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An enthusiastic group of concerned citizens at St. Vincent Martyr Parish in Madison on Aug. 6 were reminded to put a human face on the controversial issue of refugee migration around the world. They were told to look at it from three distinct perspectives: the challenges of caring for 65 million displaced people around the globe; the hopeful personal story of a family from war-torn Syria resettling in Morris County; and Catholic social teaching, which directs Christians to serve their most vulnerable brothers and sisters.

Sergio Burani of Assumption Parish in Morristown felt a tug on the back of his shirt while leaving Mass on his last morning in the Ngara District, a desperately poor region of northwest Tanzania. He turned around on the front steps of the church to see an elderly woman in traditional dress smile at him and say words in her native Swahili that warmed his heart: “Asante sana,” or “Thank you.”

Remember David Daleiden? Those of us who are pro-life certainly do. He is an undercover journalist and the project lead at the Center for Medical Progress (CMP), a citizen journalist group that has worked to document the role of Planned Parenthood, other abortion providers, and tissue procurement companies in the trade of body parts of aborted babies.

Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit to St. Christopher Church in Parsippany Aug. 6 where he celebrated the Feast of the Transfiguration.

Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit to St. Joseph Parish in Newton Aug. 5 where he celebrated the vigil Mass marking the Feast of the Transfiguration.

The bright notes of a trumpet ring out over the deep chords of an organ on “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing,” before a male baritone voice intones the Christmas hymn’s signature verse, “Oh, come let us adore him.” The simple, yet elegant, performance lets the message of hope — and the artistry — of the song shine through its equally unadorned arrangement.

When Julissa Espinal was 23, she started on a journey to follow God’s plan for her life. She moved to Casa Guadalupe, the Diocese’s house of discernment for women, in 2012 and at the time, she told The Beacon that “Living here has allowed me to spend time in the quiet and pray about my life. Casa Guadalupe has also taught me about living in community life.”

The generosity of the faithful in the Paterson Diocese made the 2016 Bishop’s Annual Appeal a record-breaker. The $4.4 million in pledges was the largest amount raised in Appeal history. These pledges will help fund diocesan Catholic Charities agencies, the education of seminarians, the educational needs of inner-city children attending Catholic schools in the Diocese and Nazareth Village in Chester, the diocesan priests’ retirement residence.

Vice President Mike Pence recently drew attention to the persecution of Christians around the world, telling a summit in Washington, D.C., that “no people of faith today face greater hostility or hatred than the followers of Christ.” In the same speech, Pence singled out “the suffering of Christians in the Middle East,” promising that the U.S. would act to protect Christians in that part of the world.

Bishop Cletus C. Perera, a Benedictine priest from the Sylvesterine congregation, of the Diocese of Ratnapura in Avissawella, Sri Lanka, came far from his home to the Paterson Diocese recently to share the stories and struggles about the faithful he leads in his diocese.

Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit to St. Thomas of Aquin Parish in Ogdensburg July 30 where he celebrated Mass for the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit to Annunciation Parish in Wayne July 29 where he celebrated the 5 p.m. vigil Mass for the Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

It will be a summer to remember for 25 pilgrims from the Paterson Diocese who traveled on a historic pilgrimage to Fatima, Portugal where they marked the 100th anniversary of the appearance of the Blessed Mother to three shepherd children — siblings Jacinta and Francisco Marto, and their cousin Lucia dos Santos from May to October 1917.

Last month, Preston Dibble, director of Diocesan Music and director of the Diocesan Choir, hit another high note as he accepted the Member of the Year Award from the Director of Music Ministries Division of the National Association of Pastoral Musicians, known as NPM, during the organization’s 40th annual national convention held in Cincinnati from July 10 to 13.

From the start two years ago, it was clear to Jim and Coleen Caulfield of St. Peter the Apostle Parish in Parsippany that their new Mustard Seed Mission was taking root in the hearts and minds of many Catholics in the New Jersey parishes that they were visiting. Since then, the countless “positive reactions” that audience members have given to the Caulfields to their presentations on religious topics by using an engaging mix of Scripture, prayer, music, poetry, humor, stories, personal reflections and visual art, confirmed their decision to found Mustard Seed Mission in the spring of 2015 as a ministry to help deepen the faith of local Catholics.

The ambassador at-large for International Religious Freedom, for those who value our religious liberties and are on the front lines to defend them, is one of the most important appointments a President can make. The position is vital because countries where freedom of religion is respected see fewer acts of terror and extremism, and enjoy stronger civil and human rights than other countries where religious freedom is not respected.

Traveling to West Virginia, 40 high school students and 15 adults from Assumption Parish in Morristown built a home for a single mother with two children. She had lost her home in a major flood that hit the rural town last summer. Grace Lynch, 16, and her friends in Assumption’s youth group had no idea what to expect going on this mission trip. “It was pretty intense how much work we did. We didn’t know if the girls on the trip would be asked to do that much, but we were. We installed the interior walls of the house and when we saw the results we were just super proud of what we did,” she said.

Father John (Frank) O’Grady, a Catholic clinical chaplain at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., and a priest of the Paterson Diocese, has been recognized for his exceptional pastoral care for wounded and ill U.S servicemen and women and their families with his nomination as one of eight finalists for Catholic Extension’s 2017-18 Lumen Christi Award.

Bishop Serratelli helped celebrate the 125th anniversary of St. Joseph Parish in Passaic — a community founded to serve Polish immigrants in Passaic in the late 19th century. It continues today as a vibrant faith community that still practices its deeply held religious and cultural traditions and celebrations as a “little Poland” in the city.

Having just celebrated our great nation’s 241st birthday earlier this month, most Americans surely reflected on our nation’s humble beginnings, its storied history and the importance of the preservation of our historical sites, many of them located right here in our neighborhoods.