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During the first week of July, American flags and patriotic décor are usual sights seen as the United States marks Independence Day. But at St. Peter the Apostle Church here during the first few weeks of July, the narthex was adorned with a Christmas tree complete with special ornaments. The Christmas tree display is a sign to parishioners that their parish is again celebrating Christmas in July, a tradition hosted by the Good Samaritans ministry for more than a decade. During this time, the Good Samaritans reach out to help the newborns of young mothers and children in foster homes by offering parishioners the opportunity to purchase gifts for these youngsters in need.

For Melanie Paige, newly graduated from Sparta Middle School, dancing was her life. So much so, dance is what saved her life. In early March when she was performing a solo dance routine, her life changed in a heartbeat. “She did a phenomenal job with her solo,” said Michele Russo, Melanie’s mother, “But backstage, she was crying because she was in so much pain after she performed.”

This summer, Paula Korinko of St. Joseph Parish here has been taking advantage of the best place and time for her to pray — in her car while driving around for work. “It’s a great time for me to pray, because it’s quiet and I’m in the car a lot during the day,” said Korinko, a married mother of two, who designs and installs artificial turf as her profession. “Recently, I prayed for one thing or person each day for one week this summer. I prayed for more peace and understanding in the world and for people I know, who didn’t know that I was praying for them,” she said.

Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit to Our Lady of the Magnificat Parish here where he celebrated the vigil Mass for the Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time on July 15.

Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit to St. Philip the Apostle Church here July 16 where he celebrated Mass for the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time. It was the Bishop’s first visit to the parish since he rededicated St. John the Baptist Cathedral on June 24. While the cathedral was undergoing significant renovations for nearly seven years, all major diocesan events led by the Bishop were held in St. Philip the Apostle Church.

The roots of the Catholic faith in the Polish people are very deep. Last year, Poland celebrated the 1,050th anniversary of its Christian heritage. Since 966, Poland has more often than not been the bulwark of Christianity against invasion, and has time and again defended its civilization spurred on by its deep Catholic heritage.

The presence of women serving the U.S. military has always existed. During the country’s earliest wars, women served mostly caring for the wounded men out in the battlefield. Later women served in non-combat roles for all branches of the U.S. armed forces beginning in the last two years of World War I through the Vietnam War. During the Persian Gulf War, more than 41,000 women were deployed to the combat zone. More recently, almost 350,000 women have served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Hispanics from around the Diocese learned how to deepen their faith and hone their special spiritual gifts during a series of workshops, presented in Spanish and English, for the second annual Hispanic Summer Institute, from June 17-23, under the theme “Celebrating Ministry, Hispanic Leadership and Evangelization.”

Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit to St. Paul Church in Prospect Park July 9 and celebrated the noon Mass for the 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

More than 3,500 church leaders — including cardinals, bishops, women and men religious, and laypeople, gathered together July 1-4 in Orlando, Fla. to take part in the “Convocation of Catholic Leaders: The Joy of the Gospel in America.” The event, which marked a first in U.S. church history, was a national response to Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation “Evangelii Gaudium” (“The Joy of the Gospel”).

During the “Convocation of Catholic Leaders: The Joy of the Gospel in America” in Orlando, Fla, July 1-4, some 3,500 church leaders — men and women religious, bishops and laypeople — gathered together to set a new course for the U.S. Catholic Church. The U.S. bishops convened church leaders — clergy, religious, seminarians, parish volunteers and staff — with an emphasis on responding to spiritual crisis that has left so many Americans drifting away from their faith.

There’s “a new vigor for youth ministry” in Diocese of Paterson, according to two surveys of parish youth ministry programs that were conducted by the staff of St. Paul Inside the Walls: the Diocesan Center for Evangelization at Bayley-Ellard, with the help of the diocesan Youth Ministry Advisory Board.

Father James Platania, an assistant professor in Biblical studies at the School of Theology at Seton Hall University here, recently tried something new: teaching a short course about how the theme of renewal in God in the Old Testament prefigures Jesus’ role as Messiah in Salvation History in the New Testament by using the latest in modern Internet video-conferencing technology called a “webinar.”

All eyes were fixed on Father Lemmuel Camacho, parochial vicar at Corpus Christi Parish, Chatham Township, as he wrote on a blackboard the four possible vocations — or purposes in life — to which God might be calling us: single life, married life, religious life or the priesthood. “We need to choose only one way among the four vocations: the path that will lead us to be a happy and holy person of God,” Father Camacho, who told 42 young men from around the Diocese in his talk, “Four Types of Vocation,” during the annual Quo Vadis Days discernment retreat, held June 27-29, at Sacred Heart Spirituality Center in Newton.

Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit to the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson July 2 and was the principal celebrant of a bi-lingual Mass marking the Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary for the active faith community. This was the first Mass the Bishop celebrated for the St. John’s parishioners in the newly rededicated cathedral.

To know everything about Mary as the mother of Jesus and the model of discipleship, consider the Blessed Mother through the prism of the “theology of grace”: “her relationship to the person of God,” suggests Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. That’s what the extensive writings and teachings and of Pope Benedict have indicated, declared Marianist Father Johann Roten, an internationally recognized scholar and authority on Mary.

The Diocese’s Serra Club of Paterson was formed in 1958 and since that time, this lay apostolate made up of professional businessmen and women, has been dedicated to fostering vocations and helping to fund seminarian education. Their help is critical to the formation of seminarians in their preparation for the priesthood. Given the fact that the Diocese of Paterson had the most men called to ordination to the priesthood in the nation on July 1 when Bishop Serratelli ordained 13 men in St. John’s Cathedral, Paterson, the work of the Serra Club cannot be underestimated.

Bishop Serratelli had the joyful distinction of ordaining the largest ordination class in the nation to the priesthood July 1 in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson. This was a historic moment for the Diocese of Paterson. It was the first ordination to take place in the cathedral since the reopening of the diocese’s Mother Church one week ago. The last priesthood ordination to take place in the cathedral was on June 19, 2010 when six priests were ordained. The 13 new priests come from many diverse cultural backgrounds and life experiences.

Geraldine McNulty McLaughlin could not stop looking up — or around — as she stood in the center aisle of a crowded Cathedral of St. John the Baptist here on Saturday morning June 24 about an hour before the start of the Mass for its rededication by Bishop Serratelli.