News - March 2016 RSS Feed

Bishop Serratelli celebrated Mass on Easter Sunday, March 27 in St. Kateri Tekakwitha Church in Sparta. Easter, the chief feast of the Church’s ecclesiastical year, commemorates the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

Bishop Serratelli presided at the Easter Vigil Mass at the Bishop Rodimer Center adjacent to the Cathedral of St. John in Paterson on Holy Saturday, March 26.

Bishop Serratelli presided at the celebration of the Lord’s Passion on Good Friday, March 25, in St. Clare Church in Clifton. The solemn service begins with the Liturgy of the Word, including the account of the Passion and Death of Jesus from the Gospel of John. The second part is the Veneration of the Cross, an ancient practice that allows each person to touch or kiss the Cross, the instrument of torture that leads to salvation.

Bishop Serratelli celebrated the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, on Holy Thursday, March 24, at St. Paul Parish in Clifton. The Mass commemorates the institution of the Sacraments of the Eucharist and Holy Orders by Jesus Christ.

Bishop Serratelli was the homilist and main celebrant, with priests of the diocese as concelebrants, at the annual Mass of Chrism March 21 in St. Philip the Apostle Church in Clifton.

The headlines about the conflict in Ukraine have vanished and have become forgotten in the minds of many, but not for Kalyna Leschuk, a junior at Academy of St. Elizabeth here and a parishioner of St. Rose of Lima Parish in East Hanover. She not only thinks about the suffering that the ongoing unrest is causing Ukrainians, she is doing something to help Ukrainians.

What’s that flying object gliding through the air between the tops of the two tall towers of Our Lady of Lourdes (OLL) Church in Paterson? Curious pedestrians stopped on a nearby sidewalk and looked up while apartment dwellers across the street surveyed the scene from their porches on the morning of March 23 as a drone snapped hundreds of photographs with its camera of damage at the top and sides of the majestic city church.

As the Year of Mercy is celebrated by the universal Church, Divine Mercy Sunday this year takes on special meaning — reminding all no matter how lonely or sinful they are, they will never be forgotten by God.

An important bill is now being considered by the U.S. Senate. The bill, to support the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, would prohibit abortions performed after 20 weeks of pregnancy except in cases of rape (the victim must seek counseling or medical treatment), incest, or when the life of the mother is at stake.

Sheetrock ceilings are installed and painted, plaster is repaired, electrical/alarm wiring and ceiling lights are installed as HVAC work continues.

Additional stained glass is removed and packed to ship to the Botti Studio shop for restoration. Installation of structural bronze T-bars is completed as the preliminary cleaning of the stained glass commences.

Bishop Serratelli celebrated the noon Mass on Palm Sunday at Our Lady of Good Counsel Church in Pompton Plains March 20. Palm Sunday marks Jesus’ triumphant entrance into Jerusalem. The parishioners pro­cessed to the church, led by Bishop Serratelli, holding palm fronds, representing the palm branches the crowd scattered in front of Jesus as he rode into Jerusalem. Palm branches are widely recognized as a symbol of peace and victory. Palm Sunday is the sixth and final Sunday of Lent, marking the start of Holy Week, the most sacred week on the Church’s liturgical calendar.

The community of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist celebrated Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion at a vigil Mass in Spanish Saturday evening, March 19 with Bishop Serratelli as the main celebrant with Msgr. Mark Giordani, cathedral rector, among the concelebrants. The Mass was held at the Bishop Rodimer Center, adjacent to the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, which is currently undergoing major renovations.

 From the classic and romantic to the contemporary and cool, 38 couples at St. Matthew Parish in Randolph flashbacked to their wedding day and remembered the first song they danced to that is forever etched in their minds.

Many distractions in life not only cause us to focus more on ourselves and less on other people, but also can keep us from experiencing the immeasurable joy found in God’s promise of eternal life, Bishop Serratelli told Paterson Diocesan staff, during a Lenten retreat day on Friday, March 18 at the Diocesan Center and the John Paul II Pastoral Center in Clifton.

An Iraqi-born bishop of the Syriac Catholic Church brought into clearer focus for students of Morris Catholic High School in Denville the horrors of the systematic persecution of Christians in his homeland and in Syria at the hands of the Islamic State. On March 17, the U.S. finally declared these atrocities — which have been leading to the wiping out of the Christians and other ethnic minority populations in the region — as “genocide,” leaving the prelate unimpressed.

What are you going to do for Holy Week? Color Easter eggs? Clean and bake for Easter? Shop for a new Easter outfit? Many of us participate in some of these secular Easter activities. But it is of the utmost importance to keep in our minds and hearts that Holy Week is about our remembrance of the events surrounding the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Many believe connecting with teenagers requires text messaging, blogs and social network sites on the Internet. But to evangelize them to know the love of Christ, the National Evangelization Team (NET) follows the lead of Jesus himself — hitting the road to meet with young people face-to-face and giving witness to the faith.

Bishop Serratelli presided at the annual Acies of the Legion of Mary March 13 in St. Margaret of Scotland Church in Morristown. The Legion of Mary is a worldwide organization in which men, women and youth join in prayer and in the apostolic work in union with Our Lady and under the guidance of a priest. Msgr. John Demkovich, diocesan mission director and former pastor of St. Mary Parish, Passaic, is spiritual director of the Passaic County Curia while Msgr. Robert Carroll, pastor of Our Lady of Fatima Parish, Highland Lakes, is spiritual director of the Morris County Curia.

Taking a moment to reflect on the vocation of educating the young at diocesan schools, school administrators, presidents and principals came together for a Lenten Retreat March 11 at St. Paul’s Inside the Walls in Madison led by Bishop Serratelli. The Lenten retreat was coordinated by the diocesan schools office and included two talks by the Bishop and the celebration of Mass at which he was the principal celebrant.