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The end of one year and the beginning of another is a very appropriate time to “look back” and “look forward.” Here in our diocese, as we come to the close of 2024 and look forward, with the whole Church, to the New (Jubilee) Year of 2025, there is a special reason for us to “look back” with gratitude and “look forward” with great hope.

I wrote my first weekly column in the Beacon in September 2020. Msgr. James Mahoney was Vicar General and an excellent proofreader, editor, and coach, helping me with the column (and so many other “new experiences”) in my first months as Bishop. Msgr. Mahoney retired as Vicar General at the end of September 2020, and Msgr. Mark Condon has been serving in that role ever since. Msgr. Condon has also been a great help to me with my weekly column — and in many other areas.

With these words, “SPES NON CONFUNDIT…,” Pope Francis invites the whole Church to enter into a HOLY YEAR, a great Jubilee. This invitation was offered to us all when Pope Francis published the Bull of Indiction on May 9, 2024. Now (seven months later), the beginning of the Jubilee, which will take place in Rome on Christmas Eve, Dec. 24, 2024, with the opening of the Holy Door, is only two weeks away.

Ido not remember the first time I heard of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. It may have been during my years in college or in the seminary. When I first heard something about him and his story, I was intrigued and impressed. I remember learning that Bonhoeffer was a theologian and Lutheran pastor in Germany at the time when Adolf Hitler rose to power and that he came to believe and preach that true Christians should oppose Hitler and the Nazi Regime.

Deliver us, Lord, we pray, from every evil, graciously grant peace in our days, that, by the help of your mercy, we may be always free from sin and safe from all distress, as we await the blessed hope and the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ. The words of prayer quoted above should be familiar to most (all) readers. Some may be thinking and asking, “I know that prayer. Where have I heard it?”

I was hoping that this day would not come, but it has become clearer and clearer during the past two to three years that a decision needed to be made to discontinue the print version of The Beacon, our much beloved diocesan newspaper.

For a moment, I thought I had been “scooped” — by our own Beacon! You may recall the front-page story headline in last week’s Beacon, “Pope warns against becoming a ‘sedentary’ church after synod’s close.”

This is the time of year when we conduct our Diocesan Ministries Appeal (DMA) and invite all the faithful to become active participants in transforming the Gospel into concrete action. By making a pledge to our DMA, you support the formation of our seminarians, Catholic urban education, our senior priests’ healthcare/retirement needs, and our Catholic Charities ministries, where tens of thousands of people receive assistance. This is all done in response to Christ’s call to care for his people.

I have said before that I have been inspired by (St.) Mother Teresa of Calcutta and her Missionaries of Charity since I was a sophomore in college in the fall of 1989. Over the years, I have read a great deal of what has been written and reported about Mother Teresa, her life, and her work. I have also listened to “Mother” speaking on many different occasions.

“Election seasons, therefore, should contain a sense of gratitude and hope …” Do you agree? Is that how you are feeling as we approach an election? Is that what you are hearing in the media, on the internet, or in your day-to-day conversations? Do you hear many voices saying that “election seasons … should contain a sense of gratitude and hope”?

“On Nov. 2, 1989, Cardinal John O’Connor penned an unforgettable headline for his weekly column in Catholic New York: “Help Wanted: Sisters of Life.” This small seed planted 33 years ago has grown into a thriving community of 130 Sisters, established in 10 cities.

In place of my column this week, I invite you to take the time to prayerfully read the Homily (below) given by Bishop David O’Connell at the Mass for Life at the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption in Trenton. The Mass preceded the first-ever statewide Rally and March for Life this past Thursday, Sept. 26 at our State Capitol.

Most Catholics are aware that, each year, the Church dedicates October as the “Month of the Holy Rosary.” One of the reasons that October is dedicated to the Rosary has to do with the Feast that we celebrate on Oct. 7.

“Historic,” I like the word, but I also believe that it can be a very challenging word. I was happy to see it used in the headline of an article on the front page of last week’s Beacon.

In late August, I received a note, quoted above, from a mother, asking me to help in any way I could to request prayers and let people know that September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.

I have mentioned before that I have become a “fan” (admirer) of Bishop Michael Burbidge, bishop of the Diocese of Arlington, Va. I am also a fan and faithful listener of his “Walk Humbly” podcast. As a priest and bishop, I am grateful for the example and experience that Bishop Burbidge shares, especially as I listen to his podcasts.

Ten months ago, on Oct. 6, 2023, I celebrated a Mass for our Catholic School Teachers and gave them each a small book on the life of Blessed (soon to be Saint) Carlo Acutis. After the Mass, a teacher from Pope John High School suggested that I read a book called, “Priest and Beggar: The Heroic Life of Venerable Aloysius Schwarz” by Kevin Wells.

Even though the 2024 Paris Olympics began on a “sour note,” with an offensive and disrespectful depiction of the Last Supper, for which the organizers gave a less than satisfying apology, there is still something impressive, inspiring, and encouraging in the opportunity to see the best athletes from throughout the world coming together to compete with one another.

In what we call a “Three Year Cycle” of Gospel Readings for Sunday Mass, the Church reads from Matthew’s Gospel in “Year A,” from Mark in Year B, and from Luke in Year C. The Gospel of John gets “mixed in” at different times, Feasts, and Seasons during that Three Year Cycle.

During my last weeks in the seminary, in 1997, shortly before ordination to the priesthood, the priest who was the Dean in charge of pastoral formation had a “final conference” with those of us who were about to be ordained. I remember that he gave us three practical suggestions so that we might be “good parish priests.”