Wishing you a happy Thanksgiving and a blessed start to the Advent season
-
November 24, 2022Blessed Thanksgiving Day!
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
This Thanksgiving Day, we are once again given the opportunity to reflect upon the many blessings God has showered upon us. As we conclude our fortieth anniversary as a diocese, we have much to be thankful for as we reflect on the graces that have come to each of us over these past forty years. Indeed, you have been one of those blessings.
Our local Church has grown and continues to bless the beautiful four counties of Middlesex, Somerset, Hunterdon, and Warren as we each continue to proclaim the saving message of Jesus Christ to our neighbors and friends in need of hearing it. Your devotion to the Eucharist and the gifts of the Spirit have presented the Church as a beacon of light in the heart of New Jersey witnessing to the dignity of all life.
Yes, we continue to face many challenges and struggles as individuals and as a local Church, but we do not walk this journey alone. As we prepare to enter into a time of preparation, the season of Advent, we place our hope in the greatest gift God has given us, the Eucharist – Jesus Christ Himself.
One of our priorities over the past year has been a greater focus on prayer and a deepening of our friendship with Jesus. Though our fortieth celebration ends, our relationship with Christ does not. As we approach the third anniversary of our diocesan consecration to Jesus through Our Lady of Guadalupe, we are invited again to prayerfully grow more deeply in our friendship with Our Lord and His Mother.
Indeed, we cannot share this journey alone. While we turn to one another over these next few days with families and friends, I encourage each of you to take some time with the Lord as a family, attend mass together, and find moments to bring Him and His coming into our lives more prominently in your daily routine so we truly become a people of greater thanks! He continues to bless us with so much and is the answer to all our struggles and desires. May we persevere in faith and trust in Him.
From a grateful heart, know of my love and prayers for each of you. Know that I will be praying for each of you as I bring you and your intentions to Our Lord at Mass on Thanksgiving Day at our cathedral.
I wish you all a happy Thanksgiving and a blessed journey through Advent.
With renewed best wishes, I remain
Yours in Christ,
Most Reverend James F. Checchio, JCD, MBA
Bishop of Metuchen
