Doug, Melissa, Mariah, Mikayla, & Dylan Acree
St. Ann, Parsippany
Carl-Axel & Liane Ahlquist
St. Kateri Tekakwitha, Sparta
Douglas & Fanny Anderson
St. Margaret, Morristown
Sr. Marie Antonelli, MPF
Holy Spirit, Pequannock
Chris & Terri Apuzzo
St. Vincent de Paul, Stirling
Bill & Eileen Aquino
Our Lady of Fatima, Highland Lakes
John & Kim Arminio
St. Peter the Apostle, Parsippany
Craig Barkhausen
St. Clement Pope & Martyr, Dover
George & Theresa Beausoleil
Annunciation, Wayne
Patricia Bianco
St. Thomas of Aquin, Ogdensburg
Flavia Brock
Sacred Heart, Dover
Adrian, Jeanne-Marie, Morgan, Taylor & Aidan Buckley
St. Vincent Martyr, Madison
Mila V. Burdeos
St. Paul, Prospect Park
Michael Calabrese
St. Therese, Succasunna
Josephine Carabello
Chancery Office, Clifton
John Carton
Corpus Christi, Chatham
Jeanne Clark
St. Catherine of Siena, Mountain Lakes
Pamela Contreri
St. Francis de Sales, McAfee
Donna Cubelli
Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, Boonton
María De Jesús
St. Anthony of Padua, Passaic
Raymond Dean
St. Bernard, Wharton
Dorothy & Joseph DeLiberto
St. Paul, Clifton
Ann & Jean DeNunzio
St. Catherine of Bologna, Ringwood
Meinardo, Georgina, Marisela, Patricia, & Hilda Diaz
Our Lady of Fatima, Passaic
Humberto Diaz
St. Mary, Passaic
Joseph DiLiberto
St. John Vianney, Oak Ridge
Maureen Donnelly
St. Joseph, Mendham
Rhonda & Tom Donovan
St. Luke, Long Valley
Diane Drew
St. Francis of Assisi, Haskell
Gloria Dykstra
Holy Cross, Wayne
Lawrence X. Erwin
St. Joseph, Newton
Mary Beth & Raymond Ferriola
St. Joseph, West Milford
Deacon Thomas & Kathleen Friel
St. Jude, Hopatcong
Edward Gable
St. Cecilia, Rockaway
Michael & Robin Giamarino
St. Rose of Lima, East Hanover
Concetta & Lou Golia
St. Mary, Denville
Albert & Mary Graf
Christ the King, New Vernon
Kathleen & Timothy Grealy
Our Lady Star of the Sea, Lake Hopatcong
Mary Beth Hall
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, Flanders
Robert T. Harsaghy
Sacred Heart, Clifton
Henry M. Holden
Resurrection, Randolph
Genoveva Irizarri
St. Nicholas, Passaic
Brent Iskra
SS Cyril and Methodius, Clifton
Margery Kelly
Our Lady of Mercy, Whippany
Maureen Kelly
St. Virgil, Morris Plains
Emese & Laszlo Kerkay
St. Stephen, Passaic
Marilyn Koziol
Our Lady of the Magnificat, Kinnelon
Joan Kramer
Assumption, Morristown
Paul LaMarca
Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, Swartswood
Sr. Christine Liegey, PBVM
St. Philip the Apostle, Clifton
Kelly Loftus
St. Paul Inside the Walls, Madison
Katherine M. Lordi
Catholic Family & Community Service, Dover
Giuseppina Macchiavello
St. Mary, Help of Christians, Paterson
Richard Mack, Jr.
