News - July 2015 RSS Feed

Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit to St. Vincent Martyr Parish here July 19 where he celebrated Mass for the 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time. During the visit, the Bishop baptized Clare Elizabeth Nolan, daughter of Richard and Jennifer Nolan.

While some teens are traveling with family on vacation to the beach or Disney World, others have chosen to use their vacation to volunteer their time to help agencies of diocesan Catholic Charities.

Sometimes it seems as if Christina Cramer can barely remember what it’s like to sit in the pews with the congregation during Mass in her home parish of St. Paul’s here. That’s because this Paramus Catholic High School sophomore ends up serving on the altar with the presiding priest almost every time she attends Mass.

St. Mary of Magdala has gotten an undeserved “bad rap”over the past 2,000 years of history. Somehow, this significant figure in salvation history — known as Mary Magdalene — has acquired a bad and inaccurate reputation that cannot be found anywhere in Scripture: that of a “prostitute,” a “public sinner” or a “fallen woman.”

The historic renovation and restoration of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist is poised to enter the third and final phase of the project in the coming months. An overview of the work completed and that which still needs to be done was presented to the Diocesan Finance Council and the Presbyteral Council by Dennis Rodano, diocesan project manager, and Rebeca Ruiz-Ulloa, diocesan architect, at two separate meetings held recently in the cathedral’s chapel while workers continued to complete the second phase of the project on the exterior of the cathedral.

While all eyes are focused on Pope Francis coming to the United States in September, plans are progressing for events to be held during the Jubilee of Mercy.

Bertha Fiore inches closer in line to the checkout counter, clutching an armful of “gently used” items for purchase — great deals that she snagged for a few dollars. The Wantage resident seems happy with her frugal finds during her first visit to the Catholic Family & Community Services Thrift Shop & Veteran’s Closest here: a few pieces of clothing and a vintage radio, probably from the 1970s.

Singer/songwriter Meg Rilley strums a series of gentle chords on her acoustic guitar but sings a strong, unapologetic — and pointed — message of faith and values to an unnamed person with different views, who is “breathing down my neck.”

Main Street is the hub of urban life in this city. St. Joseph’s Hospital, bus stops, retail stores, car mechanics, restaurants, one of the city’s libraries, schools and even the Mother Church of the Diocese — the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist are found here.

In 1902, eight Italian immigrants left their hometown of Cesa, a province north of Naples, Italy, to come to America. The men — Francesco, Raffaele and Cesario Puco, Antonio Ferriero, Domenco and Guiseppe Togno, Lugi and Giustino Esposito — settled in the bucolic area in and around Netcong in northwest Morris County, but they never forgot their roots back home by establishing the St. Cesario Society in honor of their hometown’s patron saint.

If you don’t think that our religious freedoms in this nation are being compromised by the day, just ask the Little Sisters of the Poor what they think. They are among several hundred plaintiffs who have challenged the federal contraception mandate, which requires employers to offer health insurance plans covering contraception, sterilization and drugs that can cause early abortions.

Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit to St. Therese Parish here July 11. During his visit, he celebrated the vigil Mass for the Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time in Spanish.

Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit to Ss. Cyril and Methodius Parish here July 12 and celebrated the 12:30 p.m. Mass in Spanish for the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Wayne Merckling, a parishioner of St. Catherine of Siena here, wrote “The Crucifix, the Flag, and a Blackboard” not as a scholarly history of Catholic education in the United States. Instead, the retired pubic school principal penned it as a 116-page love letter of sorts to the faith-based and academically rigorous Catholic schooling that positively influenced his life and career and to all those educators who made it happen for him back in the 1950s and 1960s and continue to make it happen today.

The passing of a child is unthinkable for any parent. Sadly, Michael Lynes, a longtime parishioner of St. James the Greater Church here, knows firsthand the experience of losing a child to cancer.

For more than 10 years, young people — from pre-schoolers to teen-agers — at Resurrection Parish here have been coming together to make a difference in the lives of others. They are part of a youth ministry outreach group called Youth Enjoying Service, also known as YES.

When Bruce DeMolli joined the Our Lady of the Highway Knights of Columbus Council 3835, based at Our Lady of the Holy Angels Church here, it was the Catholic mens fraternity’s signature blue jacket that caught his attention.

The soft notes of “Canon in D” by Pachelbel float up from an upright piano that sits in the corner of the recreation room at Sacred Heart Spirituality Center here. The mood changes, as 16-year-old Aldo Bangiola of Assumption Parish, Morristown, switches to playing the bouncy standard “Heart and Soul,” rocking the jaunty bass line with his left hand. J.C. Castillo, also 16, of St. Anthony Parish, Passaic, sits next to him, following along.

With religious freedom in the U.S. being chipped away by court ruling after court ruling, legislation has been introduced in Congress to stem that tide. It’s sad, indeed, that legislation is needed to protect the First Amendment guarantee of religious liberty, but such is the state of our nation today.