News - October 2017 RSS Feed

Last Sunday, Catholics encountered several engaging figures in Scripture — including Cyrus the Great, who frees the Israelites from captivity, and St. Paul, who thanks God for the growing faith of the Thessalonians — and Jesus in the Gospel, who teaches, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.” A few days before, a group gathered at St. Vincent de Paul Parish here to get reacquainted with Christ and these Biblical characters in those readings for Mass for the 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Many say that young people are the future of the Church but the future is now and inspiring youths to seek Christ plays a vital role in keeping the Church alive. So much so that Bishop Serratelli is inviting young adults, youth leaders and catechists from parishes around the Diocese to participate in an evening of spiritual reflection to be held in St. Joseph Church here at 7 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 4.

Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit to the Diocesan Shrine of St. John Paul II/Holy Rosary Parish in Passaic Oct 22. During his visit, the Bishop consecrated the new altar in the church and celebrated Mass for the 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time, which also marked World Mission Sunday. The new altar was made possible by the generous contributions of parish families.

The diocesan Mission Office marked World Mission Sunday on Oct. 22 at St. Paul Church in Prospect Park with a special Mass. It was part of the worldwide celebration in the Church that encourages the faithful to pray for and contribute to the missions and promotes their work in spreading the Gospel and God’s mercy in mostly poor countries around the globe. The Diocese also presented awards to a Catholic elementary school and two parish religious education programs for generous and heartfelt contributions from their students through the Missionary Childhood Association (MCA).

Under clear blue skies, 2,000 diocesan pilgrims spent a day at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in the nation’s capital to honor the Blessed Mother Oct. 21. The National Shrine receives visits from dioceses around the country throughout the year and the Paterson Diocese has hosted the pilgrimage every three years since 1973. This year’s visit from the Diocese was one of the best-attended pilgrimages to the shrine from all the dioceses around the country with 45 buses coming from all parts of the Diocese.

During Respect Life Month, one of the more anticipated announcements is the choice of the recipient of the Evangelium Vitae Medal, given annually by the Center for Ethics and Culture of the University of Notre Dame. Named for St. Pope John Paul II’s 1995 encyclical on life issues, the medal is a lifetime achievement award given to “heroes of the pro-life movement.”

Bishop Serratelli installed Father Jared Brogan as pastor of St. Catherine of Siena Church in Mountain Lakes Oct. 14 during the 5:30 p.m. vigil Mass that the Bishop celebrated for the 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time. Father Brogan, a native of Brooklyn, was ordained by the Bishop on May 28, 2011.

Already active in her parish of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, Paterson, Brigida Nunez has been traveling this fall to the John Paul II Pastoral Center here for classes on Wednesday evenings to become more formed in her faith, so she can more effectively evangelize the “Good News” of the Gospel. Nunez — involved in St. John’s lector, Pre-Cana marriage-preparation and New Evangelization ministries — joins 27 other local Spanish-speaking Catholics for those weekly sessions in starting to pursue a three-year diocesan “Leadership Certificate in Hispanic Ministry with Specialization in Evangelization.”

Bishop Serratelli served as main celebrant and homilist of a Pontifical Mass in the Traditional Latin Rite — steeped in the prayers, music and ceremony of the liturgy of the early Church — for the first time Oct. 14 in the newly renovated Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson.

Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit to St. Clement Pope and Martyr Parish in Rockaway Township Oct. 15 where he celebrated Mass for the 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time. At the 10:30 a.m. Mass, the Children’s Liturgy of the Word was held for children of the parish.

The blazing summer sun had pushed up temperatures into the 90s in Pompton Lakes on July 15 — as well as drink sales for Justin and Evan Pidane and their well-stocked lemonade stand outside at the curb on Lincoln Avenue there. All day, profits kept soaring with sales of their soft drinks, power drinks, ice teas and water, as shoppers — and browsers — stopped by the stand to quench their thirst, during the popular borough-wide yard sale on that Saturday.

Since its creation, the agencies of Diocesan Catholic Charities have always ensured the oldest members of the community are not forgotten, especially in today’s society when so many senior citizens are in need of assistance for their daily survival. With its many services to seniors, these agencies foster senior independence, promote healthy aging, support caregivers, educate the public and advocate for senior issues through Catholic Family and Community Services (CFCS).

Today is Day 22. Some days are different than others outside of 196 Speedwell Avenue in Morristown. On some days, there will be a group of people. On other days there will only be one or two. But regardless of the number of people there praying, the mission is the same for members of Morris County Right to Life and many other pro-life advocates, who stand outside of this Planned Parenthood office — prayers to save the almost 1,000 babies who are aborted each year at the facility.

“We welcome the news that this particular threat to religious freedom has been lifted.” Those were the words included in a statement by Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore, chair of the U.S. bishops’ religious liberty committee, after new exemptions to the HHS Obama contraceptive mandate were announced.

Students and faculty at Pope John XXIII Regional High School and Pope John XXIII Middle School in Sparta welcomed Bishop Serratelli to campus Sept. 29 where he celebrated Mass in a packed “old gymnasium” at Pope John XXIII Regional High School and dedicated and blessed two new facilities at the high school and the new middle school during his pastoral visit.

Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit to Blessed Sacrament Parish in Paterson Oct. 8 where he celebrated the 11 a.m. Mass in Spanish for the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Without priests, there would be no Mass and without the Mass, no Holy Eucharist. This is a situation faced by many Catholics in mission lands, where receiving the Eucharist sadly is often a rare occurrence. Fortunately, here in the Paterson Diocese for the past decade, more than 80 men have been ordained to the priesthood, ensuring the mission of Christ and his Church will continue for generations to come. It is through the great efforts of the faithful who support seminarian education and vocations through the Bishop’s Annual Appeal that there has been a steady growth of men yearning to serve as priests.

The wives of permanent deacons and deacon candidates should turn to the Blessed Virgin Mary for guidance and as a model of faith and as our spiritual mother, as they discern what actions they should take in their lives to spread the Gospel and support their husbands’ ministries.

The wildfires in California this week and the recent tragedy in Las Vegas have highlighted the sacrifices firefighters and first responders make every day for the safety for others. Knowing these brave men and women risk their lives daily, the Paterson Diocese held its third annual Fallen Firefighters Memorial Mass at St. Gerard Majella Church in Paterson Oct. 10.

As the Catholic Church marks the month of October as Respect Life Month, there was some good news last week from Washington. On Oct. 3, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 237-189 for the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. The bill has been among the right-to-life movement’s top congressional priorities for the 115th Congress. Like the 16 state bills that have been enacted thus far, the proposed federal law would extend legal protection to unborn humans beginning at 20 weeks fetal age, based on congressional findings that by that point in life (and even earlier) the unborn child has the capacity to experience excruciating pain during an abortion.