Pope Francis announced a Year of St. Joseph for the whole Church just over a month ago. Shortly afterward, in my Beacon column, I wrote that friends had given me two copies of Father Calloway’s book Consecration to St. Joseph: The Wonders of Our Spiritual Father, which offers a 33-day preparation and a form for the consecration.

Bishop Sweeney celebrated the vigil Mass marking the Feast of the Epiphany or Three Kings Day at St. Francis of Assisi Church in the Haskell section of Wanaque Jan. 2.

Christmas 2020 may be over and the Church will soon be back to Ordinary Time on its liturgical calendar, but the generosity of so many around the Diocese and beyond has left a smile on the faces of the many in need served by Diocesan Catholic Charities during the holiday season.

The parish community of St. Gerard Majella in Paterson welcomed Bishop Sweeney during his pastoral visit Jan. 3. The Bishop celebrated two Masses — one in English and one in Spanish — marking the Feast of the Epiphany.

Bishop Kevin Sweeney celebrated Mass on New Year’s Day marking the Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God in St. Francis DeSales Church in the McAfee section of Vernon Jan. 1.

As a young boy, Father Joemin (Jayke) Parinas, parochial vicar of Our Lady of the Mountain (OLM) and St. Mark the Evangelist parishes in Long Valley, couldn’t hear a call to the priesthood from God over the din of his many pets that included dogs, cats, parrots and hamsters. Instead, this self-described “animal lover” wanted to become a veterinarian in his native Philippines.

COVID-19 has reshaped the world. Life has changed yet there has been one constant source of help and hope that has remained the same. Catholic Charities agencies in the Diocese of Paterson have persevered thanks in part to its employees, volunteers and benefactors and have continuously served the most vulnerable in the Diocese, who have been impacted significantly by the pandemic.

Without realizing it, clients of the Consumer Choice Food Pantry at the Father English Community Center in Paterson, have been enjoying some organic farm-to-table produce — thanks to the Secular Franciscans of the Most Holy Name Fraternity of the Third Order in Little Falls. Over the last year, the food pantry, part of diocesan Catholic Charities, has accepted small shipments of organically grown vegetables, fruit and eggs from farms in New Jersey, donated and delivered by Secular Franciscans.

This Jan. 22 will be the 48th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion on demand in our country. As we speak about and experience political and other divisions, I am not sure if there has been any issue that has been more divisive on the national and many other levels of society over these past 50 (plus) years.

The Pew Research Center recently reported that government restrictions on religion worldwide (and in the U.S.) are at their highest point since 2007. This is a grave threat not only to our religious freedoms but also to human rights. Globally, religious freedom protects human dignity, promotes security and supports American national security. Here in our own nation anti-Semitism and anti-Catholicism are increasing.