News - December 2015 RSS Feed

The food pantry at St. Joseph Parish, Newton, in rural Sussex County, has been in operation for approximately 15 years. It has grown as the economy in this part of the county has declined. Newton serves a diverse population and is the regional center for social services in the county. State and non-profit social service agencies are located here as well as several halfway houses, a concentration of migrant workers, and the majority of the low-income housing for the area.

Bishop Serratelli made his annual Christmas Eve visit to Straight and Narrow, an agency of diocesan Catholic Charities, leading a prayer service and blessing the clients currently in recovery at the drug and alcohol rehabilitation center in Paterson.

Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit to St. Rose of Lima Parish, East Hanover, Dec. 19 where he celebrated the Vigil Mass to mark the Fourth Sunday of Advent.

Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit to Holy Family Parish in Florham Park and celebrated Mass Dec. 27 for the Feast of the Holy Family, the namesake of the parish. The Mass was concelebrated by Father Frederick Walters, pastor, and Father Thomas Rekiel, parochial vicar.

Bishop Serratelli blessed the new chapel at St. Clare Church in Clifton Dec. 15. The new chapel is called the Divine Mercy Chapel and was dedicated during the Holy Year of Mercy. The chapel is intended to be a place of prayer and devotion to the Eucharistic Lord and to the Divine Mercy Novena instituted by St. Faustina.

Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit to St. Pius X Church in Montville on Christmas Day, Dec. 25, and celebrated Mass for the Nativity of the Lord.

Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit to St. Thomas More Parish in Convent Station Dec. 26 where he celebrated the Vigil Mass marking the Feast of the Holy Family.

Marking the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord on Christmas Eve, Bishop Serratelli celebrated a 9 p.m. Mass with the community of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist at the Bishop Rodimer Center next to the cathedral in Paterson.

The end of one year and the beginning of another one is usually the time to look back at what has transpired in the last 12 months and to resolve to make next year better. One of the definitions for the word “resolution” given by Webster’s Colle­giate Dictionary is “the act of answering.” It also lists “courage” as a synonym. When we make resolutions for 2016, know that we are answering needs in our lives, the lives of others and in society at large by having the courage to make changes.

As Pope Francis opened the Holy Doors Dec. 8 at St. Peter’s Basilica, Rome, to begin the Jubilee Year of Mercy for the universal Church, numerous parishes throughout the Paterson Diocese, including St. Vincent de Paul in Stirling, were starting their observances of the Holy Year by swinging open the spiritual “doors of mercy” — inviting parishioners to deep and lasting conversion by receiving the gift of the Lord’s forgiveness and then sharing that mercy with others.

J. is facing some tough times. His trade is carpentry, but work has not been steady of late. M., his wife, is pregnant, and he knows the child is not his. Because they will have to make a trip back to his homeland and the baby is due soon, J. worries that they will have no place to stay and may be homeless for a time and they don’t have a shred of clothing for the newborn. Can you find it in your heart to help them this holiday season?

Every family has its special Christmas tradition. Some families drive miles to pick out a Christmas tree and cut it down themselves. Other families let the youngest child open his or her presents first. For Salesian Sister Liz Ryan, assistant director at Auxilium School in Newton, her family tradition is one she continues today with the students at the school she serves — exhibiting an enchanting Christmas village with a train zipping through a display of country homes and stores.

In anticipation of Christmas, Filipino Catholics in the Diocese continued their tradition of novena Masses celebrated Dec. 15 to 23, known as “Simbang Gabi.” In the Philippines, “Simbang Gabi,” which translates to Masses of the Night, is traditionally celebrated at 4 a.m. Bishop Serratelli took part in the celebration at St. Anthony Church in Passaic Dec. 17

Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit to St. Vincent DePaul Parish in Stirling Dec. 20 to mark the Fourth Sunday of Advent.

The golden years are merry and bright at St. Joseph’s Home for the Elderly here. Just ask the residents, who feel like they live in a little piece of heaven thanks to the love and care the Little Sisters of the Poor, who sponsor St. Joseph’s, provide for them.

Up until recently, one of the large rooms in the parish offices of St. Paul Parish here served as a storage area for items and supplies that could not find a home elsewhere on campus. But earlier this month, the faith community reclaimed the space’s rightful legacy as a center for worship and prayer by opening it as the new Mother Teresa of Calcutta Chapel, which Bishop Serratelli dedicated after Mass in the parish church on Dec. 8, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.

Andrea Mantegna (1431-1506), a leading artist of the Northern Italian Renaissance, painted this highly-prized work of “The Adoration of the Magi.” In this painting, the artist contrasts the simple clothes worn by the Child Jesus, his mother Mary and Joseph with the exotic garments and precious jewels of the Magi. God chooses to meet us in the simplicity of ordinary life.

This year, as we retell the Christmas story, let us remember that Jesus, Mary and Joseph fled the violence of Herod as refugees seeking a safe haven in Egypt; and let us recognize that millions of today’s refugees share the same plight faced by the Holy Family. This year, in the face of international violence and hatred, let us be heralds of hope and peace. Together, in prayer, let us call for an end of the harsh rhetoric that spawns hatred and fear. If we do so, we will be able to sing out: “Peace on Earth — Good Will to All.”

When Jesus is born, shepherds and wise men, the simple and the learned, the poor and the wealthy, are summoned to the manger. No one is excluded from love. At the manger, all who accept the Christ Child experience God’s mercy.

It was the feeling a lot like Christmas morning on Dec. 13 — more than 600 times over at Father English Community Center in Paterson, a diocesan Catholic Charities agency — as students from Delbarton School in Morristown played Santa Claus to children living in Paterson, who are served by the center.