I would like to share with you a piece of great news! In three years we are going to celebrate the Centennial of our parish! I would like to give a brief history of our parish. Iselin, New Jersey is a multicultural town whose diversity is reflected in the faces of the parishioners of St. Cecelia Church. The parish family, from its very beginning, was made up of those who migrated from other countries to settle in central New Jersey in search of a new life in America.
The first Mass, of what would eventually develop into the St Cecelia community, was celebrated for Irish immigrants at the Charles Freeman Estate on New Dover Road in Colonia in 1912. Our records show that the date of the foundation for St. Cecelia’s was August 1914. The first Baptism, in September 1914, was of Cecelia Anna Communale.
The first independent church building was a nurse’s recreation hall purchased from the United States Hospital #3 in 1923. It was cut into pieces and rolled on logs to land facing Middlesex Avenue at the corner of Oak Tree Road where it remained until 1953. Our first resident pastor was Rev. John Grady who divided his time between our parish and the New Jersey Reformatory. He was reassigned in 1919 and St. Cecelia’s became a mission of St. Mary’s Church, South Amboy, New Jersey (1919-1923). The incorporation of our parish took place on February 6, 1923, which is the official beginning of St. Cecelia as an independent parish. In 1932, Rev. William J. Brennan became the first permanent pastor of the parish. Father Brennan purchased additional land over the years expanding the property of the fledgling church. One purchase, the Cooper farmhouse in 1944, established the convent that would house the sisters who eventually taught at St. Cecelia School.
In 1946 Rev. John M. Wilus became pastor and oversaw the parish during its post-World War II baby boom. To meet the needs of his growing parish he purchased a Quonset hut in November of 1948. It served as a parish hall, religious education classroom and additional Mass space. The ground was broken for a school on February 12, 1952, and opened in September of 1953. In 1981 Msgr. Wilus retired and Rev. James P. Moran took over as administrator and eventually became the pastor. The current church building was constructed under his guidance and was dedicated in 1989.
When Msgr. Moran was reassigned in 1999 Rev. Jerome Johnson arrived and became the fifth permanent pastor of St. Cecelia Church. Father Johnson was reassigned in the summer of 2014 and the parish welcomed the Vocationist Fathers.
We, the parish family, have grown in number of families to thousands. Before the diocese of Metuchen was established our parish was the largest parish in the diocese of Trenton. So 2023 will be a great jubilee year for us. We are all blessed to be part of our hundred years of faith and tradition here at St. Cecelia’s. We need to prepare ourselves for this great Jubilee. Years ago this parish community was the center of life for the whole town. Each and every one of us needs to recommit ourselves to actively be part of the life of our parish. Let us be proud of our parish. Most of you have been here for several generations, but some of you may be just joined our parish recently. It doesn’t matter what part of the world you came from, or what ethnicity you belong to, St. Cecelia is your home. We have inherited over a hundred years of tradition and history. Let us be proud of it.
I envision that we should divide our celebration into three different parts – spiritual, corporal and social.
Spiritual: Now is the time to renew the faith we received from our ancestors. We should plan for these three years different and enlightening spiritual activities.
Corporal: We should plan what we can do to help others in need as part of our celebration. We should grow spiritually through our generosity. Let’s consider adopting a sister church from one of the poor countries.
Social: We should also celebrate this great jubilee with entertainment events. We need to form committees for the centennial celebration. I wish, to have three different committees. Each committee should have 20 to 30 members. Begin thinking about what type of volunteering you would like to do. Soon we will have sign-up forms in the bulletin.
But more than anything else we need to start praying that God may set our hearts on fire.
Heavenly Father, we your children humbly ask your blessing upon us as we prepare to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of St. Cecelia’s Parish here in Iselin. You have shaped us into a community where the dignity of each person is respected, where one can feel at home and worship you with joy and peace. Set our hearts on fire with your love so that we will reach out to the least among us, to the poor, the marginalized and the alienated. Nourish us by Word and the Sacraments so that we may bring your love and healing to others. Fill us with your Holy Spirit that may we face our future with the same faith, hope and vision of those who have preceded us, and may we commit ourselves to a new century of faith hope and service. We make this prayer through the intercession of Our Blessed Mother, Mary, St. Joseph and St. Cecelia through Jesus Christ, Our Lord.
God Bless You. Fr. Thomas