St. Mary, Dover
Irene Macones
Our Lady of Pompeii, Paterson
Irene Mancini
Immaculate Heart of Mary, Wayne
Michael & Theresa Manning
Good Shepherd, Andover
Zunilda Marti
St. Agnes, Paterson
Elizabeth Mattson
St. Simon, Green Pond
Arlene McDonald
St. Lawrence the Martyr, Chester
Eugene & Margaret McNamara
Our Lady of Consolation, Wayne
Constance Mikolajczyk
St. Stephen, Paterson
Elaine Mingo
Our Lady of the Valle, Wayne
Victoria Mintah
Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, Passaic
Lois Moeller
St. Joseph, Lincoln Park
Johnny Montañez
St. John the Baptist Cathedral, Paterson
Mary Monteverde
St. Mark, Long Valley
Gil & Kris Moscatello
St. Jude, Budd Lake
Nettie Muratore
Our Lady of the Lake, Mt. Arlington
Michael Murray
St. Thomas More, Convent Station
Paula Mutter
St. John Kanty, Clifton
Derek & Jennifer Nelson
Sacred Heart, Rockaway
Paulette Newby
Our Lady of Victories, Paterson
Ed & Sue Nolan
Our Lady Queen of Peace, Hewitt
Joseph P. O’Dowd
St. Pius X, Montville
Susan, Dennis, Jimmy, Holly, Scott & Lindsey Orr
St. James the Greater, Montague
Outdoor Environmental Team of St. Matthew the Apostle
St. Matthew the Apostle, Randolph
Maureen Pajaro
St. Michael, Netcong
Diego Luis Pamplona
Our Lady of Lourdes, Paterson
Custodio & Fatima Parga
St. Anthony of Padua, Paterson
Concetta Pascale
St. Gerard, Paterson
Michael Pasino
St. Andrew the Apostle, Clifton
Francisco Perez
St. Monica, Sussex
Cheryl Perzely
St. Brendan & St. George, Clifton
Ann-Marie Peterson
St. Anthony, Hawthorne
Frank, Lucille, Joseph & John Plantemoli
St. Patrick, Chatham
Jeffrey & Lisa Quinn
St. Jude the Apostle, Hamburg
Michelle & Zsolt Radics
Immaculate Conception, Franklin
Sr. Joseph Nelida M Richard, SC
St. Clare, Clifton
Claire & Peter Riili
St. Thomas the Apostle, Branchville
Mary Rogers
Catholic Charities, Dover
Harold, Mary, Brenden, Preston & Nolan Rowan
Our Lady Queen of Peace, Branchville
Kathleen Ryan Peterson and Mary Ryan Zanotti
St. Thomas the Apostle, Oak Ridge
Christian Sanchez
St. Therese, Paterson
Nilda & Nelson Santiago
St. Joseph, Paterson
Barbara Scanlon
Our Lady of Good Counsel, Pompton Plains
Ludwig & Magda Schaffner
Holy Trinity, Passaic
Jo Ellen Scillieri
Straight & Narrow, Paterson
Anne Silversey
St. Mary, Pompton Lakes
Barbara Sinatra
Our Lady of the Holy Angels, Little Falls
Kim Smith
Our Lady of the Mountain, Long Valley
Joan Tabor
Holy Rosary, Shrine of St. John Paul II, Passaic
Barbara & Frank Tinari
Holy Family, Florham Park
Gerry & Lorraine Tutzauer
St. Anthony of Padua, Butler
Norman Vallerin
St. Michael, Paterson
Maria Viloria
Holy Rosary, Dover
Timothy, Laurie, Cassidy, Erin & Caleigh Walsh
Our Lady of the Lake, Sparta
Connie M. Walsh
St. Christopher, Parsippany
John Waryas
St. James of the Marches, Totowa
Deborah & Richard White
Notre Dame of Mt. Carmel, Cedar Knolls
Brigida Zavala
Department of Persons with Disabilities,
Oak Ridge
CLIFTON For being a model of Christ here on earth, 111 individuals, couples and families were honored with the diocesan Vivere Christus Award, which was presented to them each by Bishop Serratelli June 14 in St. Philip the Apostle Church here.
Filling the 1,000-seat church to standing room only, families, friends, fellow parishioners and nominating pastors attended the bilingual awards ceremony instituted by Bishop Serratelli in 2009 to acknowledge on a diocesan level the value and importance of the laity and to express gratitude and appreciation to those who unselfishly give of themselves for the building of God’s Kingdom. The Vivere Christus Est Medal, a name taken from the Latin phrase, “To live is Christ,” found in St. Paul’s Letter to the Philippians (1:21), was given to each of the awardees.
