News - shared news RSS Feed

Solids? Polka dots? Stripes? It was up to the women at the Edward King House to choose the colors and styles of their nails for the manicures they had done by Julia DelMastro, volunteer at the senior center in Newport, R.I. and a sophomore nursing student at nearby Salve Regina University.

Bishop Kevin Sweeney presided at the Easter Vigil Mass in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson at 8 p.m. on Holy Saturday, April 3. This is the night that “shall be as bright as day” as proclaimed by the Exsultet, an ancient church hymn, as the Church joyfully anticipates Christ’s Resurrection.

Bishop Kevin Sweeney served as main celebrant for his first Easter Mass as Bishop at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson April 4. Easter, the chief feast of the Church’s ecclesiastical year, commemorates the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

Bishop Kevin Sweeney presided at the Celebration of the Lord’s Passion on Good Friday, April 2 in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson. The solemn service began with the Liturgy of the Word, including the account of the Passion and Death of Jesus. The Veneration of the Cross, an ancient practice, followed.

Bishop Kevin Sweeney celebrated the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday evening, April 1 in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson. The Mass commemorates the institution of the Sacraments of the Eucharist and Holy Orders by Jesus Christ.

The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson hosted its first Children’s Easter Mass for its special needs community at 11:30 a.m. April 4 on Easter. Msgr. Geno Sylva, the cathedral’s rector, was the main celebrant of the Mass and all children of the community were invited to celebrate Easter together.

In a series of revelations to St. Maria Faustina Kowalska in the 1930s, Our Lord called for a special feast day to be celebrated on the Sunday after Easter. Today, we know that feast as Divine Mercy Sunday, named by Pope St. John Paul II at the canonization of St. Faustina on April 30, 2000. Divine Mercy Sunday this year will be celebrated on April 11.

The freezing 30-degree temperatures and cloudy skies over St. Joseph Church in Lincoln Park on the morning of April 2, Good Friday, didn’t discourage a large crowd of parishioners from gathering — all socially distanced — at the edge of the parish’s “prayer park” for the dedication of a new outdoor Stations of the Cross. The sizable group of about 70 people attested to the great anticipation that the powerful new devotional has generated at St. Joseph’s Parish — three days before the glorious Resurrection of Our Savior. Alexander Weiss, 16, a new St. Joseph’s parishioner and member of Boy Scout Troop 74 in Montville, built the outdoor Stations for his Eagle Scout service project.

April 3 was a day for so many around the Diocese in which their lives were changed forever. In churches across the Diocese, 75 people — adults, teens and children — were initiated into full membership in the Church. During the Easter Vigil Mass on Holy Saturday, the elect received the three Sacra­ments of Initiation — Baptism, Confirma­tion, and Eucharist.

Silence is golden, and technology companies are making the phrase their mantra when it comes to religious groups on social media. Alarmingly, according to a white paper issued by the Napa Legal Institute, religious groups and figures have been silenced by tech companies at a rate of about one a week.

In a letter sent to pastors and all in leadership at Catholic schools in the Diocese last week, the diocesan Office of Catholic Schools announced the launch of a new advertising campaign designed to raise awareness about the Catholic education opportunities available within the Diocese of Paterson’s elementary and high schools.

Bishop Kevin Sweeney served as main celebrant and homilist of the vigil Mass marking Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion at St. Mary Assumption Church in Passaic March 27.

Bishop Kevin Sweeney served as the main celebrant and homilist at Mass on Palm Sunday March 28 in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson marking his first Palm Sunday Mass as the Bishop of Paterson.

Although the pandemic has kept the retired Salesian sisters of the Provincial House in Haledon indoors and away from in-person ministry, it has been unable to limit their creativity and desire to help others. After seeing a news segment on the television about a young Intensive Care Unit (ICU) nurse, Alexandra Marcello, and the program she started to help families who lost a loved one to COVID-19, the sisters knew they wanted to get involved.

It was a warm afternoon on March 20 with clear skies over the town square in downtown Newton, where a small but spirited group of Catholics held up two long banners that helped make their faith-based message to the public loud and clear: “God’s Marriage = 1 Man + 1 Woman.” On that Saturday, these 21 faith-filled men and women drew a variety of reactions from passing motorists — from honks of approval to one disapproving gesture of “thumbs down.”

On Easter, the Catholic Church in the Philippines will inaugurate a yearlong celebration to mark 500 years of Christianity in the country. The theme of the jubilee celebration is “Gifted to Give.” For Filipinos in the Paterson Diocese, this celebration has brought joy and excitement as several events are planned to coincide with the jubilee year. On Easter, Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Rockaway will be the site of the official kick-off of the celebration with a Filipino Mass at 1 p.m.

Bishop Kevin Sweeney was homilist and main celebrant, with priests of the Diocese as concelebrants, at the Diocese’s annual Mass of Chrism March 29 in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson. During the Mass, priests of the Diocese renewed their priestly promises before the Bishop and received the prayers and support of the people of God, who attended and watched through livestream since in person attendance was limited due to the pandemic.

With the celebration of the great feast of Easter just days away, kindhearted Confirmation candidates found a way to bring Easter joy to senior citizens confined to local nursing homes during the pandemic. At Our Lady of the Lake Church in Sparta, the teenagers teamed up with the parish’s “Adopt-a-Family” ministry for a special parish-wide project.

Father Jayke Parinas, parochial vicar at Our Lady of the Mountain and St. Mark parishes in Long Valley, came with questions about canon law and marriage on March 23 to Loyola Jesuit Center in Morristown. There, he and a group of his fellow new diocesan priests got expert answers to their questions on the subject from the judicial vicar of the Diocese of Scranton, Pa., during the second monthly live session of a new program in Paterson: Ongoing Forma­tion of Newly Ordained Priests.

As we begin the Sacred Triduum today on Holy Thursday, our eyes can now become fixed on knowing that after the Passion and death of Jesus comes Easter, the greatest feast on the Church calendar, when Jesus is raised from the dead. The Resurrection of Jesus carries the promise that death cannot separate us from God. Christ lives and so will we.