Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney, who will mark the 25th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood on June 28, will be the principal celebrant of the annual diocesan Jubilee Mass for diocesan and religious priests who are also marking significant milestones in the priesthood. The Jubilee Mass was celebrated on Thursday, June 9, in St. Gerard Majella Church in Paterson to honor those priests celebrating 65th, 60th, 50th, 40th and 25th anniversaries of their priestly ordinations this year.
Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney made a pastoral visit on Pentecost Sunday to St. Paul Parish in Clifton June 5. During his visit, he administered the Sacrament of Confirmation to young people of the parish, who prepared for the sacrament through the parish’s Confirmation program.
On June 4, a former Vatican official for the New Evangelization helped inspire participants of the Pentecost Project faith-formation series at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson to live as “missionary disciples.” He issued this challenge to them: “Today, more than ever, it is our duty to be agents of evangelization for others.”
On June 3, 100 days have officially passed since the Ukrainian-Russian conflict began. As the war rages on and the destruction of cities and countless deaths continue to mount, an effort to pray for peace and to show solidarity to those impacted by the war is ongoing through the St. Joseph’s Apostolate for the Sick and the Dying. The Apostolate is now reaching out to young people to get involved in its outreach to the people of Ukraine.
June 3 marked the 100th day of the war in Ukraine. According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, since Russia’s invasion began on Feb. 24, 4,183 Ukrainian civilians have been killed, of whom 268 are minors. In addition, 5,014 people have been injured, including 427 minors.
We are currently compiling the responses and input that we received during the diocesan phase of the Synod on Synodality. Father Paul Manning, vicar for evangelization, and Maria Moncaleano, director of our diocesan Office of Hispanic Ministry, who serve as the co-chairs of our Diocese’s Synod Steering Committee, are leading the process of organizing the information we have received. By the end of this month, we will have a document summarizing all that we have “heard” during this stage of the Synodal process. We will send that document to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and we will publicize the document to make it accessible to all.
Como cristianos, es importante que podamos constantemente recordar, hacer memoria, volver a comenzar y qué mejor que regresar a donde todo comenzó, a Galilea, donde Jesús después de ser bautizado por Juan El Bautista proclama su primer discurso y allí nos da los fundamentos de lo que será su ministerio: “[…] El Reino de Dios está cerca, conviértanse y crean en el Evangelio” (Marcos 1:15). Mas adelante, en Jerusalén, que es la tierra donde se cumplen todas las promesas del Señor, Pedro después de haber celebrado la pascua con Jesús y haber presenciado su muerte y resurrección, estaba con los otros once apóstoles y un grupo de personas entre las cuales sobresalían los judíos y al terminar su discurso los que estaban allí presentes muy afligidos le preguntan a Pedro ¿Qué debemos hacer entonces?, a lo que él les contesta: “Conviértanse y bautícense” (Hechos 2:38). Estos dos momentos tan importantes de nuestra historia de salvación, el primer discurso de Jesús y el primer discurso de Pedro después de Pentecostés, nos dejan ver la importancia que tiene la conversión y que sin ella no podemos emprender nuestro camino de Fe. En un mundo en el que pareciera que los valores y la moral están pasando a un segundo plano o que, peor aún, estamos esperando que sean muchas veces las corrientes actuales las que nos den las pautas para vivir, debemos tener muy claro la conversión cristiana.
Food for the journey is a term often associated with viaticum, the communion that we may receive when we are very near death. The image of the Lord feeding us one more time before we pass from this life is profoundly beautiful and loving, but Food for the journey also brings to mind the unique story in Luke’s Gospel, the Road to Emmaus. The Risen Lord accompanies two disciples who are leaving Jerusalem. They are quite troubled over all that happened with Jesus, and as they journey, Jesus opens their minds to the ways in which Scripture foretold everything that must happen to him in order that he could accomplish our salvation. The travelers only recognize Jesus when he breaks the bread at supper, blesses it, and gives it to them. In this wonderful story, Jesus feeds their minds and their spirits even before they invite him to eat a meal with them.
