Students and faculty at Pope John XXIII Regional High School and Pope John XXIII Middle School in Sparta welcomed Bishop Serratelli to campus Sept. 29 where he celebrated Mass in a packed “old gymnasium” at Pope John XXIII Regional High School and dedicated and blessed two new facilities at the high school and the new middle school during his pastoral visit.

Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit to Blessed Sacrament Parish in Paterson Oct. 8 where he celebrated the 11 a.m. Mass in Spanish for the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Without priests, there would be no Mass and without the Mass, no Holy Eucharist. This is a situation faced by many Catholics in mission lands, where receiving the Eucharist sadly is often a rare occurrence. Fortunately, here in the Paterson Diocese for the past decade, more than 80 men have been ordained to the priesthood, ensuring the mission of Christ and his Church will continue for generations to come. It is through the great efforts of the faithful who support seminarian education and vocations through the Bishop’s Annual Appeal that there has been a steady growth of men yearning to serve as priests.

The wives of permanent deacons and deacon candidates should turn to the Blessed Virgin Mary for guidance and as a model of faith and as our spiritual mother, as they discern what actions they should take in their lives to spread the Gospel and support their husbands’ ministries.

The wildfires in California this week and the recent tragedy in Las Vegas have highlighted the sacrifices firefighters and first responders make every day for the safety for others. Knowing these brave men and women risk their lives daily, the Paterson Diocese held its third annual Fallen Firefighters Memorial Mass at St. Gerard Majella Church in Paterson Oct. 10.

As the Catholic Church marks the month of October as Respect Life Month, there was some good news last week from Washington. On Oct. 3, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 237-189 for the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. The bill has been among the right-to-life movement’s top congressional priorities for the 115th Congress. Like the 16 state bills that have been enacted thus far, the proposed federal law would extend legal protection to unborn humans beginning at 20 weeks fetal age, based on congressional findings that by that point in life (and even earlier) the unborn child has the capacity to experience excruciating pain during an abortion.

Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit to St. Michael the Archangel Parish in Paterson Sunday, Oct. 1 where he celebrated Mass for the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time. The pastoral visit also marked the feast day of the parish’s patron, St. Michael the Archangel, which is on Sept. 29. It also commemorates the feast days of Archangels, St. Gabriel and St. Raphael.

She once had dreams to be a professional golfer but God had a much bigger plan for Juliana Staab, a former resident at Casa Guadalupe in Clifton. God called the 26-year-old, who always had a deep yearning for something more in her life, to religious life as a cloistered Carmelite sister.