In his opening remarks, Bishop Serratelli said, “Today we honor the life of Christ manifested in the service of so many of the good faithful in our Diocese who give us the example that Christ is the reason, Christ is the joy, Christ is the center of our lives.”
As in past award ceremonies, the Gospel reading during the service was from Matthew, which proclaims we should all be “the salt of the earth” and “light of the world.”
During the ceremony, Father Edward Lambro, diocesan Catholic Charities director of development, and Father Raimundo Rivera, diocesan director of migrant ministry, delivered the homilies, in English and Spanish respectively.
In his homily, Father Lambro said, “Clearly somebody told you (the honorees) what it means to use the name, ‘Christian’ or ‘Christian Catholic.’ The reason why you are here is to recognize exactly what you are suppose to do. Make this light of Christ so obvious to people that they can see the presence of Christ living in you and that there are people among you — that you work with and that you work for, who want to celebrate today the fact that you understand what that name is all about. And that you honor it and you will continue to honor it in the future. If you do that, then you are living what this award is all about.”
Speaking in Spanish, Father Rivera described the honorees as the light of Christ, who act as the Body of Christ in their churches, communities, workplaces and families.
To present the awards, Sister of Christian Charity Mary Edward Spohrer, diocesan chancellor and delegate for religious called the recipients each by name and the nominating parish or organization to receive the medal from Bishop Serratelli. Honorees received the brass medal, three inches in diameter, embossed with the diocesan crest on the obverse and a portrait of St. John’s Cathedral in Paterson and the words in Latin, “Vivere Christus Est” on the reverse. The medal was enclosed in a cherrywood box, accompanied by a personal scroll of recognition in English and Spanish.
Following the service, a reception was held for the honorees and their guests. There, family and friends gathered to congratulate loved ones for the Vivere Christus honor.
At the close of the ceremony, the Bishop asked all in attendance to thank their parish priests, to encourage them and follow the good example they give. To the recipients, the Bishop added, “To all those that received this award today, as the Gospel says, you are truly the light and the salt of the Earth. The Church is growing and Our Holy Father, Pope Francis, has called us, as his predecessors before, to be missionaries and to spread the Gospel right where we are. Today’s award is a sign that you are already responding to that great mission.”
Throughout the Diocese, honorees were noted in their individual parishes’ bulletins detailing the service they do to make a difference.
The parish community of Assumption Parish in Morristown honored Joan Kramer, a parishioner who first came to Assumption 62 years ago. Msgr. John Hart, pastor, wrote, “Joan became involved with a number of ministries serving all dimensions of life within the parish. As leader of the parish Girl Scout Troop, the Rosary Society and the Eucharistic Ministry, Joan has helped to shape the spiritual life at Assumption. She also worked with the RCIA, bringing new Catholics into our Church. In addition to volunteering with already established Assumption ministries, Joan initiated a number of parish activities. She was one of the founding members of the Joshua Group, which held discussions over Saturday breakfasts. Joan also established the annual Assumption Giving Tree program. In recent years, Joan has diligently served and continues to serve our Altar Linens Ministry.”
At Annunciation Parish in Wayne, George and Theresa Beausoleil were nominated for their many contributions for the Church. George Beausoleil has been very active in the Knights of Columbus while Theresa Beausoleil serves on the parish’s liturgical committee. In addition, Msgr. Peter Doody, pastor, said, “Theresa and George have been a mainstay in our parish over the years. They have served in almost all areas of ministry including setting up the Coffee Shop for Sunday fellowship, the annual church picnic, as members of the choir and as Eucharistic ministers. They have been especially attentive to the needs of others in the parish welcoming to their home both family and parishioners who needed shelter during the eve present ‘storms’ of life.”
In Sussex County, St. Kateri Tekakwitha Parish honored Carl-Axel and Liane Ahlquist, who have been faithful stewards of parish resources, leading the collection counters for well over a decade. Father Patrick Rice, pastor, wrote: “Both of them have enriched our lives with their warmth and joy, and inspire us with their goodness and generosity. They have filled many lives with their joyful faith and dedicated witness to the fire of God’s love in their parish family and throughout the community.”