News - December 2021 RSS Feed

New Jersey continued its steady descent into the culture of death earlier this month when state policy expanded access to abortion by allowing non-doctors to perform abortions. The N.J. State Board of Medical Exam­iners unanimously decided, “To eliminate medically unnecessary regulations on abortion and open new avenues for reproductive healthcare services across the state.”

Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney was the principal celebrant of the Mass marking the Nativity of the Lord in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson Dec 24. The Bishop of the Paterson Diocese traditionally marks Christmas Eve night at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, the Mother Church of the Diocese of Paterson.

From Dec. 15 to 23, Filipinos from around the Diocese came together to mark Simbang Gabi, a nine-day novena before Christmas. It originated in the Philippines. Masses were held in churches throughout the Diocese during the duration of the novena. The Diocesan Commission of Catholic Filipino Ministries coordinated the diocesan-wide inter-parish Simbang Gabi.

Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney made a pastoral visit to St. Paul Church in Prospect Park Dec. 25 where he was the principal celebrant of a Christmas Day Mass marking the Nativity of the Lord.

Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney celebrated two Masses — 11 a.m. in English and the 1 p.m. in Spanish — at St. Paul the Apostle Church in Clifton Dec. 26. The Masses marked the Feast of the Holy Family, which celebrates Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, as a model for all Christian families.

The walls and roof of the manger were made of popsicle sticks, painted brown. The figurines, including the Blessed Mother, Joseph, and Baby Jesus, were fashioned from modeling clay. It took four young girls in the Barovjan house from Our Lady Queen of Peace (OLQP) Parish in Branchville, two hours on the Friday after Thanksgiving to build a miniature masterpiece: a small Nativity set that realizes their own interpretation of the birth of the Christ Child.

Kennedy Sobala, 6, of St. Vincent Martyr Parish in Madison, gets in the holiday spirit as she sits down with her family with a cup of hot chocolate in their Cape May hotel room on Dec. 18, waiting for Christmas Story Time, a livestreamed presentation to begin on the TV front of them from their laptop. As it starts, a tall, stately man resembling the late Mr. Rogers appears on screen, sitting in chair in front of a Nativity scene, wearing a red sweater, and sporting a calm and soothing demeanor for children.

Pope Francis called for more investment in education and less in weaponry in his 2022 World Peace Day message. In the message, the pope said the world had witnessed a “significant reduction” in education funding in recent years, while military spending had soared beyond Cold War levels.

ishop Kevin J. Sweeney celebrated the vigil Mass marking the Fourth Sunday of Advent at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Boonton Dec. 18. The Mass was celebrated in Spanish to serve the growing Spanish-speaking community in the area.

On the Fourth Sunday of Advent, the final Sunday before Christmas, Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney celebrated Mass in St. Simon the Apostle Church in Green Pond Dec. 19.

Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney celebrated Mass marking the Fourth Sunday of Advent at St. Joseph Parish in Lincoln Park Dec. 19. Every Sunday at 7 p.m., St. Joseph Parish celebrates a Mass in Spanish for the Spanish-speaking community. Previously, the Spanish Mass at the parish was under the direction of the diocesan Migrant Ministry Office, which is now part of the Office of the Hispanic Ministry.

The Blessed Mother lives a precious meditation, as she gazes down in awe upon the Christ Child in “La Nativite de Notre-Seigneur Jesus-Christ,” a painting by James Tissot (1886–1904). In the masterpiece, Mary kneels reverently before the Baby Jesus, who lies on a white cloth naked with his arms stretched upward and outward and is bathed in bright white light. Father Paul Manning, executive director of St. Paul Inside the Walls: the Diocesan Center for Evangelization in Madison, gave an audience of faithful in Corpus Christi Church here a moment to look at large video screen that displayed “La Nativite de Notre-Seigneur Jesus-Christ,” so they could pick out details — along with insights — about Mary and Jesus.

On Dec. 17, one week before Christmas Eve, the annual diocesan Christmas Concert was held at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson in celebration of the season of hopeful anticipation of Christ’s birth. Beloved Christmas carols and many classics were performed such as O Come All Ye Faithful, Silent Night, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, and O Holy Night.

As a child, Franciscan Brother Joachim Joseph attended Catholic school in his native Massachusetts but was kicked out for “causing trouble.” Later, he moved to Florida, where he quit high school as a sophomore and joined a road crew. In his “off time,” he enjoyed a life of partying: indulging in drinking and drugs. One day, a car hit Brother Joachim. It knocked him 45 feet into the air. A side mirror sliced into his arm down to the bone. Later, he found out that the accident destroyed the cartilage in both of his knees. Yet, miraculously, the young man suffered no broken bones and, more importantly, survived a mishap that could have killed him or left him crippled or brain damaged.

As the lyric goes, “It’s Christmas time in the city” and for the city of Paterson, the Christmas song came alive when 100 volunteers and Knights of Columbus members from the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson brought some Christmas joy to parishioners and residents of the city on a frosty Dec. 19. Right outside the Cathedral on Grand Street here, from Main Street to Jackson Street, it looked like Santa’s workshop, with table after table of wrapped Christmas gifts and warm winter coats to be given away to families after Masses on the Fourth Sunday of Advent at the Cathedral.

As the celebration of Christmas comes fully into view, now just days from today, the economic news grows more troubling by the day. The concern about just how far the U.S. economy will continue to grow with inflation raging at its highest percentage in nearly five decades seems to be on everyone’s mind as they try to complete their Christmas shopping with their budgets strained more than ever by higher prices on everything.

Have you been to Bethlehem? How often have you gone there and when was your most recent visit? Each year, in faith and prayer, we are invited to journey with Mary and Joseph, with the shepherds and Wise Men, to go to Bethlehem and to adore the newborn King. When we stop and think, there is a truly spiritual journey that takes place each year when we think of all the Masses, throughout the whole world, celebrated on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day ...

Fieles de toda la diócesis y miembros de la comunidad parroquial de la Catedral de san Juan Bautista se dieron cita aquí para celebrar la Solemnidad de la Virgen de Guadalupe. A la luz de la invitación por parte de la Iglesia universal a regocijarnos este Domingo de Gaudete (III Domingo de Adviento), cientos de personas celebraron la aparición de nuestra Santísima Madre en Guadalupe en 1531. Sacerdotes, diáconos y laicos se unieron en ferviente oración durante la Misa celebrada por Monseñor Sweeney y con-celebrada por Monseñor Sylva, Rector de la Catedral y el P. Jorge Castaño, vicario de la misma.

The students of St. Gerard Majella School in Paterson received a visit from Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney, who stopped by each of the classrooms and celebrated Mass on Dec. 7, the feast of St. Ambrose, with the students in attendance.

On the feast of the Immaculate Conception, Dec. 8, Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney blessed the new chapel at St. Agnes Church in Paterson. The chapel was built through the generosity of the parish community. It is used for the celebration of daily Mass. Father Enrique Corona, pastor of St. Agnes and St. Michael the Archangel parishes in Paterson, hopes eventually there will be perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in the chapel, located in the heart of the city of Paterson.