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As you may be aware, just a couple of weeks ago, my brother New Jersey bishops and I released a statement reinstating the general obligation to attend Mass, beginning on the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, the weekend of June 5 and June 6. Gratefully, we will together come home to our parishes, gathering as a Eucharistic assembly around the table of the Lord to receive Him in the Eucharist, the source and summit of our faith. 

Yesterday, Governor Murphy announced in his Executive Order 242 that he is lifting most of the restrictions imposed to control the spread of COVID-19. The following guidelines are issued for the Diocese of Metuchen:

At this time, due to the observance of public safety protocols and the increase in the availability of vaccines, we have begun a return to some sense of normalcy in various sectors of our society.

WASHINGTON– On March 2, Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Doctrine, and Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of Kansas City in Kansas, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Pro-Life Activities, issued a statement on the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine recently approved for use in the United States.

In December, tests for COVID-19 or the coronavirus were given at Catholic Charities, Diocese of Metuchen’s Unity Square, New Brunswick. The tests, which were free of charge, were administered by the New Jersey Department of Health through the City of New Brunswick.

WASHINGTON—Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, recognized the work of lawmakers passing COVID-19 relief legislation. He thanked members of Congress for their commitment to providing relief before the end of the year, when important aid from earlier COVID-19 legislation would expire, and encouraged lawmakers toward continued bipartisan progress towards the common good in the new year.

WASHINGTON– On December 14, Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Doctrine, and Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of Kansas City in Kansas, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Pro-Life Activities, issued a statement on the new COVID-19 vaccines. In their statement, the bishops address the moral concerns raised by the fact that the three vaccines that appear to be ready for distribution in the United States all have some connection to cell lines that originated with tissue taken from abortions.

Come Holy Spirit! Just like the Apostles gathered in the Upper Room on that first Pentecost, we prayed this past weekend with expectant faith for the coming of the Holy Spirit to renew the Church and the face of the earth once again!

I write to you with great hope and confidence that God is close to us in these very difficult days. We must never doubt that our daily concerns are His concerns too. And no one knows our needs better than Jesus’ own mother, Mary. 

For many in the Diocese of Metuchen, Easter was different this year, but for some, the day was business as usual. Staff of the Ozanam Inn, a men’s shelter in New Brunswick, operated by Catholic Charities, Diocese of Metuchen, served dinner to their 40 residents who would otherwise be homeless, much like they do every day.

As Catholics around the world entered into Holy Week on Palm Sunday with the commemoration of Jesus’s entrance into Jerusalem, Catholics in the Diocese of Metuchen, unable to be physically present together in their local parishes due to social distancing, participated in livestreamed Masses from their own homes.

We have been alerted once again that many parishioners of the Diocese have been targeted by fraudsters and it’s not just happening in New Jersey. The Diocese of Scranton, Pennsylvania, and the Archdiocese of Miami, Florida and others also have reported the scam and the Texas attorney general issued a consumer alert about it. The alert indicates that the scammers are probably using information found on church websites or in online parish bulletins to trick parish members into parting with their cash.

As members of the Coalition of Religious Leaders of New Jersey and as interfaith religious and spiritual leaders we seek at this moment in time to affirm our concern for the common good of the people of New Jersey. Our deep concern is grounded in our moral and ethical sacred texts that teach compassion and caring for one another.

As pews sit empty in churches around the four-county Diocese of Metuchen because of social distancing due to the coronavirus, Catholics in the diocese are finding new ways to stay connected to their faith. In absence of being able to gather for daily or Sunday Mass, and now Holy Week, parishes around the diocese have opened their churches, virtually.

In light of further restrictions by Governor Murphy and the Decree of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Disciple of the Sacraments, Bishop Checchio promulgates the following regarding the liturgies of Palm Sunday 2020 and Holy Week 2020 throughout the Diocese of Metuchen to assist the clergy and the faithful in the spiritual celebration of the Paschal Mysteries. 

Bishop James F. Checchio has granted a dispensation from abstaining from meat on Fridays for the rest of Lent, except Good Friday which is universal law and a day of fasting and abstaining from meat, so Bishops do not have the authority to dispense. He gave the dispensation based on the difficulties of obtaining some types of food by some of our faithful and the many other sacrifices which all of us are suddenly experiencing given the coronavirus. 

Today is the Solemnity of the Annunciation. How grateful we are for Mary's "yes" to become the Mother of God. What a gift she gave us, Jesus! Let's all make sure we pray a rosary today in thanksgiving for this. In Jesus, God became man, one of us, so He could be near us and with us, always. He stays with us in the Eucharist and through the Holy Spirit which He has gifted us each with. 

Before I share any updates and announcements with you, I first want to express how extremely proud I am of our Catholic school students, families, faculty and staff. As you know, our teachers and school administrations worked diligently to set up procedures and put plans into place to support students through virtual learning, and together with our students and school families, everyone seems to have adjusted well. 

The rapidly evolving coronavirus pandemic has brought challenges for so many in our local communities and unfortunately, we recently learned that the residents of St. Joseph’s Senior Home in Woodbridge, and the Little Servant Sisters of the Immaculate Conception, who faithfully operate the assisted living and nursing center, were no exception.

In directives just released by Bishop Checchio, he asked that all public Masses throughout the Diocese of Metuchen be temporarily suspended beginning no later than March 18 and resume no earlier than April 3, 2020, when the situation will be re-evaluated as circumstances unfold.