More Good News

In the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson on Dec. 8, the Second Sun­day of Advent, the faithful from the Pater­son Diocese came together in celebration of the season of the anticipation of Christ’s birth for the annual diocesan Christmas Concert.

Waiting during Advent for the birth of Jesus at Christmas gives way to an even greater “waiting in joyful hope” within Catholics through faith that opens the door to “authentic hope” in God’s saving work through us that transforms the world and in accepting his gift of redemption in the next life. That was what Benedictine Abbot Elias Lorenzo, president of the American Cassinese Congregation, told priests of the Diocese on Dec. 4 at an Advent Day of Recollection for Priests at St. Paul Inside the Walls: the Diocesan Center for Evangeli­zation at Bayley-Ellard in Madison.

On the morning of Dec. 14, 2012, an urgent phone call came in to Jenny Hubbard, asking that she come to her daughter Catherine Violet’s school, Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn. With reports of a gunman in the school, Hubbard huddled with other frantic parents on a street corner nearby, waiting for news and pleading with God, “If you bring Catherine home, I will be your faithful servant.” But tragically, Catherine, age 6, never made it home — the victim of a shooting that left 28 people dead. Hubbard told her story on Dec. 7 at this year’s diocesan Women’s Conference held at St. Paul Inside the Walls: the Diocesan Center for Evangelization at Bayley-Ellard in Madison.

The frosty air is here signaling the coming of winter and as the colder temperatures hit, many children in the inner city are in need of a warm coat. Responding to that need, Knights of Columbus councils from around the Diocese joined together at the Bishop Rodimer Center at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson Dec. 8 to hand out winter coats to children in the cathedral parish’s religious education program through the Knights’ Coats for Kids program.

Young people who feel unworthy about the vocation to which God might be calling them, might empathize with Jeremiah in the Old Testament. When the Lord first called him to become a prophet of ancient Israel, he responded by telling him, “Not me!” Bishop Serratelli told young people at a vocations-awareness event on Nov. 18 at Morris Catholic High School in Denville.

Ringing in the spirit of Christmas, the annual Diocesan Christmas Concert will be held at 4 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 8 in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson on the Second Sunday of Advent. Those who attend this annual concert can expect a variety of music with performances by the diocesan choir under the direction of Preston Dibble, diocesan director of music; a children’s choir under the direction of Jessica Mattiace, director of music at the Cathedral, and the principal quintet of the Gramercy Brass Orchestra and organist Kristin Dabaghian. Some of the classics that will be performed at the concert include “The First Nowell,” “Silent Night” and “Away in a Manger.” The beloved Italian Christmas carol, “Tu Scendi Dalle Stelle,” will also be performed.

St. Andrew the Apostle Parish in Clifton came together on Nov. 30 to celebrate 80 years as a “tight-knit” faith community that today remains “spiritually alive” with a variety of devotions and an array of ministries that get parishioners of all ages involved in the parish. During an anniversary Mass that day, St. Andrew’s also commemorated its legacy as one of the first parishes founded after the establishment of the Paterson Diocese on Dec. 9, 1937.