Good Shepherd, Andover
Taylor Ashworth Shayla Befumo James Marotta Emily Tierney
Our Lady Queen of Peace, Branchville
Isabella Borino
St. Jude, Budd Lake
Jacob John Noah Lopez Laure Thomas
Notre Dame of Mount Carmel, Cedar Knolls
Clara Vales
St. Patrick, Chatham
Emma Rowell
Corpus Christi, Chatham Township
Nicholas Lazzari Valentina Martin Megan McPoland
St. Lawrence the Martyr, Chester
Sebastian Fojtu Simone Perrow Thomas Schwartz
Sacred Heart, Clifton
Analia Polito Marissa Sigona Kaylie Ulena
St. Andrew the Apostle, Clifton
Drenzel Diza Valentina Palen Aidan James Reilly Melinda Tajerian
St. Paul, Clifton
Damian Guerra Natalie Hiciano Keith Rodriguez
St. Philip the Apostle, Clifton
Ernestina Fierro Brandon Lux John Sagui
St. Mary, Denville
Mary Evaline Collett Alyson Frio Anthony, Christina & Frank Orsillo Sara Tavares
St. Mary, Dover
Ava Jill Irene Bagonis-Weinberg Alison Cecilia Clark
St. Rose of Lima, East Hanover
Devon & Owen Sosa Jack Vento
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, Flanders
Brandon Beres Matthew Koroski Maggie Tilves
St. Jude the Apostle, Hamburg
Dhariyela Dobell
St. Francis of Assisi, Haskell
Laiana Anderson Michael Drumgoole Sami Essabbar
St. Anthony, Hawthorne
Caterina DiGiovanni Lesley Leiva Gaetano Petrosillo
Our Lady Queen of Peace, Hewitt
Szymon Krempaski Christopher O’Mahoney
Our Lady of Fatima, Highland Lakes
Ileana Cascone Chloe DeBonta Noelle Hernandez
Our Lady Star of the Sea, Lake Hopatcong
Ethan Cabahug Ella Di Nardo Izabela Wasilewski
St. Joseph, Lincoln Park
Patrick Bakelaar Maria Iorio
Our Lady of the Holy Angels, Little Falls
Matthew Chmielewski Audrey Dreitlein Max Hueck
Our Lady of the Mountain, Long Valley
Patrick Bland Jordyn McHugh Sofia Sardieira
St. Mark, The Evangelist, Long Valley
Lia Nowak
St. Vincent Martyr, Madison
Ailish Gutshall Michael Liddy John & Luke Rohrbacker
St. Pius X, Montville
Laurel Donohue Marissa Migliogrino |
Our Lady of the Lake, Mount Arlington
Jack Cardin Andrew Sanchez
St. Michael, Netcong
John Cubberly, III Sophie Smith
St. Joseph, Newton
Brooke Geoghegan Francesco Lombardo
St. Peter the Apostle, Parsippany
Carlos Ramirez Arianna Santora
Holy Rosary, Passaic
Carolina Banach Sebastian Bladek Kamila Krason Jan S. Siek Karol Wasowicz Jan K. Watycha
St. Anthony of Padua, Passaic
Rayan Arroyo Nikolas Aviles Emanuel Soto-Linares
St. Joseph, Passaic
Karolina Rupinski Tyler Szala
Our Lady of Pompeii, Paterson
Alberto Toro
St. Agnes, Paterson
Lucas Giovanny Duchi Ashley Rebeca Castillo Mariela Noemí Martínez
St. Anthony of Padua, Paterson
Edwin Rotger Jesus Tapia Cassandra Tucker
St. Gerard Majella, Paterson
Lindsay Amaya Elvin & Maria Duran Justin Ferreras
St. Stephen, Paterson
Jean Paul Muñoz Raynelly Ramos Lissy Maria Recinos
St. Therese, Paterson
Cesar Garaicoa Kiandry Minaya Valentina Jara
St. Mary, Pompton Lakes
Arianna & Matthew Polifonte Gianna Vagnato
Our Lady of Good Counsel, Pompton Plains
Katie Cominale Dean Krahling
St. Paul, Prospect Park
Isabelle & Sophia DellaCerra Catalina, Marc & Max Stojakovic Alexander Petkovski
Resurrection, Randolph
Katelyn Monahan
St. Catherine of Bologna, Ringwood
Matthew Buonanno Seamus Burke Justin Loughran Emily Nicol Lauren Seigal
St. Cecilia, Rockaway
Natalie Lanzerotti Leo Servidio Kelly Zeman
St. Clement Pope & Martyr, Rockaway Twp.
