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Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney made a pastoral visit to St. Paul Church in Prospect Park June 19, where he was the principal celebrant of Mass marking the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. After the Mass, the Bishop led a procession with the Blessed Sacrament through the streets of Prospect Park.

On June 12, young people of the Diocesan Shrine of St. John Paul II/Holy Rosary Church in Passaic received the Sacrament of Confirmation. Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney administered the Sacrament and also celebrated Mass marking the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity at the Polish-community parish.

It is a rather unsettling question: what fate awaits the souls of the saved — and the condemned — at the final judgment? Many Scripture passages paint a stark picture: from God sentencing unbelievers to be burned in a lake of fire for all eternity to Jesus separating the saved and unsaved like a shepherd separates his sheep. But perhaps Catholics might think about the Final Judgment like a giant lively party that lasts for eternity, Father Steven Shadwell, pastor of Our Lady of the Magnificat (OLM) Parish in Kinnelon, suggested in the third and final talk in his recent Chapel Chats series on June 16.

As the Diocese marks the Year of the Eucharist, the annual Hispanic Summer Institute was centered on the theme of the Eucharist, “the Source and Summit of the Christian life.” The institute was held from June 13 to 17 at the Pope John Paul II Center in Clifton in partnership with the diocesan Hispanic Ministry Office at the Evangelization Center at St. Paul Inside the Walls in Madison and St. Elizabeth Univer­sity in Convent Station.

The long road to greater racial justice in our communities starts with a simple step: “Making friends with people, who don’t look like you — white, black, and brown — and then sharing God’s love with them.” That hopeful message came from an African-American man who experienced racism as a child in the South — retired Deacon Frank Owens of St. Lawrence the Martyr Parish in Chester who spoke at an interfaith prayer service in Chester three days before the June 20 observance of June­teenth, marking the end of slavery in the U.S. on June 19, 1865. It officially became the 11th federal holiday on June 17, 2021.

Msgr. Kenneth Lasch, a retired priest of the Paterson Diocese, marked the 60th anniversary of his priesthood ordination in St. Joseph Church in Mendham with the celebration of Mass June 12.

In his new book, Bishop Emeritus Arthur J. Serratelli reveals an array of insights about the Eucharist found in Scripture about the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fish by viewing it the way a movie director looks at a scene: from multiple camera angles.

Pauline Marie Jaricot, founder of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, was beatified last month in her birthplace, Lyon, France, following recognition of a miracle attributed to her intercession. Attending the beatification was Mila Burdeos, diocesan mission director, who joined 120 national directors of the Pontifical Mission Societies.

Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney installed 10 men of diverse backgrounds to the office of acolyte during a Mass on June 10 in St. Peter the Apostle Church in Parsippany. This is their last step before being ordained to the diocesan Permanent Diaconate in June 2023.

With a combined 1,145 years of service, the annual Dio­cesan Priest Jubilee Mass was celebrated honoring priests marking milestone anniversaries of their priesthood ordination. Priests, both diocesan and religious, marking 65, 60, 50, 40 and 25 years of service were recognized at the Mass held at St. Gerald Majella Church in Paterson June 9.

Catechists in parishes around the Diocese were encouraged to continue imparting the faith to their young people “with joy and enthusiasm” during a Eucharistic Retreat given in English on June 11 in the Evangelization Center at St. Paul Inside the Walls ion Madison.

El pasado sábado, en St. Pope John Paul II Center, Clifton, se llevó a cabo el retiro diocesano Eucarístico para líderes, catequistas, y ministros de la diócesis, organizado por la oficina de Ministerio Hispano, la oficina de Catequesis y el editorial Sadlier. El objetivo central de este evento era renovar nuestro amor, entendimiento por la Sagrada Eucaristía, y hacer de ella algo fundamental para nuestra vida. Tuvimos la participación de personas de la mayoría de nuestras parroquias donde hay presencia de Ministerio Hispano.

At center stage in St. Anthony School in Hawthorne, Amelia Mallory, 13, portrays St. Mary Mazzarello as she faces a crisis, before establishing the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, a religious order. Suffering from typhoid, she worries about beating the life-threatening illness. St. Mary Mazzarello also wonders how to answer the Blessed Mother’s call in a vision for her to teach the poor girls in her Italian village. Her response led her to found her religious community, also known as the Salesian Sisters of Don Bosco.

Members of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal (CCR) celebrated the feast of Pentecost at a vigil Mass June in the St. John Paul II Center in Clifton. Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney was main celebrant of the Mass to mark Pentecost, often called the “Birthday of the Catholic Church.” Father Yasid Salas, pastor of St. Therese Parish in Paterson and director of the Hispanic Charismatic Renewal, coordinated the event with the Diocese’s team. Spanish-speaking Catholics from around the Diocese attended the celebration of Pentecost.

Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney served as main celebrant of the annual Serra Club Mass to honor seminarians, newly ordained priests and retiring priests, held in St. Gerard Majella Church in Paterson May 31. The evening liturgy was followed by a dinner at the Brownstone, also in Paterson.

Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney, who will mark the 25th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood on June 28, will be the principal celebrant of the annual diocesan Jubilee Mass for diocesan and religious priests who are also marking significant milestones in the priesthood. The Jubilee Mass was celebrated on Thursday, June 9, in St. Gerard Majella Church in Paterson to honor those priests celebrating 65th, 60th, 50th, 40th and 25th anniversaries of their priestly ordinations this year.

Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney made a pastoral visit on Pentecost Sunday to St. Paul Parish in Clifton June 5. During his visit, he administered the Sacrament of Confirmation to young people of the parish, who prepared for the sacrament through the parish’s Confirmation program.

On June 4, a former Vatican official for the New Evan­geli­zation helped inspire participants of the Pentecost Project faith-formation series at the Cathe­dral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson to live as “missionary disciples.” He issued this challenge to them: “Today, more than ever, it is our duty to be agents of evangelization for others.”

Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney has announced clergy assignments and clergy retirements effective in June.

On this past Tuesday, we were made painfully aware of another horrific act of violence and the tragic loss of innocent human life that followed. The school shooting in Uvalde, Texas repeated an all too familiar scene that pours salt in a wound that never seems to heal. As we pray for all the victims, especially the 19 children and 2 teachers who were killed, we must constantly pray for their families that will never be the same and for healing in our country that desperately needs the peace that comes from God. We must also ask ourselves the questions, “How can this happen again (and again and again)?” This tragic killing, with the use of a deadly weapon, comes less than two weeks after another person with a gun targeted an African-American Community in Buffalo and killed 10 innocent people.