Last week, in some caucus meetings at the Democratic National Convention, the words “under God” were omitted in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. That did not sit well with the Knights of Columbus who were instrumental in getting the words “under God” added to the Pledge of Allegiance.
Over the years, Wade Trainor, a diocesan seminarian, has opened himself to the possibility of God calling him to the priesthood by opening not only his heart, but also his mind to a rigorous, intellectually stimulating academic study of the faith. Helping to guide him on this journey have been high-school teachers and seminary professors along with intellectuals of ancient times such as Plato and Aristotle and theologians of the early Church such as St. Paul and St. Gregory of Nazianzus.
Bishop Kevin Sweeney made a pastoral visit to St. Therese Parish in Succasunna Aug. 22 where he celebrated the vigil Mass marking the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time.
Across the country on Saturday, Sept. 12, pro-life Americans will honor in a profound way the memory of the unborn babies who have been lost to abortion. In the Diocese of Paterson, at St. Christopher Church in Parsippany, the National Day of Remembrance for Aborted Children will be observed with an outdoor memorial service at 1:30 p.m. hosted by the Morris County Right to Life.
Bishop Kevin Sweeney made a pastoral visit to Our Lady Queen of Peace Parish in Branchville where he celebrated the 10 a.m. Mass marking the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Mass was held in nearby Don Hopkins Field, where Mass has been celebrated for the community since the reopening of the public celebration of Masses in June.
Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney ordained 14 men as permanent deacons to serve the Diocese on Aug. 22 during a Mass in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson. It marked the first ordination of permanent deacons that he presided at since he was ordained and installed as eighth Bishop of Paterson on July 1.
During a mid-summer evening, youths living near the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist on Main and Grand Streets in the city gathered with their friends, some for the first time in months, for some socially distanced fun and food Aug. 14. Food trucks lined up along Hamilton Street behind the cathedral serving up free fresh empanadas, wood burning pizza and soft-serve ice cream to children and teens living in the Fifth Ward of Paterson.
Bishop Kevin Sweeney made a pastoral visit to St. Ann Parish in Parsippany and celebrated the vigil Mass marking the 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time. Concelebrating the Mass was Father Edgar Rivera, St. Ann’s pastor.
Years ago, Krzysztof Tyszko sat in the church of his home parish, the Diocesan Shrine of St. John Paul II/Holy Rosary in Passaic, waiting for Mass to begin when he announced to his parents that he wanted to be an altar server. The first-grader hadn’t told his pastor, Father Stefan Las, so it seemed a surprise when the priest telephoned the faith-filled boy a few days later, asking him to join the ranks of the parish’s altar servers.
Sister Elfie Del Rosario made her perpetual vows as a Salesian Sister – Daughter of Mary Help of Christians – on Aug. 15, the Feast of the Assumption of Mary. Bishop Kevin Sweeney was the main celebrant of the Mass that took place in St. Anthony Church in Hawthorne where Sister Elfie served in the nursery school at St. Anthony School.
The Little Sisters of the Poor welcomed Bishop Kevin Sweeney to St. Joseph’s Home for the Elderly in Totowa Aug. 16 where he celebrated Mass marking the 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time in the chapel. During the visit, the Bishop prayed for the sisters, who are taking care of the most vulnerable in the pandemic, and all the elderly residents living at the home.
Valuing the dignity of all human life above all else is what Michael Renda, 97, a parishioner of St. Philip the Apostle Church in Clifton, fully believes. He has fiercely been a strong voice and fighter for the unborn. When he was still physically able, well into his mid-90s, he was outside of abortion clinics praying to save the innocent children in the womb.
Despite fear and uncertainty, catechetical leaders in parishes of the Diocese received encouragement in their efforts to continue to provide religious education programs to their young people in the fall by Bishop Kevin Sweeney and the diocesan Office of Catechesis during a pair of meetings with them on Aug. 11 in St. Peter the Apostle Church in Parsippany.
Earlier this summer, Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) of the District of Columbia ordered part of 16th Street, near the White House, painted with the slogan “Black Lives Matter” during the mass anti-racism protests in Washington, D.C. Protesters also painted “Defund the Police” on the same street as an addition to Bowser’s message with no pushback from her.
For the past 12 years, St. Joseph Parish in mendham has sent a crew of teenagers to eastern Kentucky to help working poor families with home repair and renovation. This year’s team was the largest yet: 75 high school students and 24 adult chaperones were signed up for a week’s work when the pandemic shutdowns made the trip impossible, especially maintaining social distancing during a 10-hour van ride.
Although the Catholic Church is not an expert in the global health crisis forged by the COVID-19 pandemic, Catholic social teaching is fundamental to healing the issues faced by the world today.
Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney ordained Francis Hamilton Balfour Lennie IV to the transitional diaconate Aug. 9 during the noon Mass in Lennie’s home parish of St. Pius X Parish in Montville, the final step before being called to be ordained a priest in 2021. This was the second ordination of a transitional deacon that the Bishop presided at since being ordained and installed as the eighth Bishop of Paterson on July 1.
An empty lot on 410 Straight St. in Paterson is all that remains from the devastating five-alarm fire last August that destroyed one of the buildings of Straight and Narrow, an agency of diocesan Catholic Charities. A year later, the plan to rebuild is more of a reality thanks to the thousands of faithful parishioners across the Diocese who made pledges to the 2019 Bishop’s Annual Appeal (BAA).
Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney ordained Rev. Mr. Joseph Anthony Mactal to the transitional diaconate on July 31 in his home parish of St. Thomas the Apostle in Oak Ridge — the first ordination to the diaconate that the Bishop has presided over since his ordination/installation on July 1. It also marked the last step for Rev. Mr. Mactal, a parishioner of St. Thomas and St. John Vianney in Stockholm, before he is called to ordination as a priest of the Diocese next year.
Bishop Kevin Sweeney made a pastoral visit to St. Joseph Parish in Newton Aug. 1 where he celebrated the 5 p.m. vigil Mass for the 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time.