Ayden Gomez Eric & Rachel Quintana
St. Vincent De Paul, Stirling
John Besjak Juliana Dewling Cataleen Wright
St. Therese, Succasunna
Paul George Guettler Jasmine Ibekwe GianLuca Minichino
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Swartswood
Taylor Hough Brenna Philson
Annunciation, Wayne
Rafael Enriquez Seth Matacchiera
Immaculate Heart of Mary, Wayne
Thomas Demmers Dakota Handschin Yvette Tennesen Krystina Wolf
St. Joseph, West Milford
Caitlin Frey John Hughes Ryan Morgan
Our Lady of Mercy, Whippanny
Colin Burke Taylor Gasparine Nicolas Monaco Isabella Rodriguez |
CONVENT STATION In joyful celebration for their making First Holy Communion, 153 children from parishes across the Paterson Diocese met with Bishop Serratelli at St. Philip Church here May 31, the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity. The annual Eucharistic Catechesis and Celebration for First Communicants is one of the Bishop’s favorite diocesan events. During the meeting with the children, who received First Communion at their home parishes earlier in the month, the Bishop taught them about the sacrament they had received.
Bishop Serratelli said to the children, “Jesus is the son of God and he wanted to be with us always so he gave us the Eucharist, which is truly his body and blood — the soul and divinity of Jesus Christ. When we receive Holy Communion, it is not a symbol. It is not bread and it is not wine anymore. When we receive Jesus, who is the Bread of Life, we become the Body of Christ in the world today.”
Following his catechesis, the children were invited to ask the Bishop questions. Many of the questions were about Jesus, faith and the Bishop himself.
The first question was from one young girl, who asked the Bishop, “Where do you get all this information?” Parents laughed as the Bishop answered, “Hours and hours and hours of studying and once in a while I take a short cut and use the Internet.”
Some other questions included what is the difference between a bishop and a cardinal and how do you become a religious sister. The Bishop was happy to answer both questions explaining to the children about vocations and asking the children to pray to God to give them the answer to what God wants them to do in their lives.
The last question asked was, “When you die does your body go to heaven?” The Bishop answered, “That is an excellent question. In a little while, we are going to make a procession around the church with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. The reason why we walk in procession is to symbolize our journey with Christ and that we want Jesus to be with us our whole lives so that when our life comes to an end we can be with Jesus. Now, death comes to everyone. It is not a happy thing. When we lose our grandparents or other loved ones, we are sad because we love them and we want to be with them. We are made with a body and a soul. When death comes to us, our body stops functioning and our soul goes to God.”
The catechetical session was followed by a Crowning of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Benediction with exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and then a procession with the First Communicants around the church with Bishop Serratelli following as he carried the Blessed Sacrament.
At the end of the celebration, the Bishop gave each one of the First Communicants a gift to remember the day. The children and their families were then invited to take a picture with the Bishop and meet him during the reception that followed at St. Philip school gym.
Bishop Serratelli told the children about a young saint, St. Dominic Savio. “On his First Communion, he wrote down four promises to God. He wrote: “I will go to Holy Communion and Confession every chance I get. I will go to Mass on Sundays and Holy Days. I will make sure Jesus and Mary are my special friends. I will always be good.”
He then told the children, “When you go home tonight, I want you to write down two promises you want to make to Jesus. Look back to those promises in remembrance of your First Communion day and to get closer to God, who wants to be with you always.”