Some people came to pray to God for healing, for help with a wayward family member, for forgiveness or to give thanks. Still others came to honor the Blessed Mother or venerate the saints — or were attracted by spiritual curiosity. For these and many other reasons, an untold number of Catholics from the Diocese and beyond descended on St. Peter the Apostle Church in Parsippany throughout the day on Sept. 20 to be part of a historic local event: the public veneration of the relics of St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina.

Morris County has always been in the forefront of other state counties in preserving the important historic sites in its towns, some of which date back to the Revolutionary War. But last year, the N.J. Su­preme Court ordered Morris County to stop allowing participation in its historic preservation program by historic houses of worship.

Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit to Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish in Morristown where he celebrated the vigil Mass marking the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time Sept. 15. The 5:30 vigil Mass on Saturdays also hosts Children’s Worship during the school year to help the children understand the liturgy more fully.

Marking 115 years as a parish community, St. Stephen’s in Paterson welcomed Bishop Serratelli who celebrated the noon Mass for the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time. Concelebrating the Mass was Bishop Santiago Rodriguez of the Diocese of San Pedro De Macoris in the Dominican Republic.

More than 40 years ago, the jubilant voice of an old woman named Stella at a village prayer service inspired Maryknoll Father Mike Snyder, then a seminarian, to choose a challenging ministry as a missionary in Tanzania — enduring the heat and dust of the desert, austere living conditions and difficult-to-navigate roads by U.S. standards.

Last year the Church worldwide celebrated the 100th anniversary of the visitation of Our Lady of Fatima before three shepherd children in Portugal in 1917. While the centennial celebrations have concluded, Our Lady’s message still remains strong and needed more than ever. Because her message of prayer, conversion and reconciliation remains timeless, Corpus Christi Parish in Chatham Township will welcome one of 13 official pilgrim statues of Our Lady of Fatima to the parish from Oct. 11 to 15. The statue comes from Our Lady’s shrine in Fatima where the Blessed Mother appeared to 10-year-old Lucia Santos and her young cousins, Francisco and Jacinta Marto. These visitations took place on the 13th of the month, from May to October 1917, with the exception of August when she appeared on the 19th.

A farewell Mass was celebrated in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson Sept. 16 by Msgr. Mark Giordani, who recently retired after serving as rector of the Cathedral for 31 years. He was succeeded as rector by Msgr. Geno Sylva. Next year, Msgr. Giordani will mark the golden anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood. After the Mass, a reception was held in his honor at the Brownstone in Paterson.

On the 17th anniversary of the Sept. 11th attacks, Franciscan Father Mychal Judge, who served as a New York City Fire Department chaplain and was the first recorded fatality of the Islamists’ terrorist attacks, was remembered at a 9/11 Memorial Service at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Totowa where he is buried. Father Judge had previously served as pastor of St. Joseph Church in West Milford. A memorial Mass was also held a St. Bonaventure Parish in Paterson before the graveside memorial service. Franciscan Father Daniel Grigassy, pastor of St. Bonaventure, celebrated the Mass and also led the service at the cemetery.

Priests and faithful of southwest Morris County and beyond came together at St. Luke Church in Long Valley on the evening of Sept. 12 not only to voice their outrage over the reports of child abuse and cover-ups that have rocked the U.S. Church this summer, but also to resolve to work individually and collectively to speak out on behalf of the victims and push for the Church to adopt further safeguards to protect children.

There is a lyric from popular religious hymn, “Here I Am, Lord,” the 2018 theme of the Bishop’s Annual Appeal (BAA), that describes perfectly the commitment of those who work, volunteer or donate to Diocesan Catholic Charities. The lyric goes, “I will hold your people in my heart.” Those in the hearts of many served by Diocesan Catholic Charities are disabled men and women living in diocesan group homes, a veteran on the verge of homelessness, a client needing a ride to make her chemotherapy appointment, a senior receiving a hot meal, a single mother heading to the local food pantry to feed her children and a recovering addict finding healing and hope.

Our nation and, more specifically, those of us who live in the metropolitan New York area, marked the 17th anniversary of the 9/11 Islamist terrorist attacks on the U.S. with prayers and sorrow at the massive loss of life that day in 2001 with our solemn vow “never to forget.”

Later this year, the non-profit Operation Chillout is looking forward to enacting its plan of giving the first of five homeless veterans the opportunity to engage in some old-fashioned therapy: working on re-entry into society, in part by learning how to work the land of a local farm while at the same time residing in a custom-designed mirco-home on the property.

Parishioners of Holy Spirit in Pequannock welcomed Bishop Serratelli, who made a pastoral visit there Sept. 9 to celebrate the 11 a.m. Mass for the 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time. During the Mass, the Bishop acknowledged the parish school, Holy Spirit School, and its principal, Filippini Sister Marie Antonelli, who celebrated her 60th anniversary in religious life this year.

The faithful will have the opportunity to venerate the relics of St. Anthony of Padua — the patron saint of finding lost items — from Oct. 4 to 14. Over those 10 days, two of St. Anthony’s first-class relics will visit five churches in the Diocese for public veneration — part of a larger tour that will reach other locations in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

This past weekend, the 2018 Bishop’s Annual Appeal (BAA) kicked off at Masses in parishes across the Diocese giving the faithful once again the opportunity to support the good works of the Church of Paterson. Led by the theme, “Here I Am, Lord,” the Appeal invites parishioners to help fund ministries that serve the poor, sick, and needy through Catholic Charities; urban elementary school students; education needs for diocesan seminarians and priests’ healthcare, including support for Nazareth Village, the diocesan home for retired priests in Chester.

Bishop Serratelli honored 106 individuals, couples and families at this year’s diocesan Vivere Christus Est awards ceremony. The honorees were called “manifestations of God’s compassion and love to their communities and the world.”

Hero. It’s a word we hear less frequently these days when our world, our nation and our Church seem turned upside down. But it’s a word that certainly fits Father Vincent Capodanno, and his story needs to be told over and over again.

Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit to St. Joseph Parish in Lincoln Park where he celebrated the 10 a.m. Mass for the Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time Sept. 2.

Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit on Sept. 1 to Holy Family Parish in Florham Park where he served as main celebrant and homilist of the 5:30 p.m. vigil Mass for the 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time. Concelebrating the Mass were Father Thomas Rekiel, Holy Family’s pastor; Father Krzysztof Liwarski, parochial vicar; Father Frederick Walters, pastor emeritus; and Father Kevin Corcoran, diocesan vice chancellor and the Bishop’s priest-secretary.

The National Review Board (NRB) has issued a response to the release of the Pennsylvania Grand Jury report and recent allegations against Archbishop McCarrick. In the statement, the NRB calls for a lay-lead investigation into all allegations of sexual misconduct within the Church as well as strengthening the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.