Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney commemorated a century of faith of St. Joseph Parish in Lincoln Park — a “small parish with a big heart” — during a noon Mass on July 31 in the church. In recent years, the evangelizing spirit of this parish has grown — from welcoming different ethnic groups to expanding its spiritual devotions and social-justice outreaches to enable the faithful to minister in different and creative ways.

In the coming days, the U.S. Senate will take up a vote on the so-called “Respect for Marriage Act,” which would codify same-sex marriage into federal law. On the surface, the name of the bill (H.R. 8404), which has already been passed in the U.S. House of Representa­tives, seems innocuous enough, but it is far from that.

Most Catholics long for Jesus and care for the Church. This is the key message in a new report published by the Diocese of Paterson, said Father Paul Manning, the Vicar for Evangeli­zation for the diocese. “If there were unanimity expressed in our diocesan input for the Synod of Bishops 2023,” said Father Manning, “it was an expression of spiritual hunger and a desire for Jesus and a concern for the Church.”

Most of us either saw or heard at least some coverage of Pope Francis’ recent visit to Canada. Many also heard the media coverage of his press conference on the plane during his trip home from Canada, in which he discussed the question of his potential retirement, “I haven’t felt like thinking about that possibility (of his retiring). But maybe that doesn’t mean the day after tomorrow I will start thinking,” he added. He also spoke about discernment of God’s will: “discernment is key in a Jesuit’s vocation” and that means that “he must be open to whatever the Lord asks of him.”

Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney celebrated a Mass in honor of St. Cesario, an Italian martyr, on July 23 in St. Michael Church marking the 120th anniversary of the annual Feast of St. Cesario celebrations. Father Michael Lee, pastor, concelebrated the Mass with the Bishop.

Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney recently appointed Jai Agnish as the new Director of Communications for the Diocese of Paterson. Agnish, an award-­winning multi-media journalist with broad experience across the communications and public relations field, also will serve as editor of The Beacon, the Diocese’s weekly newspaper.

The outside of the second-floor windows in a group home of the diocesan De­part­ment for Persons with Disa­bilities (DPD) was in need of a cleaning. Last week, some of the teens, who volunteered as part of Catholic Heart Workcamp (CHWC), came to the rescue. They took turns leaping up on each other’s shoulders to give those hard-to-reach windows a thorough washing.

Armed with clues, the children in grades k–4 moved as a group, looking for the items along with accompanying puzzle pieces, during a scavenger hunt. It was part of Holy Spirit’s new Vocation Bible School (VBS), held from July 18 to 22. Before the tabernacle, one boy asked, “Is there a puzzle piece in there?” eliciting laughter. He was assured “no.” But the game symbolized VBS’ purpose: to help the children start their journey to piece together the puzzles of their lives and discover God’s plan for them as a priest, religious, married person, or single person.