- TrentonMonitor

‘A time for everything’: Embracing the gifts that come with change

As the very popular passage from Ecclesiastes tells us in the Old Testament, “There is an appointed time for everything, and a time for every affair under the heavens.”

That message was recently echoed by Terry Ginther, the Diocese’s outgoing chancellor and executive director of Pastoral Life and Mission, at the end of her retirement celebration on June 25. It is a prevailing truth in all things, but it seems to be particularly poignant at this time of year with so many things in flux.

In this issue of The Monitor Magazine, we share stories of change – some bittersweet like the retirement of people we have come to know and love (pages 7, 27 and 28); others joyful and hopeful like the installation of a new pastor (page 46). We also capture a parish celebration marking the changes that have come in the 50 years since the construction of its new church (pages 43-45).

With the arrival this month of World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly, we’ve featured reflections from Pope Leo XIV, Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., and yours truly about the inherent dignity and value of older persons as they continue to contribute to their world. (pages 6, 8 and 9).

This issue reports on profound experiences that effect change, like two diocesan priests’ mission trip to Madagascar (pages 20 and 21); young adults helping people in need (page 52), and several hundred men of the Diocese worshiping God and hiking in the mountains of northwest New Jersey (pages 18 and 19).

Readers will also want to follow reports on important news developments, such as the devastating earthquakes in Venezuela and the Church’s response to recent decisions by the Supreme Court of the United States. Be sure to look for the in-depth analysis of Pope Leo’s recent trip to Spain and why it mattered.