News - August 2016 RSS Feed

Several well-publicized shootings of police officers around the U.S. in recent months have placed law-enforcement officials under fire — literally — but have also been inspiring the faithful of the three parishes here — Our Lady of the Mountain (OLM), St. Mark’s and St. Luke’s — to show their heartfelt appreciation to the local “men and women in blue” for many risks they take and sacrifices they make to keep the public safe.

Parishioners of Good Shepherd in Andover gathered Aug. 13 as the sun was setting over the local farms to bless and dedicate two new additions to the space around the parish building. The first was a special tree dedicated to the memory of Msgr. Richard Steiger, the parish’s founding pastor. The dogwood tree was graciously donated by Gardens of the World, in Andover. A special footstone was mounted beneath the tree that was donated by Family Monuments Northwest, in Stanhope.

Last spring, seven-year-old Katie had her life change dramatically — her terminally ill mother could no longer take care of her and was moved into a nursing home. Her uncle had accepted the role of raising Katie even though he had never raised a child before and will be raising her on his own. He did it out of love for his family, especially his little niece and his sister.

Blessed Mother Teresa’s canonization on Sept. 4, will also mark a special jubilee for workers and volunteers of mercy who serve the poor. Mother Teresa was born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu Aug. 26, 1910, in Skopje, Mace­donia. After joining the Sisters of Loretto at age 17, she was sent to Calcutta, where she later contracted tuberculosis, and was sent to rest in Darjeeling.

With the canonization of Mother Teresa just a week away, Father Yohaneider Garcia, parochial vicar at St. Peter the Apostle in Parsippany, has been spiritually preparing for the journey with a group of 10 pilgrims he will be leading to the Eternal City after visiting the Holy Land.

Those of us of a certain age grew up with cowboy “heroes” like the Lone Ranger who tried to tame the Wild West in the battle of good versus evil on TV shows. But in reality the Lone Ranger doesn’t hold a candle to an Italian-born nun, now on the path to sainthood, who stood toe-to-toe with bad guys like Billy the Kid to stem the lawlessness that was rampant in the Wild West.

Bishop Serratelli and Fr. Kevin Corcoran climb the scaffolding and make a thorough site inspection of the construction progress.

Progress continues on every aspect of the project, even off site in the workshops of the vendors.

Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit to St. Cecilia Parish in Rockaway Aug. 14 where he celebrated Mass for the 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time. Following Mass the Bishop was joined by Father Marcin Michalowski, parochial vicar, and Father Sigmund Peplowski, pastor, as he took a tour of St. Cecilia’s sanctuary which is currently undergoing renovations.

It has become a summer tradition at the agencies of diocesan Catholic Charities for throngs of young people to inhabit its offices and group homes giving time and talent to make a difference to those in need. These young people, ranging in from middle school students to college students, volunteered with Catholic Heart Workcamp (CHWC) and were in the Paterson Diocese during the week of July 24-30.

A group of fourth- to eighth-grade children sits in a circle on the floor of the hall under St. Andrew the Apostle Church in Clifton, tapping a rhythm on the tiles with plastic cups while singing a hymn. The sophisticated beat pauses but for a moment, not giving the kids much time to pass their cups (which they ornately decorated), one of many hands-on activities offered at the parish’s first Summer Worship Music Camp held Aug. 8-12

When the late Father Patrick Rice, pastor of St. Kateri Tekakwitha Parish in Sparta, would say “God is good all the time, all the time God is good,” he said it during homilies, to charge up youth and as a reminder about the greatness of God. And it still is a lasting memory the Corbin brothers — Hayden, 13, and Maddox, 11, have of the Irish-born priest, who passed away on Sept. 3, 2015.

From birth, Peter, a 7-year-old orphan from impoverished urban Uganda, has suffered with Cerebral Palsy, which left him bedridden — unable to stand or walk independently. Yet while the disorder robbed him of some physical abilities needed to move around, it did not steal his iron will and his hope — that one day, he would walk to school. By Peter’s side was Clare Byrne, an occupational therapist and missionary from the Pater­son Diocese, who worked with him on therapy to coordinate and strengthen his motor skills, so he finally could take his first steps independently.

The Little Sisters of the Poor have been in the news a lot this year, but the news is not to shine a light on their ministry to the poor: they operate 27 homes for the elderly poor in the U.S., including St. Joseph’s Home for the Elderly in Totowa in the Diocese of Paterson and support them all by begging for donations.

Three young people from St. Joseph Parish in West Milford joined 50 other youths from the region who were unable to attend World Youth Day (WYD) 2016, to catch the spirit of the historic event during a retreat, “World Youth Day — Not a World Away,” from July 29-31, in Monroe, N.Y.

Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit to St. Paul’s Abbey in Newton celebrating Mass, spending time and having lunch with the Benedictine monks living there Aug. 2. Currently 12 monks are living at the abbey including three priests, one permanent deacon and eight brothers. Also there are three religious sisters, one Franciscan and two Benedictines from Tanzania who are temporarily living there as they study at Seton Hall University in South Orange.

Sister Rosemary Moynihan, general superior of the Sisters of Charity of St. Elizabeth, greeted the congregation assembled on July 1 in Holy Family Chapel, Convent Station, for the transfer of the relics of Blessed Miriam Teresa Demjanovich. The relics were to be transferred from the crypt where they had been placed and sealed on May 9, 1979 to a new shrine being constructed in the chapel proper. The congregation present included Bishop Serratelli, Eparch Kurt Burnette of the Eparchy of Passaic, local clergy, Sisters of Charity, Seton Associates and members of the advisory board of the Blessed Miriam Teresa League.

“Where did they go?” Charles Lana had finished playing basketball with friends, when he noticed that the gold chain, crucifix and charm for the three theological virtues disappeared from around his neck. The 19-year-old never found the chain or the charm but was surprised to find that the crucifix fell into the left pocket of his shorts. This fortunate discovery encouraged Lana to reflect, not only on the jewelry that he lost, but also on the new insights to his budding vocation that he gained.

When sisters Katie and Kim Lennox dreamed of flying to some faraway land, they never could have imagined that the first plane ride they would ever take in their lives would be to see Pope Francis at World Youth Day (WYD) in Krakow, Poland. With the support of their parish community, St. Kateri Tekakwitha Church in Sparta, the Lennox sisters, who are 20 and 18 years old respectively, were living that dream and have had their lives changed because of the weeklong experience encountering people from 187 countries and visiting beautiful cathedrals around the Central European country from July 26 to 31.

Growing up, Mike Piazza thought he had as much of a chance of being elected to Major League Baseball’s Hall of Fame as he did of being canonized a saint. But on July 24, one of those longshots came in when he was enshrined as one of the newest inductees into the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.