News - March 2020 RSS Feed

An ocean of hands go up, after actor Frank Runyeon asks an audience of students, k-6, in the gym of All Saints Academy in Parsippany, “What do we sprinkle on our French fries to make them taste better?” He called on a boy, who raised his hand to answer. “Salt!” the boy exclaims into a microphone held by Runyeon, who looked like he stepped out of biblical times, wearing a flowing white robe and full beard — like in Jesus’ time on earth.

Across the Diocese, the faithful are asked to take precautions to stay safe during the midst of the global pandemic caused by the coronavirus. While most who contract the virus are expected to recover, there is one population who is especially at risk — the elderly. The risk of serious complications and even death from COVID-19 is significantly higher in older age groups. About 80 percent of deaths associated with COVID-19 were among adults 65 and older, with the highest percentage of severe outcomes among persons 85 and older according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

The public celebration of Masses across the Diocese is suspended due to governmental regulations limiting the gathering of large crowds in response to stopping the spread of COVID-19. However, many parishes are offering livestreaming of private Masses from the parish church for the faithful to view daily and on Sunday. There is a significant downside to the suspension of public Masses as parishioners cannot make in-person offerings and place their donation in the collection basket.

Poverty does not shutter its doors during a global pandemic, it heightens it. For this reason, diocesan Catholic Charities is still working and making a difference to those most in need. Many are already feeling the economic impact of COVID-19. Closures of businesses and schools are affecting low-income families and all of those served by Catholic Charities agencies in Passaic, Morris and Sussex counties in the Diocese of Paterson.

Viewers on Facebook, who tuned in for a livestreamed Mass at Corpus Christi Parish in Chatham Township last Sunday, watched Father Kevin Corcoran, pastor, raise the chalice during the Consecration without the church full of parishioners. Instead, he helped fill the empty church with prayers and preaching to offer Mass to a virtual congregation beyond the camera lens: faithful viewers, many of them filled with anxiety, who are heeding state-mandated orders to stay home to help combat the spread of COVID-19.

As Catholics know, Lent is a time of penance, prayer and charity. Yet, no Lent in our lifetime has ever been as challenging as the Lent of 2020. Just a short time after Ash Wednesday, we were all relegated to our homes, working from there and taking care of children, whose schools have been closed indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit to St. Joseph Parish in Mendham where he celebrated Mass for the 3rd Sunday of Lent March 15.

Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit to St. Mark the Evangelist Parish in Long Valley March 14 and celebrated the vigil Mass for the Third Sunday of Lent. During the Mass, he also administered the Sacrament of Confirmation to the young people of the parish.

Launching on the 25th anniversary of St. Pope John Paul II’s encyclical “Evangelium Vitae” (“The Gospel of Life”), the U.S. Bishops are inviting the faithful to join a nationwide effort called “Walking with Moms in Need: A Year of Service.” This special year of service to assist pregnant and parenting moms will be held from March 25, 2020 through March 25, 2021, which is also the Feast of the Annunciation.

While the national emergency declaration due to the coronavirus pandemic affects every single person in the nation in some way, the population disproportionately affected most by the implications of the virus and the closures are the poor and the vulnerable. Experts advise that practicing social distancing and avoiding any public gatherings can slow down the spread of the virus. Catholic schools in the Diocese are currently in the midst of being closed for two weeks and many of the faithful in the Diocese are working remotely at home instead of going to their places of work daily due to COVID-19.

Two pieces of history of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson and the Diocese were demolished last week — St. John’s former catechetical building and former diocesan Chancery building — to make way for the completion of Phase 2 of “Building on Tradition,” the cathedral’s ambitious two-phase $4.5 million project includes the construction of new two-story, 16,000-square-foot, 16-classroom Cate­chetical and Educational Building. With an anticipated completion of early next year, the facility will house many formation programs, outreaches and movements to help the faithful of all ages to get to know Christ and to answer his call to evangelize the “Good News” of the Gospel.

In Alabama, one of America’s most pro-life states, a state representative has introduced a bill in the state legislature that would require men of a certain age or state to have a vasectomy. The legislation is the brainchild of Democrat Rep. Rolanda Hollis. Her bill provides that a man must undergo a vasectomy “at his own expense” within one month of his 50th birthday or the birth of his third child, “whichever comes first.”

Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit to Our Lady of Consolation Parish (OLC) in Wayne Saturday, March 7, where he celebrated the 5 p.m. vigil Mass for the Second Sunday of Lent.

St. Patrick Parish in Chatham welcomed Bishop Serratelli during his pastoral visit March 8 where he celebrated Mass to mark the Second Sunday of Lent.

“Keep your steps small. It will make it easier to keep in time to the music.” Franciscan Father John Aherne, a parochial vicar at St. Mary Parish in Pompton Lakes, calls out this suggestion to a class of 55 people — lined up in rows in the gathering space in the parish center — as they attempt to follow his nimble footwork in learning a “reel,” the most basic routine in Irish dance. On the night of March 4, students — from St. Mary’s and elsewhere — share lots of smiles and laughs as they succeed, or sometimes fall short of, mastering the steps as demonstrated with great skill by Father John, a certified teacher with the Irish Dance Commission of Dublin, Ireland.

Early in her adulthood, Mary Jo Armen could have become, in her words, “a poster child for grief,” having suffered by then the deaths of her father, two brothers and a close friend. This parishioner of St. Peter the Apostle in River Edge also had carried another type of grief in her heart: pain and anger that built up over years toward her brother, Frank, who had been estranged from the family for 14 years.

We should all know by now just how deeply entrenched the Democratic Party is in the culture of death that St. Pope John Paul II warned us about in its total support of the abortion industry and its approval of infanticide. The Democrats reached another new low last week when Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) went off the deep end when speaking to a crowd of abortion-rights supporters outside the Supreme Court building.

Bishop Serratelli celebrated Mass at 9 a.m. in the chapel of St. Joseph Medical Center in Paterson on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 26, the start of Lent, where he blessed and distributed ashes to employees during the Mass. After­ward, the Bishop visited patients’ rooms to give them ashes and to pray with them.

Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit to St. Joseph Church in Passaic on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 26, where he celebrated 6 p.m. Mass and distributed ashes. Ash Wednesday began the holy season of Lent, a 40-day time of prayer, fasting and almsgiving.

Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit to Our Lady of the Magnificat (OLM) Parish in Kinnelon where he served as main celebrant and homilist of the 11 a.m. Mass on March 1 for the First Sunday of Lent.