, Celebration of the Lord’s Passion, April 10, 2020 – 3:00pm

Easter Vigil, April 11, 2020 – 8:00pm – Holy water fonts are to remain empty. RCIA sacraments will be re-scheduled.

Easter Sunday, Holy Mass, 10:00am

Available services from The Church of The Sacred Heart, South Plinfield.

Traditional devotions during this week include the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary and the Stations of the Cross. These can be viewed online at churchofthesacredheart.net at your convenience. See also the attached PDF for details on praying the Stations of the Cross at home.

Monday, April 6 – Daily Mass can be viewed online at our website, churchofthesacredheart.net

Tuesday, April 7 – Daily Mass can be viewed online at our website, churchofthesacredheart.net

Wednesday, April 8 – Daily Mass can be viewed online at our website, churchofthesacredheart.net

Holy Thursday, April 9 – Daily Prayer of the Church (Morning, Evening and Night Prayer) is available at our website, churchofthesacredheart.net

Good Friday, April 10 – Morning Prayer of the Church is available at our website, churchofthesacredheart.net

Holy Saturday, April 11 – Morning Prayer of the Church is available at our website, churchofthesacredheart.net

Easter baskets will NOT be blessed this year.

Easter Sunday, April 12 – The Mass of the Resurrection will be live streamed from our church and can be viewed online at churchofthesacredheart.net at 10:00 AM.

The Ecumenical Sunrise Service that normally takes place at Spring Lake Park will move to our own front doors. The brief prayer and more details will be available at the parish website, and in the Observer.

The church doors will actually be locked for the Triduum (Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday) and Easter Sunday to keep people from gathering. Stay home, Stay safe. The Easter Season is fifty days and please God before Pentecost we will be back to celebrate joyfully and properly decorate the church at that time as well.  

Fr. John Alvarado

Cultural Diversity Ministries – Diocese of Metuchen and Friends of NJ Catholics from Asian Sub-Continent on August 18th will be celebrating The Assumption of The Blessed Virgin Mary and Independence Day of India & Pakistan.

Dear Friends,
Greetings in the name of our kind Lord. The members of the New Jersey Knight of Columbus having their roots in the Asian Sub-Continent (Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan & Sri Lanka) in association with the Cultural Diversity Ministries – Diocese of Metuchen and Friends of NJ Catholics from Asian Sub-Continent on August 18th will be celebrating The Assumption of The Blessed Virgin Mary and Independence Day of India & Pakistan. The objective for this gathering is to pray together with our families as a One Universal Church followed by a cultural evening cum dinner.
Bishop James E. Checchio, JCD, MBA the Bishop of Diocese of Metuchen will be the main celebrant at the Holy Mass and deliver the homily and afterwards join us in breaking bread together.
Venue:  Our Lady of Peace,
1740 US Highway Route 130, North Brunswick, NJ 08902
Date:    August 18, 2018
Mass:   5:30 P.M.
Cultural Program: 7:00PM
Dinner by reservation only : 7:30PM – Tickets must be purchased prior to registration deadline of July 20, 2018.  Please click on the below image to register and get your tickets. $10.00 per head for 5 years and older individual.

Fraternally, Norbert Mendes, Coordinator

Cultural Diversity Ministries – Diocese of Metuchen and Friends of NJ Catholics from Asian Sub-Continent on August 18th will be celebrating The Assumption of The Blessed Virgin Mary and Independence Day of India & Pakistan.

Dear Friends,
Greetings in the name of our kind Lord. The members of the New Jersey Knight of Columbus having their roots in the Asian Sub-Continent (Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan & Sri Lanka) in association with the Cultural Diversity Ministries – Diocese of Metuchen and Friends of NJ Catholics from Asian Sub-Continent on August 18th will be celebrating The Assumption of The Blessed Virgin Mary and Independence Day of India & Pakistan. The objective for this gathering is to pray together with our families as a One Universal Church followed by a cultural evening cum dinner.
Bishop James E. Checchio, JCD, MBA the Bishop of Diocese of Metuchen will be the main celebrant at the Holy Mass and deliver the homily and afterwards join us in breaking bread together.
Venue:  Our Lady of Peace,
1740 US Highway Route 130, North Brunswick, NJ 08902
Date:    August 18, 2018
Mass:   5:30 P.M.
Cultural Program: 7:00PM
Dinner by reservation only : 7:30PM – Tickets must be purchased prior to registration deadline of July 20, 2018.  Please click on the below image to register and get your tickets. $10.00 per head for 5 years and older individual.