On this past Tuesday, we were made painfully aware of another horrific act of violence and the tragic loss of innocent human life that followed. The school shooting in Uvalde, Texas repeated an all too familiar scene that pours salt in a wound that never seems to heal. As we pray for all the victims, especially the 19 children and 2 teachers who were killed, we must constantly pray for their families that will never be the same and for healing in our country that desperately needs the peace that comes from God. We must also ask ourselves the questions, “How can this happen again (and again and again)?” This tragic killing, with the use of a deadly weapon, comes less than two weeks after another person with a gun targeted an African-American Community in Buffalo and killed 10 innocent people.
Students at St. Gerard Majella School in Paterson came together with high-school seniors at Villa Walsh Academy in Morristown for a field day May 17 on the grounds of Villa Walsh.
The women who visit the Passaic Neighborhood Center for Women in Passaic consider it their second home. Since it first opened its doors in fall 2013, the center has seen more than 17,000 visits from women living in Passaic, who come to the Center for English classes, quilting and crocheting classes; to grow fruits and vegetables for their families and to become connected with community resources to fulfill their needs. The Center has served as a place for women by offering them a safe, peaceful and welcoming environment.
Celebrations continued last weekend in the Diocese and beyond in thanksgiving for the canonization of St. Justin M. Russolillo, founder of the Society of Divine Vocations, in St. Peter’s Basilica by Pope Francis on May 15 along with nine other saints. Five priests of his order, also known as Vocationists, who live or serve in the Diocese, witnessed the canonization. Among them was Father Louis Caputo who lived in community in Italy with St. Justin, known for urging everyone to “become saints.”
The Diocese has seven new priests after Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney conferred the Sacrament of Holy Orders on these transitional deacons, ordaining them to the priesthood May 28 in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson. During the Mass of the Rite of Ordination, steeped in the rich traditions of the early Church, the seven men were ordained as priests of the Diocese of Paterson.
As the Year of the Eucharist continues in the Diocese of Paterson and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Eucharistic revival begins on June 21, a highly acclaimed film, highlighting the transformative power of the Eucharist, will have an encore showing in theaters across the country on that date for one night only.
On this past Saturday, I had the great privilege to ordain seven men as priests to serve our diocesan Church. It was a moment of great joy, for the men who were ordained and for their families and friends, for priests, religious and laity, for those who were able to be physically present (and fill the Cathedral), as well as for those who shared in the celebration via livestream. I mentioned in my homily that I believe these men are a “historic” ordination class, because they will be the first newly ordained priests in the 85-year history of our Diocese to celebrate their first Mass on the Solemnity of the Lord’s Ascension.
“La Eucaristía es la fuente y la cumbre de la vida cristiana” (Lumen Gentium 11). En la última cena, Jesús compartiendo con sus apóstoles tomó el pan y luego el vino y diciendo las palabras, que también el sacerdote usa hoy para consagrar el vino y el pan, les compartió su amor y se quedó con ellos hasta el fin de los tiempos en este sacramento de la caridad. Por eso, cuando la Iglesia proclama que la Eucaristía es la fuente y cumbre de la vida cristiana, está anunciando que la Eucaristía es el modelo de entrega que los cristianos deben de tener los unos a los otros. En otras palabras, la Iglesia nos invita a vivir en una “Coherencia Eucarística,” en la cual no solo proclamamos lo que creemos, sino que también debemos vivir lo que comulgamos en la Eucaristía, en donde se nos da el mismo Cristo hijo de Dios vivo, quien nos ha amado tanto que ha decidido permanecer con nosotros en las especies del pan y del vino.
The ancient Greek philosopher Plato observed, “There is nothing so delightful as the hearing, or the speaking of truth. For this reason, there is no conversation so agreeable as that of the man of integrity, who hears without any intention to betray, and speaks without any intention to deceive.” Plato points out what we know by experience: integrity is beautiful. Encountering persons of integrity is refreshing and attempting to live a life of integrity, though challenging, is rewarding.
On May 9, Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney celebrated a special Nurses’ Week Mass in the chapel of St. Joseph’s University Medical Center in Paterson. National Nurses Week is an annual celebration in May.
Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney made a pastoral visit to St. Monica Parish in Sussex May 21 where he celebrated the vigil Mass for the Sixth Sunday of Easter. During the Mass, the Bishop administered the Sacrament of Confirmation to young people of the parish.
