News - October 2015 RSS Feed

Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit to Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish in Wayne Oct. 24 and celebrated the vigil Mass for the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time. During his visit, the Bishop administered the Sacrament of Confirma­tion to young people.

Bishop Serratelli met with young people from around the diocese preparing for the Sacrament of Confirmation at Morris Catholic High School here Oct. 25. This was the third and final meeting the Bishop has had with youth, mostly freshmen and sophomores in high school, who will receive the Sacrament of Confirmation next year.

The millennial generation, where did your belief in true love go? The reality today seems rather distressing — that fewer and fewer young adults, from 25- to 34-years-old, have been choosing to enter the lifelong commitment of sacramental marriage. In fact, 25 percent of these so-called “millennial” couples are now cohabitating — living together outside of marriage — while it’s predicted that 25 percent of them will never marry.

Evangelizing and educating youth are important missions of the Catholic Church. And just as teaching young people about Jesus, protecting them from harm and creating safe environments is also an important part of the Church’s mission. So much so, that last year alone in the Diocese, several thousand people were educated in how to prevent child sexual abuse. There are now more than 40,000 active employees and volunteers who have been trained.

At St. Jude Parish in Budd Lake, parents, teachers and friends saw #Collins_Fight trending on their social media news feed. The hashtag was started by Collin’s parents Theresa and Brian Berg, parishioners at St. Jude’s, asking for support for their son, a seventh-grader at Mount Olive Middle School, who was recently diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL), the most common form of childhood leukemia.

Pope Francis’ visit to the United States struck a chord not only with Catholics but also with all Americans. That good news came from the results of a Marist College Poll conducted this earlier this month that examined how Americans felt about life issues, marriage, religious freedom and creation that the Pope addressed in his visits to Washington, New York and Philadelphia.

 Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit to the Shrine of St. John Paul II at Holy Rosary Church here Oct. 18 where he celebrated Mass for the 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

This month, St. Gerard Majella School in Paterson received the “double honor” of having welcomed Bishop Serratelli during two visits this month: once, after he celebrated the first annual diocesan Fallen Firefighters Memorial Mass on the morning of Oct. 8 in the parish church, and again, to celebrate Mass to commemorate the school’s 50th anniversary, on the evening of Oct. 16, also in the church.

Bishop Serratelli helped to celebrate the strong 50-year legacy of faith, family, academics and Christian service at Sacred Heart School in Rockaway, which he declared “has been — and continues to be — a school of discipleship.”

Every year, the Society for the Propagation of Faith, the Holy Father’s society to help the mission Church, marks the third Sunday of October as World Mission Sunday (WMS). In churches around the world, the faithful pray for the missionaries, who leave their homes to travel to the farthest ends of the Earth to bring the “Good News” to all people.

When you first meet Msgr. George Dudak, a retired diocesan priest who has served in priestly ministry for 59 years, he doesn’t want you to call him “monsignor.” “Father George is fine. If you know that monsignor translates to ‘my Lord,’ I’d rather be known as father,” said the 84-year-old priest, who is currently living at Nazareth Village here, the priests’ retirement residence in the Paterson Diocese.

Earlier this year, the Young Professionals Ministry at Assumption Parish here decided to deepen their understanding of Catholicism and hone their abilities to defend the faith by taking it upon themselves to develop monthly talks on Catholic apologetics, taking turns researching various aspects of the faith and then presenting that information to other young adults and interested parishioners.

When Pope Francis formally opened the Ordinary Synod of the Bishops on the Family earlier this month, he told the bishops assembled that the union between a man and woman is the foundation of God’s plan for the family.

Bishop Serratelli met with young people from around the diocese preparing for the Sacrament of Confirmation at Pope John XXIII Regional High School here Oct. 11. This was the second meeting the Bishop has had with youth, mostly freshmen and sophomores in high school, who will receive the Sacrament of Confirmation next year.

In today’s secular and media-driven society, coming of age in the faith can be a challenge for many teenagers, who are so vital to the life and growth of the Church. For this reason, Bishop Serratelli met with about 50 youth ministers from around the diocese Oct. 5 at St. Paul’s Inside the Walls here to discuss ways parishes can continue to strengthen their youth ministry programs.

Circle of Faith, a contemporary Christian music ensemble from St. Kateri Tekakwitha Parish here, hopes to continue to broaden its ever-widening audience this month as it releases for the first time two of its songs as a “single” on a commercial record label: “Here I Am” and “I Trust in You.”

At times, people may find themselves in a terrible situation that causes them to borrow the grace of God from another person. Jesuit Father Matt Malone, president and editor in chief of America Media, recalled when his father, John, decided to summon that grace about 30 years ago. It compelled him to do what many might consider unthinkable: ask a judge for leniency for the young drunk driver, who caused the death of his 16-year-old son, Joe.

All too often, even many well-meaning Americans have been known to slip the term “sharia law” into public discourse — two words that, intentionally or not, can paint a distorted picture of Muslims. This frequently misunderstood term can leave the concerned citizenry with a dangerous generalization: that Islamic Law commands believers in Allah to commit horrific acts, such as beheadings and terrorist attacks.

Bishop Serratelli was honored with the Santa Maria Medal presented to him by Holy Family Council 14712, Knights of Columbus, at the council’s 7th annual Columbus Day dinner Saturday, Oct. 10.

Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit to Sacred Heart Parish in Rockaway Oct. 11 and celebrated Mass for the 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time.