Bishop Serratelli installed 14 men of diverse backgrounds to the office of acolyte, during a Mass on Oct. 1 in St. Peter the Apostle Church in Parsippany. This is the last step before their ordination to the diocesan Permanent Diaconate in June 2020.

Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit to St. Therese Parish in Succasunna and installed Father Richard Kilcomons as pastor of the parish during the vigil Mass of the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time on Oct. 6.

Young women, mostly of high school age, from around the Diocese attended an Evening with the Bishop at the Academy of St. Elizabeth in Convent Station Sept. 30. Bishop Serratelli and religious sisters from around the Diocese led the evening as an opportunity for young women to think more deeply about vocations, whether it be as a single woman, married woman or a religious sister.

All throughout the city of Pater­son, diocesan Catholic Charities offers preschool-age children in low-income families an opportunity to receive an early childhood education at five locations. Collabora­ting with the Paterson Public School District, these schools strive for their students to have the best possible foundation for successful life-long learning. The five centers, as part of agencies of diocesan Catholic Charities, are recipients of funds from the 2019 Bishop’s Annual Appeal (BAA) which is currently underway to help the many ministries of the Paterson Diocese.

The scientific community has no explanation for miraculous stories about the Eucharist from around the world over the centuries. The parishioners of St. Francis de Sales in Vernon got an opportunity to look at many of these Eucharistic miracles through the eyes of faith as they perused a traveling Vatican international exhibit, “The Eucharistic Miracles of the World,” a display of 75 placards which present historical descriptions and photos of 65 Church-approved Eucharistic miracles that have taken place throughout the ages in various countries of the world.

Karol Corbin Walker, an attorney who has chalked up numerous firsts in her distinguished law career, added yet another distinction Oct. 6 as the first woman to receive the Advocati Christi Award at the fourth­ annual Red Mass for the legal profession. Bishop Serratelli presided over the well-attended liturgy held at St. Paul Inside the Walls: the Diocesan Center for Evangelization at Bayley-Ellard in Madison, and presented Walker with the award — a portrait of St. Thomas More — not only for her commitment to the legal profession, but also to her faith.

Just as the month of October dawned and the Church’s celebration of Respect Life Month began disturbing events showing the absolute lack of respect for life surfaced in the news. In Mexico, amid a dem­on­stration urging the legalization of abortion, activists tried to set fire to the Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral. In response to the arson attempt, Catholics gathered before the front doors of the cathedral to protect it until firefighters got there and acted quickly to prevent the fire from spreading, and police acted to prevent further acts of aggression by the abortion rights activists.

When 14-year-old Grace Corcoran was thinking about ideas for her Girl Scout Silver Award project, honoring her late great­grandmother Mary Antosiewicz came to mind. She decided to fulfill her project at St. Joseph’s Home for the Elderly in Totowa where her great-grandmother lived in her final years of life before passing away last September.

St. Joseph’s Health in Paterson announced last week that it is entering into a clinical and strategic partnership with Hackensack Meridian Health which will deepen the commitment to deliver innovative, high-quality and cost-effective care. This transformative partnership will advance St. Joseph’s and Hackensack’s commitment to meet the needs of the communities they serve, including the underserved and vulnerable.

Bishop Serratelli celebrated Mass in St. Michael the Archangel Church in Paterson Sept. 29 for the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time and to mark the feast day of the parish’s patron, St. Michael the Archangel, along with the two other archangels of the Church – St. Gabriel and St. Raphael. St. Michael is known as the guardian of the Catholic Church and he is commonly associated with being the patron of police officers and those in the military.

In some ways, it might seem like dark days for today’s Church with the rise of secularism and the abuse crisis scandals. However, it also might be opening the door to the “right moment,” when Catholics can create conditions to help people to see the light by inviting them to foster and nurture faith in Christ and restoring moral order and hope in a secular society devoid of meaning.

Bishop Serratelli on Sept. 29 helped Our Lady of the Mountain (OLM) Parish here mark a half-century as a “country church.” Located in the Schooley’s Mountain section of Long Valley, OLM serves the spiritual needs of this rural faith community that grew from its roots as a “blue-collar parish,” which underwent a rapid period of expansion in the late 1960s and 1970s through the trade skills of volunteer parishioners and financial support of generous parishioners under the leadership of a pioneering priest.

For Catholics, October begins the celebration of Respect Life Month underscoring the Catholic Church’s teaching that every human life is precious and worthy of protection. In our nation, those in the womb are the most in danger because of unrestricted abortion laws in many states, including New Jersey, which fully funds Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider.