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It took but an instant for Anthony’s “silly and smiley” personality to capture Katie Church’s attention three years ago. Every day, the sprightly four-year-old boy visited a compound run by the Salesian religious order in his impoverished village of Masaya in Nicaragua, where Church and fellow missioners tutored and played with him and other local children. Anthony was short but still wanted to do what the older kids did, so Church lifted him up to the basketball hoop so he could take a shot with the ball.

Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit to St. Agnes Parish in Paterson Jan. 19 where he celebrated Mass for the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Bishop’s visit also came near the feast day (Jan. 21) of the parish’s patron, St. Agnes, virgin and martyr, who is patron saint of girls, chastity, Girl Scouts, engaged couples, virgins and rape victims.

This year is a special year for Catholic Charities’ Department for Persons with Disabilities as it celebrates the 50th anniversary of Murray House’s annual dinner dance. The celebratory event will be held at the Brownstone in Paterson from 6 to 11 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 16. To mark this milestone, DPD will be presenting lifetime achievement awards to dozens of recipients to celebrate its history and give thanks to those who have made a lasting impact through their support to the agency through the years.

The reviews are in: the Our Lady’s Face line of beauty products keeps skin soft, clean and supple and helps fade wrinkles. But what is the secret ingredient of these all-natural skin-care products, made by the young women of Casa Guadalupe in Clifton: coconut oil, aloe vera, or essential oils, such as lavender? Jennifer Dircio, who has lived at the diocesan house of discernment and prayer for women here since May, thinks the “something special” is “prayer”: intentions that they offer over the beauty products — a cleanser, toner, a facial scrub, a moisturizer and an eye serum — as they make them.

A group of 10 adults from St. Michael Parish in Netcong — working professionals including a nurse, a deacon and his wife, and some who were grandparents — journeyed together for one week earlier this month to Kingston, Jamaica to serve with the Missionaries of the Poor.

Next week there is reason to celebrate not once, but twice. It is not only Catholic Schools Week in our Diocese and across the country but it is also National School Choice Week in America. That these two week-long celebrations run concurrently show how parochial schools and school choice are inseparably linked to each other to provide parents with the opportunity to give their children the best education possible. That’s true educational freedom.

Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit to St. Philip the Apostle Parish in Clifton Jan. 12 where he celebrated Mass marking the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord.

January is Poverty Awareness Month, an initiative to highlight the ongoing plight that so many Americans experience every day. More than 40 million people in the United States live in poverty, affecting people of all races, backgrounds and ages from the cities to rural communities. In the state of New Jersey, almost one million people live in poverty.

Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit to Corpus Christi Parish in Chatham Township where he celebrated the vigil Mass for the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord Jan. 11. The feast commemorates the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River by St. John the Baptist and it occurs the first Sunday after the Epiphany.

Three immigration lawyers came to the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson on Jan. 12 for a seminar on “Know about Immi­gration.” All gave a key piece of advice to undocumented and documented people: secure the services of an attorney right away, if they are faced with urgent legal or immigration matters. About 250 people from the cathedral parish and around Paterson came to St. John’s Rodimer Center last Sunday afternoon to get some insight from a panel of lawyers from the Hispanic Bar Association of New Jersey.

By the busloads from diocesan high schools and from parish youth groups in Passaic, Morris and Sussex counties, young people will be a major part of the contingent going to the 47th annual March for Life in Washington, D.C. Jan. 24. They will be attending the March to overturn the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision of Roe v. Wade, which made abortion legal.

In addition to the hundreds of thousands from around the country who will trek to Washington, D.C., for the annual March for Life, on Jan. 24, thousands will attend similar events in major cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, Denver and here in New Jersey in Trenton. Before the March for Life in Los Angeles, the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels will host a requiem Mass for the millions of unborn who have been aborted since Roe vs. Wade in 1973.

A federal rule change once again allows faith-based adoption agencies to receive federal funding without being required to place children with same-sex couples. Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a religious freedom legal group, welcomed the move.

Lucas Folan, 20, and other young men of the Diocese visited Domus Bartimaeus House of Discernment in Boonton on Saturday to listen for God’s possible call to the priesthood, not only by receiving the Eucharist at Mass and praying silently in Adoration but also by engaging in lively conversations about vocations, the seminary and priestly life.

Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit to St. John Kanty Parish in Clifton where he celebrated Mass marking the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph Dec. 29.

Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit to St. James the Marches Church in Totowa and celebrated the vigil Mass to mark the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph.

Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit to St. Joseph Church in Paterson and celebrated Mass for the Feast of the Three Kings, also known as the Epiphany, Jan. 5.

Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit on Jan. 4 to Holy Rosary Parish in Passaic, home of the Diocesan Shrine of St. John Paul II, where he celebrated the vigil Mass for the Feast of the Epiphany of the Lord, also known as “Three Kings Day.” During his visit to the mostly Polish faith community, Bishop Serratelli served as main celebrant and homilist of the 5 p.m. Mass. Concelebrating was Father Stefan Las, pastor of the Shrine of St. John Paul II/Holy Rosary. The Bishop blessed chalk and incense used in the blessings of homes for the feast day, sprinkling them with holy water.

Bishop Serratelli began the new year of 2020 with a pastoral visit to St. Clare Parish in Clifton where he was the principal celebrant of the 10 a.m. Mass to mark the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother God.

Modern life and society bombard Catholic husbands and fathers with so many challenges and distractions — from work and family pressures to moral temptations and societal attacks on faith and the meaning of authentic manhood. Those pressures make it difficult for a Catholic man to take up the challenge of striving to become a “saint” in this day — strengthening his relationship with Christ, taking leadership of the home and, by extension, transforming society.