News - January 2016 RSS Feed

Pre-kindergarteners at St. Mary Prep in Denville sat cross-legged on the floor with eyes fixed on two religious sisters dressed in blue and white at the front of their classroom: Sister Charity and Sister Norbertha, both from Tanzania. Soon, the inquisitive minds of these well-behaved children took over, as they peppered the nuns with questions about lives in their east African homeland — “How do you celebrate Christmas?” “What do you do during the summer?” and “What types of foods to you eat?”

With some towns in the Paterson Diocese receiving nearly 3 feet of snow from a blizzard that hit the East Coast Jan. 23, Bishop Serratelli issued a dispensation from the obligation to attend Mass over the weekend, Jan. 23-24, due to the state of emergency declared by Gov. Christie to all residents of New Jersey to stay off the roads. Several other dioceses along the East Coast also gave Catholics a dispensation from Mass attendance including the Dioceses of Trenton and Arlington in Virginia.

Even an impending blizzard ready to hit the nation’s capital didn't dampen the spirits of hundreds of faithful from the Paterson Diocese who traveled by bus to Washington, D.C. to participate in the 43rd annual March for Life Jan. 22.

Earlier this month, Glenview Elementary School in Haddon Heights received a letter from New Jersey’s American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) asking them to stop requiring students to say “God bless America” after reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. This school has been doing this for more than 14 years — since Sept. 11, 2001 terrorists’ attacks. Soon after receiving the latter, the school district quickly acquiesced to the ACLU and students are no longer required to say “God Bless America.”

Five priests from the Paterson Diocese will join hundreds of priests from around the world on Feb. 10, Ash Wednesday, in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome to receive the mandate from Pope Francis to serve as Missionaries of Mercy — preachers of mercy and confessors filled with mercy — during his Jubilee Year of Mercy. These priests, selected by their bishops or religious superiors, also will concelebrate the Ash Wednesday Mass with the Holy Father and, before that, meet with him during an audience, where he will speak about their duties as Missionaries of Mercy.

To ensure the ability to provide the best, most sustainable Catholic school education to families in the Diocese of Paterson, several schools will embark on a comprehensive, strategic repositioning plan for the long-term viability and vitality of Catholic education in Passaic, Morris and Sussex Counties.

It felt like March Madness in the middle of January during the weekend of Jan. 15-17, as a marathon of 14 basketball games were held in the gym of St. Anthony School in Hawthorne. But different from winning a national championship, the cause was just as important — to bring awareness about a national problem — hunger.

When the scores of buses coming for the Diocese of Paterson arrive at the nation’s capital for the 43rd annual March for Life Friday, Jan. 22, diocesan faithful getting off the buses will convene in a new location to begin the March.

St. Joseph Parish in Passaic welcomed Bishop Serratelli during his pastoral visit to the parish Jan. 17. During his visit, the Bishop celebrated Mass for the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time. At the mostly Polish community, many of the parishioners dressed in their native attire for the Bishop’s pastoral visit.

Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit to Our Lady of Magnificat (OLM) Parish in Kinnelon and celebrated the vigil Mass marking the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time Jan. 16.

A little more than a week before the NFL’s 50th Super Bowl, St. Paul Inside the Walls: the Diocesan Center for Evangelization at Bayley-Ellard in Madison will host its own 3rd annual Catholic Trivia Super Bowl from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 30. St. Paul’s is encouraging Catholics to assemble five-person teams to compete in the contest, which will challenge them with multiple-choice questions in a variety of subject areas about the Catholic faith.

With many of faithful Catholics in the Paterson Diocese coming together to support Partners in Faith (PIF), the diocesan capital and endowment campaign, the Church of Paterson has been able to continue to reach out to help those most in need. Donations from PIF are helping to serve the poor served by the agencies of diocesan Catholic Charities, to foster important Catholic values to school children, to assist priests in need of special care and to rebuild the Mother Church of the Diocese, the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson.

A news photo showed the twisted remains of a house, left with only a foundation, a wall and piles of debris, in the aftermath of a devastating tornado that tore through Missis­sippi in April 2014, killing five people. That shot, beamed around the world, touched the hearts of two writers of the movie “God’s Not Dead,” devout Catholics who grew up in Wayne. It also reminded them of the far-reaching impact of their blockbuster Christian film released that year, which continues to bring people the world over to Jesus.

Tomorrow, tens of thousands of people from around the nation will converge on Washington to take part in the 43rd annual March for Life. Every year the March for Life is the nation’s centerpiece event to show all in America that life in the womb is precious and there needs to be a voice to the voiceless to stop the scourge of abortion.

On Friday, Jan. 22, people of faith from all over the Paterson Diocese will be traveling to Washington, D.C. for the 43rd annual March for Life to take a stand against abortion and stand up for life issues. The March marks the anniversary of the Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade, which made abortion legal in 1973.

“It’s $300?” James Spada could hardly contain his shock during a trip to a local mall years ago when a salesperson told him the exorbitant price of a luxury pen that he wanted. No doubt, that perfectly crafted writing instrument would have doubled as a symbol of his early success in the business world. Spada engaged in a conversation about his faith life during the latest session of “Speaking of Faith” recently at St. Paul Inside the Walls: the Diocesan Center for Evangelization at Bayley-Ellard in Madison.

In today’s world, life moves at a rapid pace with technology right at our fingertips. There never seems to be any moment for peace and quiet in the “full-speed ahead” atmosphere of current times. But at the Monastery of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel in Morristown things are much different. Here fingertips are used to pray the rosary, rather than send a text message.

In its continuous effort to honor those men and women who have served the nation in the U.S. military, diocesan Catholic Charities has created a community initiative to improve the lives of veterans.

Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit to Assumption Church in Morristown where he celebrated Mass to mark the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord on Jan. 10.

As the Year of Consecrated Life comes to a close this month, the Sisters of Christian Charity in Mendham received the final vows of Sister Faustina Nguyen in the Chapel of Mary Immaculate in the Motherhouse of the Sisters of Christian Charity Jan. 10, the Solemnity of the Baptism of the Lord with Bishop Serratelli, as the main celebrant.