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What would you be willing to give up to follow Jesus? Last week, Bishop Serratelli posed that provocative question to a group of young men of the Diocese — teenagers, who have just begun to think about their vocation — on Feb. 5 at a “Pizza with the Bishop” vocations-awareness evening at Pope John XXIII High School in Sparta.

Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit to St. Clare Parish in Clifton Feb. 9, where he was principal celebrant of the vigil Mass for the Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time. During the Mass, the Bishop blessed red candles for parishioners to mark the upcoming feast of St. Valentine’s Day on Feb. 14.

Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit to Our Lady of Lourdes (OLL) Parish in Paterson on Feb. 3, where he celebrated Mass for the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time. During the Mass, the Bishop named Father Raimundo Rivera, who has been serving as administrator at the parish, as pastor effective Feb. 11.

C.J. looks sharp in his suit and tie, as he “boogies down” to club hits and classics with friends on a darkened dance floor speckled with white and blue light. He and his pals seem busy soaking up the music, fun and friendship of this night of nights and, for a few hours, forgetting about mental or physical limitations that make their lives challenging.

When people visit a museum, they are able to see a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical or scientific importance. But through the “Treasures of the Church” exposition, the faithful have the opportunity to view more than 150 relics of saints, contained in reliquaries, which goes beyond simply seeing a museum exhibit. It is a moment of evangelization and a re-energizing of the faith life of all who view them.

What a contrast in emotions! In President Trump’s State of the Union address last week, he honored the important role women play in society, pointing to the fact that there are more women serving in Congress now than at any time in the nation’s history.

Bishop Serratelli visited St. Cecilia Parish here on Feb. 3 to serve as the main celebrant of the 3:30 p.m. Mass with the faith community’s Vietnamese Catholics to commemorate the Vietnamese Lunar New Year. The celebration began with a procession, followed by the liturgy. The Mass marked the Vietnamese New Year — the Year of the Pig, which took place on Feb. 5 this year — and was celebrated in both English and Vietnamese in St. Cecilia’s Church by priests of the Rockaway parish and visiting Vietnamese priests. According to the Vietnamese calendar, the New Year marks the year 4717. The New Year celebrations, called Tet, are the most important celebration in the Vietnamese culture.

Students sit captivated as Bishop Serratelli explains how, in the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, Jesus alters a story well known to the Jewish people of his time to make a point about both God’s judgment and his limitless mercy. It feels familiar for this former seminary professor to lead a class about the Parables of Jesus, as he tells his students that, in his version of the story, Jesus reverses the fates of the two men: the Rich Man, who fails to help Lazarus, a beggar, is carried to Hades, while Lazarus is carried to Heaven.

Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit Feb. 2 to St. Joseph Parish in Passaic where he served as main celebrant and homilist for the vigil Mass for the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord. During his visit to the mostly Polish faith community, the Bishop also administered the sacrament of Confirmation to 22 young people of the parish.

For the last few months, a pilgrim icon of Our Lady of Persecuted Christians has been traveling to Roman Catholic and Eastern Rite Catholic parishes around the Diocese to bring home the reality of the depth of persecution of Christians around the world and the need to pray in solidarity with them. The Paterson Federation of the Knights of Columbus has been coordinating visits of the icon around the Diocese as part of a nationwide 2018-19 Marian Prayer Program sponsored by the Supreme Council of the Knights of Columbus.

On a hot and humid Sunday morning in Panama City’s Metro Park, 700,000 young people heard a message loud and clear from Pope Francis, who said to them, “You, dear young people, are not the future but the now of God.” The word “now” can summarize the experience for the young people around the globe on the occasion of the 34th World Youth Day (WYD) held in the Central American country. It helped them realize “they are not the tomorrow, not the meantime but the now of God” in evangelizing the faith. From the Paterson Diocese, 12 pilgrims traveled to Panama hailing from Holy Trinity Parish in Passaic, St. Michael Parish in Paterson and the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson.

No sooner had the ink dried on Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) signing an abortion bill into law, effectively giving license to kill a child up to the moment of birth, than other states followed suit on such insanity. Last week, Democrats in the Virginia statehouse presented a bill to repeal restrictions on abortion, allowing terminations up until the moment of birth. Democratic Delegate Kathy Tran introduced the Repeal Act, which would allow a doctor to perform an abortion when a woman is dilating, moments before birth. It received support from Gov. Ralph Northam (D), a pediatrician, no less. Thankfully, the rest of the delegates came to their senses, and the measure failed to be voted out of subcommittee.

She was a saint living in recent times and now, the community of St. Paul the Apostle in Clifton will be able to be in the presence of a relic of St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta whenever they are at daily Mass or in quiet prayer at the chapel named in her honor at the church.

St. Vincent Martyr School began Catholic Schools Week with a Mass celebrated by Bishop Serratelli in St. Vincent Martyr Church in Madison marking the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time Jan. 27. During the Mass, students of the parish’s St. Vincent Martyr School took part in the Mass as gift bearers, singers in the choir and greeters at the doors of the church.

Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit to St. Therese Church in Succasunna where he celebrated the vigil Mass for the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time Jan. 26.

The bitter January cold could not stop pro-life advocates from around the state from being a voice for the voiceless in the womb at the annual Rally for Life here in the courtyard annex of the State House building Jan. 22, the anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision on Roe v. Wade, which made abortion legal in 1973. Gathering to promote life where leaders, elected officials and clergy, including Bishop James Checchio of Metuchen, spoke at the rally to motivate the crowd to continue the fight to save babies in the womb from abortion.

Three of the four Gospel writers — Matthew, Mark and Luke — report that Jesus does something almost physically impossible before he dies on the Cross: utters a loud cry. Meanwhile, John says that, in great pain, Christ cries out the words, “It is finished” — a remarkable feat, because those who were crucified usually died completely spent and unable to utter anything at the moment of death. In his new book, Bishop Serratelli writes that Christ’s dying words indicate something even more profound: that he brings God’s work to completion and “ushers in the kingdom of God.” That’s one of the many insights about the Passion of Christ in Scripture that the Bishop offers in his 123-page “Jesus’ Last Days,” published on Jan. 22.

Bishop Serratelli celebrated his annual Mass on Jan. 27 with the Young Adults of St. Paul Inside the Walls: the Diocesan Center for Evangelization at Bayley-Ellard in Madison where the outreach welcomed the new year with a new leadership team. It has also added or re-imagined some of its faith-formation programs — as well as having welcomed the births of children to many of the married couples, who met through the popular outreach.

A new poll released on the eve of the annual March for Life finds that millennials, the largest group of American voters, are not in lock step with politicians on abortion on demand and their support of Roe v. Wade. Long considered a top issue for the younger generation, a Students for Life poll found that millennials are equally divided, 39 percent to 39 percent, in their support and opposition to abortion.

Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit to St. Agnes Parish in Paterson Jan. 20 where he celebrated the 11:30 a.m. Mass for the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Bishop’s visit also came the day before the feast day of the parish’s patron, St. Agnes, who is the patron saint of young girls and also the patron saint of chastity. She died a virgin-martyr at the age of 12 or 13 on Jan. 21, 304 in Rome.