Celebrating ‘the most wonderful time of the year’
October 7, 2025 at 2:45 p.m.
The popular back-to-school television commercial from a few decades ago featured an ecstatic dad sailing through the aisles of a school supply store atop his shopping cart to the tune of “It’s the most wonderful time of year.”
Hyperbole aside, the return to school is usually a much anticipated and welcome experience for families of all faiths, ethnicities and communities across the nation.
But for tens of thousands of Catholic families in the Diocese of Trenton, the return to school is about more than buying school supplies, fulfilling book lists and planning the best outfit for the first day back. Whether our students are going back to Catholic schools or parish religious education classes, they are returning to an experience where Jesus is the foundation, and where they are encouraged to follow him.
This is also a time of awesome responsibility for thousands of educators and catechists whose commitment to inspire Christian discipleship in their students can have a positive impact on many young lives.
And so, as this new school year unfolds, we pray for the students, as well as their teachers and all those who share in this most sacred trust of forming young Catholics in class and beyond.
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The popular back-to-school television commercial from a few decades ago featured an ecstatic dad sailing through the aisles of a school supply store atop his shopping cart to the tune of “It’s the most wonderful time of year.”
Hyperbole aside, the return to school is usually a much anticipated and welcome experience for families of all faiths, ethnicities and communities across the nation.
But for tens of thousands of Catholic families in the Diocese of Trenton, the return to school is about more than buying school supplies, fulfilling book lists and planning the best outfit for the first day back. Whether our students are going back to Catholic schools or parish religious education classes, they are returning to an experience where Jesus is the foundation, and where they are encouraged to follow him.
This is also a time of awesome responsibility for thousands of educators and catechists whose commitment to inspire Christian discipleship in their students can have a positive impact on many young lives.
And so, as this new school year unfolds, we pray for the students, as well as their teachers and all those who share in this most sacred trust of forming young Catholics in class and beyond.