ishop Kevin J. Sweeney made a pastoral visit to Holy Spirit Parish in Pequannock where he installed Father Stephen T. Prisk as its pastor during the 5 p.m. vigil Mass on Sept. 18 for the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time. Ordained on May 23, 2015 by Bishop Emeritus Arthur Serratelli, Father Prisk became Holy Spirit’s pastor effective June 29, taking over for Father David A. Monteleone, who was named pastor of St. Philip the Apostle Parish, Clifton, effective the same day.

Shannon Jones, youth minister and Confirmation coordinator at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish in Flanders, admits that she is a worrier, who comes from a long line of worriers. Her anxieties usually come out at night — around 2 a.m. — when, as she says, it seems impossible to surrender to Jesus, who tells us, “Do not be afraid.” But this summer, Jones found some relief, having been introduced to the “Sleeping St. Joseph” statue, while taking a continuing education class for Catholic educators.

Beginning with the Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament on Sunday evening of Sept. 12, Assumption Parish in Morristown hosted 40 Hours of Devotion for the parish and neighboring communities. Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney celebrated the conclusion of the devotion with a noon Mass on Sept. 14. Priests from around the area concelebrated the Mass. Upper-grade students of Assumption School joined the parish community at the Mass.

Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney celebrated Mass with the school community of Immaculate Heart of Mary School in Wayne Sept. 14 to mark the new school year. Afterwards, the Bishop visited each of the classrooms at the school greeting the students and wishing them a successful school year.

Since she was a child, Mercylynn Mbuguah, now 25, had an all-consuming desire: to become a doctor. A native of Kenya, who was raised in Fort Wayne, Ind., she wasn’t interested in “getting rich” but in healing the world, especially the underprivileged, maybe as a trauma surgeon for Doctors without Borders. However, during her undergraduate studies, God pulled Mbuguah — a cradle Catholic who was not religious — in another, unexpected direction: closer to him.

St. Patrick School in Chatham kicked off its yearlong celebration to mark the 150th anniversary of its opening in 1872 at a school-community Mass Sept. 19. Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney was main celebrant of the anniversary Mass as he led the school and parish in celebrating a century and a half of faith and learning. A reception followed in the Father Ed Hinds Parish Center.

The California legislature has overwhelmingly passed a bill that slanders the life and works of St. Junípero Serra. In part, the legislation falsely points to “the enslavement of both adults and children, mutilation, genocide, and assault on women as part of the mission period initiated and overseen by Father Serra.” In an essay published on the opinion pages of the Wall Street Journal last week, Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco, called the legislation’s claims a “slander” against the saint, pushing a “false narrative” about the missions the saint founded. “None of that is true,” they write. “While there is much to criticize from this period, no serious historian has ever made such outrageous claims about St. Junípero Serra or the mission system.” As a matter of fact, Professor Gregory Orfalea, author of Journey to the Sun: Junípero Serra’s Dream and the Founding of California, published in 2014, writes, “To the Indian, he [Serra] was loving, enthusiastic, and spiritually and physically devoted.” Pope Francis canonized St. Junípero Serra in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 23, 2015, the first-ever canonization on American soil.

“You need to get help” or “I need to get help.” How many of us have said those words or have heard those words from someone we love, especially when that “someone” is a spouse, parent, child, or sibling and we have seen them suffering or deteriorating under the weight of an addiction?