From the first note, worshippers started clapping, as they began lifting their singing voices in praise. The Contemporary Youth Ensemble (CYE) had just launched into the processional hymn of the 6 p.m. Sunday Mass in St. Kateri Tekakwitha Church here: the driving “Rain Down” — a modern song that led churchgoers into a deep sense of prayer, while also giving high-spirited voice to their joy as Catholics.

Here in New Jersey, Gov. Phil Murphy continues to support a culture of death, which St. Pope John Paul II condemned in his encyclical, “Evangelium Vitae,” (“The Gospel of Life”). The governor’s recent signing into law legislation that legalized assisted suicide in the state and his first act as governor to fully restore taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest provider of abortions, attest to that.

Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit May 5 to St. Simon the Apostle Parish in Green Pond in the northern section of Rockaway Township where he served as main celebrant and homilist of the 11:30 a.m. Mass for the Third Sunday of Easter.

Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit to Our Lady Queen of Peace Parish in Hewitt on May 4 where he celebrated the vigil Mass for the Third Sunday of Easter. During the Mass, he also administered the Sacrament of Confirmation to young people of the parish.

Marking its 20th year, the Paterson Diocese hosted the annual Blue Mass to honor the brave men and women who serve in law enforcement and risk their lives every day for the protection of the communities they serve. Bishop Serratelli was the main celebrant of the Mass May 7 in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson. Many priests of the diocese, some who serve as police and fire chaplains for local departments, were concelebrants of the Mass.

Msgr. Mark Giordani, a retired priest of the Diocese, former rector of St. John’s Cathedral, and founder of the Christian Riders Motorcycle Club in 1969, celebrated the 50th annual Motorcycle Mass with Msgr. Geno Sylva, the cathedral’s rector, as a concelebrant on May 5.

With close to 2 million members, the Knights of Columbus is the largest Catholic men’s organization in the world and that membership number has just grown even higher as two new councils in the Diocese of Paterson have recently been created. The two newest councils in the fraternal organization are the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist Council No. 17254, based at the cathedral here and the Father Mychal Judge Council No. 16990, based at St. Jude Parish in Hardyston.

Bishop Serratelli ordained four diocesan seminarians — three from the Philippines and another from Poland — to the transitional diaconate on May 3 in St. Margaret of Scotland Church in Morristown, bringing the four men a step closer to being called to ordination as priests of the Diocese next year. That evening, the Bishop encouraged these men to become “ministers of Jesus Christ” in their new role as deacons.

The adoption of new regulations that ensure existing laws protecting conscience rights in healthcare are enforced and followed by the Department of Health and Human Ser­vices is good news not only for religious freedom in America but also for the pro-life cause.

Bishop Serratelli announces clergy assignments and clergy retirements.

Bishop Serratelli was the main celebrant of the noon Mass April 28 in St. Stephen Church here to mark Divine Mercy Sunday (also the Second Sunday of Easter). Divine Mercy Sunday is a special feast for the Paterson parish brought to the parishioners by Polish-born Father Dariusz Kaminski, pastor. The Mass was celebrated in three languages of the parish community — English, Polish and Spanish.

Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit to St. Catherine of Bologna Church in Ringwood and celebrated the vigil Mass marking the Second Sunday of Easter, which also celebrates the Sunday of Divine Mercy. During the Mass, the Bishop administered the Sacrament of Confirmation to young people of the parish.

An inscription in black-and-white tile above the entrance of D-Building must seem out of place to students here at Sussex County Community College (SCCC): “Don Bosco College.” It certainly did to John Peter Zappe, an engineering science major at SCCC, who turned his curiosity about the odd sign into a research project, uncovering its Catholic history that is largely unknown to its students today. He learned that the campus was once known as Don Bosco College Seminary — run by Salesian priests and brothers from 1928 to 1989 and later became SCCC, a two-year, co-ed public community college in rural Sussex County. Zappe’s interest resulted in his helping create a new historical plaque — at the entrance of D-Building — to honor the Catholic roots of the secular SCCC campus — a marker that was dedicated, during a ceremony outside the three-story, red-brick building on a sunny April 25 afternoon.

Based less than three miles from the U.S.-Mexico border, Catholic Charities in the Diocese of Laredo has in place a unique department to address the unprecedented need in its area. It’s called humanitarian relief services. This one-of-a-kind ministry, with only a handful of staff and volunteers, exists to serve the hundreds of migrant families and individuals who are crossing the border from Mexico seeking asylum in the United States. But due to its small staff, Catholic Charities in Laredo is being overwhelmed by the crush of humanity crossing the border into Texas non-stop, day after day, causing a crisis of unprecedented proportions.

Bishop Serratelli will ordain eight men — who come from diverse educational and professional backgrounds and life experiences — to the priesthood for the Paterson Diocese during the Rite of Ordination of Priests at 10:30 a.m., Saturday, May 11 in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson.

The 15th annual National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in Washington D.C. was akin to a joy-filled revival rally for the 1,500 Catholics who attended the event. The messages presented by the speakers were ones all Catholics need to hear: an uncompromising call to holiness and the defense of every human life with calls for a “Catholic great awakening.”