News - April 2024 RSS Feed

Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney visited Our Lady of Mercy (OLM) Parish in Whippany on April 20 to preside over the 5:30 p.m. Mass. During the liturgy, the bishop installed Father Michal Rybinski as OLM’s pastor.

Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney congratulated 75 religious sisters, priests, and brothers marking milestone anniversaries in consecrated life, thanking them for their service to the diocese and Church at the annual diocesan Jubilee Mass for Religious on April 13 at St. Ann Church in Parsippany.

Rhonda Gruenewald, founder of Vocation Ministry, presented Hundredfold, a vocations workshop for 67 parishioners of the Paterson Diocese on April 20 at St. Paul Inside the Walls in Madison.

The Our Lady of the Lake Parish community in Mount Arlington on April 21 welcomed Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney, who celebrated the noon Mass.

What is the right age for confirmation? Why was my priest assigned to a different parish? Should parish pastoral councils be mandatory? Is it OK to wash the feet of people in jail? Bishop Kevin Sweeney responds to these questions, critiques, and more in an episode dedicated entirely to feedback from our viewers, listeners, and social media community.

The community of St. Francis de Sales Parish in the McAfee neighborhood of Vernon welcomed Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney who celebrated Mass on April 18.

Parents worried about their children and grandchildren who no longer practice the Catholic faith are invited to experience the comfort and hope of Christ — and pray for their children — during Run to the Father!, a prayer service/holy hour in Sacred Heart Church in Rock­away on Sunday, April 28 at 3 p.m.

Linda Gibbons’ youngest grandchild, Aubrey, 12, recently came to a realization: there are many people in need in their hometown of Denville, including youths like her. She volunteers with Gibbons at the Denville Township Food Pantry, where she helps with a backpack drive for students and with Thanksgiving and Christ­mas donations.

“At the Angelus (on Jan. 21, 2024), Pope Francis announce(d) a “Year of Prayer” ahead of the upcoming Jubilee, and invites the faithful to pray for Christian unity and for peace throughout the world.”

This week on Beyond the Beacon’s 50th episode, a group of students, along with Colette Geraghty, campus minister, from Villa Walsh Academy (VWA) in Morristown, join Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney and Cecile Pagliarulo to discuss how faith can influence our choice in friends.

Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney visited St. Christopher Parish in Parsippany on April 14 to celebrate Mass and administer the sacrament of confirmation to 43 parish youths.

The St. Thomas of Aquin Parish community in Ogdensburg on April 13 welcomed Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney, who celebrated Mass.

PRAISE AND WORSHIP  The young adult community of St. Paul Inside the Walls in Madison came together on April 10 for an evening of praise and worship before the Eucharist with Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney.

**“What Happens After We Die?” That question is the “title” of a homily given by Bishop Robert Barron on this past Sunday, the Third Sunday of Easter. If you are a regular reader of this column, you know that I am a big “fan” of Bishop Barron and his Word on Fire n-line ministry. On this past Feb. 2, Bishop Barron released his 1,000th (first on-radio, then on-line) Sunday Sermon.

The community of Sacred Heart and Our Lady Queen of the Most Holy Rosary Parish in Dover on April 7 welcomed Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney, who celebrated a bilingual Mass and installed Father Leonardo Lopez as pastor.

A combined 62 young people of Assumption Parish in Morristown received the sacrament of confirmation, administered by Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney on April 6 during Masses at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. in the church. Bishop Sweeney celebrated the Mass. Msgr. John Hart, Assumption’s pastor, and Father Lukasz Wnuk, parochial vicar, concelebrated the liturgies.

Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney presided at the annual Acies of the Legion of Mary on April 7 in Sacred Heart Church in Clifton. The Legion of Mary is a worldwide organization in which members join in prayer and apostolic work in union with the Blessed Mother under the guidance of a priest.

On April 6, Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney celebrated the monthly Mass and Rosary Procession for Life at St. Margaret of Scotland Parish in Morris­town.

This year, Grace Mattera, 10, a youth choir member at Holy Spirit Parish in Pequannock, took a musical leap of faith. This singer spent several weeks learning liturgical music from the Church’s rich historical repertoire to sing at a choral festival and Mass in New York City on March 2.

Paulist Father Ellwood “Bud” Kieser made a name in Holly­wood in the 1960s and 1970s — unusual for a Catholic priest. He produced the long-running TV show Insight, a religiously-themed weekly anthology series that attracted prominent writers, directors, and actors.