Fraternally, Norbert Mendes, Coordinator

101st anniversary of the 1st apparition of Our Lady of Fatima – Sunday, May 13, 2018

1st apparition of Our Lady – Sunday, May 13, 1917: Mother’s Day

‘Pray the rosary every day to obtain peace for the world and the end of the war.’

101st anniversary of 1st apparition of Our Lady – Sunday, May 13, 2018: Mother’s Day

The history of Mother’s day in USA: The modern holiday of Mother’s Day was first celebrated in 1908, when Anna Jarvis held a memorial for her mother at St Andrew’s Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia. St Andrew’s Methodist Church now holds the International Mother’s Day Shrine. Her campaign to make Mother’s Day a recognized holiday in the United States began in 1905, the year her mother, Ann Reeves Jarvis, died. Ann Jarvis had been a peace activist who cared for wounded soldiers on both sides of the American Civil War, and created Mother’s Day Work Clubs to address public health issues. Anna Jarvis wanted to honor her mother by continuing the work she started and to set aside a day to honor all mothers because she believed a mother is “the person who has done more for you than anyone in the world”.

In 1908, the U.S. Congress rejected a proposal to make Mother’s Day an official holiday, joking that they would also have to proclaim a “Mother-in-law’s Day”. However, owing to the efforts of Anna Jarvis, by 1911 all U.S. states observed the holiday, with some of them officially recognizing Mother’s Day as a local holiday (the first being West Virginia, Jarvis’ home state, in 1910). In 1914, Woodrow Wilson signed a proclamation designating Mother’s Day, held on the second Sunday in May, as a national holiday to honor mothers.

Coincidentally the 1st apparition happened on the Sunday, May 13, 1917 which was also a Mother’s day. And 101 years after again it’s a second Sunday of May and the date is May 13, 2018. Only 16 times the 13th May was on Sunday From 1917 to 2018. 

Day Day Month Year Holiday Anniversary of 1st Apparition
Sunday 13 May 1917 Mother’s Day 1st apparition of Our Lady
Sunday 13 May 1923 Mother’s Day 6th Anniversary of 1st apparition of Our Lady
Sunday 13 May 1928 Mother’s Day 11th Anniversary of 1st apparition of Our Lady
Sunday 13 May 1934 Mother’s Day 17th Anniversary of 1st apparition of Our Lady
Sunday 13 May 1945 Mother’s Day 28th Anniversary of 1st apparition of Our Lady
Sunday 13 May 1951 Mother’s Day 34th Anniversary of 1st apparition of Our Lady
Sunday 13 May 1956 Mother’s Day 39th Anniversary of 1st apparition of Our Lady
Sunday 13 May 1962 Mother’s Day 45th Anniversary of 1st apparition of Our Lady
Sunday 13 May 1973 Mother’s Day 56th Anniversary of 1st apparition of Our Lady
Sunday 13 May 1979 Mother’s Day 62nd Anniversary of 1st apparition of Our Lady
Sunday 13 May 1984 Mother’s Day 67th Anniversary of 1st apparition of Our Lady
Sunday 13 May 1990 Mother’s Day 73rd Anniversary of 1st apparition of Our Lady
Sunday 13 May 2001 Mother’s Day 84th Anniversary of 1st apparition of Our Lady
Sunday 13 May 2007 Mother’s Day 90th Anniversary of 1st apparition of Our Lady
Sunday 13 May 2012 Mother’s Day 95th Anniversary of 1st apparition of Our Lady
Sunday 13 May 2018 Mother’s Day 101st Anniversary of 1st apparition of Our Lady

So celebrate this day in a special a way to honor The Mother of God, your Mother, your spouse’s Mother, your children’s Mother and all Mothers of the world. And remember and follow what Our Lady of Fatima told the children on May 13, 1917 –  ‘Pray the rosary every day to obtain peace for the world and the end of the war.’