News - February 2024 RSS Feed

The Paterson Diocese celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Permanent Diaconate during a convocation on Feb. 17 at All Saints Academy in Parsippany. The local Church also honored the hundreds of permanent deacons of the diocese for answering Jesus’ call to “Follow me” into an ordained ministry of service since the establishment of the diaconate in 1974.

The Friendly Sons of St. Patrick (FSSP) of Morris County hosted the 42nd anniversary of the annual blessing of the tri-color Irish flag at St. Catherine of Siena Church in Mountain Lakes on Feb. 25. This traditional celebration marks its members’ faith and commitment to their religious beliefs and Irish heritage.

During this year’s Rite of Election on Feb. 18, 123 catechumens from faith communities in the Paterson Diocese moved a step closer to receiving the sacraments of initiation — baptism, confirmation, and Eucharist — in their respective parishes during the upcoming Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday, March 30.

The Office of Child and Youth Protection of the Paterson Diocese is looking for volunteer facilitators to conduct ongoing awareness sessions to help employees, volunteers, and parents of the diocese prevent child sexual abuse.

For the latest episode of Beyond The Beacon, Father Jared Brogan joins Bishop Kevin Sweeney and Jai Agnish to discuss the significance of going to confession and more. Father Brogan is the director of the Office of Divine Worship and Master of Ceremonies for the Diocese of Paterson.

This Lent, local faithful are invited to share their vision for the future of the Church with their fellow Catholics during three interim phase listening sessions to be held in the diocese — part of the broader Church’s Synod on Synodality process, which will conclude at the Vatican in October.

In 2018, New York City launched the initiative She Built NYC. It was an effort to commission a public monument to honor women who made historic contributions to New York City. A commendable effort in a city whose monuments overwhelming honored men. When the public was asked to nominate women, Mother Cabrini (Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, M.S.C.) won by a landslide. Yet, New York City ignored the results and commissioned statues for seven other women.

As I thought about the topic for my column this week, my original plan was to write about a new movie called “Cabrini,” which tells the story of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini (also known as “Mother Cabrini”), which will debut in theatres across the country on Friday, March 8.

The community of St. Mary’s Assumption Parish in Passaic on Feb. 14, the first day of Lent, welcomed Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney, who concelebrated a Mass for Ash Wednesday.

On Ash Wednesday, Feb. 14, the first day of Lent, Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney celebrated Mass in the chapel of St. Joseph’s University Medical Center in Paterson.

Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney installed Father Babu Thelappilly as pastor of Our Lady of Fatima (OLF) Parish in the Highland Lakes neighborhood of Vernon during a Mass in the church on Feb. 17.

The community of Ss. Cyril & Methodius Parish in Clifton celebrated a trilingual Mass — in English, Spanish, and Slovak — in honor of its patron saints on Feb. 11 in the church.

Samuel McDonald, the new music director for St. Rose of Lima Church in East Hanover, recalls the emotion felt. McDonald said, “It was magical, and I felt like it was divine intervention how it all came together. There is a different sense of purpose when you are singing together with others collectively and making music.

The Connolly family has a perfect spot in their home to pray the rosary — a former wine cellar that resembles an alcove of a church that would house a shrine. For a week last year, the family of five learned to pray the rosary together in this space that’s already devotional — displaying religious items, such as a cross, bible, and icons.

In honor of the season of love (Valentine’s Day, National Marriage Week, World Marriage Day), Brian and Eniola (Eni) Honsberger, a loving Catholic couple celebrating 15 years of marriage in April, join Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney and Jai Agnish for episode 43 of Beyond The Beacon for a discussion about marriage and more.

It was “pretty cool” to hear Bishop Cozzens as he described his experience at World Youth Day in Denver in 1993; he also described my own experience of being “changed” by the “experience of the Church,” gathered in prayer in such great numbers and experiencing in a powerful way the presence of the Holy Spirit.

For episode 42 of Beyond The Beacon, Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney and Jai Agnish welcome back Cecile Pagliarulo to discuss the Eucharist’s impact on the spiritual life of young adults.

The Ministry of Retired Priests of the Paterson Diocese held a winter luncheon on Feb. 7 at St. Ann Parish in Parsippany. They learned about end-of-life issues from two speakers, Nancy Heslin Reading, an elder care lawyer in Newton, and MaryLou Rafferty, a hospice nurse.

Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney presided at the annual Scout Sunday Mass to honor Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson on Feb. 3.

Holy Trinity Parish in Passaic rejoiced as it marked its return to worshipping in the main church on Feb. 1 with a Mass of Thanksgiving, celebrated by Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney. In September, the parish started renovations to the floor and pews — improvements that are almost completed, said Father Antonio Rodriguez, Holy Trinity’s pastor, who concelebrated the Mass.