Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney presided over the Celebration of the Lord’s Passion at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson for Good Friday on April 7. It followed a reenactment of the Passion of Christ that took place in the cathedral and through the streets in Paterson.

Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney celebrated the Easter Vigil Mass in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson on the evening of Holy Saturday, April 8. He described it as a “joyful evening.”

The faith community of St. Brendan and St. George in Clifton on April 7 welcomed Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney, who presided over the Celebration of the Lord’s Passion on Good Friday.

The faith community of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson on April 6 welcomed Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney, who celebrated the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday evening.

Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney celebrated Mass for Easter on Sunday, April 9, at St. Paul Parish in Clifton at 11 a.m. Easter, the chief feast of the Church’s ecclesiastical year, commemorates the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney celebrated Mass for Easter on April 9 at the Diocesan Shrine of St. John Paul II/Holy Rosary Parish in Passaic at 6 a.m. Histori­cally, Holy Rosary has been home to a thriving Polish faith community.

Gripped by addiction, James searched for a kind God to help heal his pain of feeling like the loneliest person on earth. Later in recovery, he found what he was looking for when a volunteer at a retreat greeted him with “the most sincere, genuine, and honest hug.”

In times past, the Second Sunday of Easter was called Domenica in Albis since the newly baptized, the neophytes, would put aside their baptismal garments on this Sunday. The Second Sunday of Easter was also called formerly “Low” Sunday, probably as a comparative for the highest liturgical ranking day of all, Easter Sunday. Today, the second Sunday of Easter is that of Divine Mercy, according to the indication of the Roman Missal. For centuries (at least as far back as the 1570 Missal of Pius V), on the Second Sunday of Easter, the Church has proclaimed the Gospel passage that is sometimes referred to as the Gospel of “Doubting Thomas,” John 20:19–31.

For the second consecutive year, Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney helped extend Christ’s love and hope to the inmates in the Morris County Correctional Facility on March 29 in Morristown. In his homily for that morning’s Mass, he reminded the inmates that Jesus identifies with — and can help ease — their suffering.

Assumption College for Sisters (ACS) in Denville presented the Servant Leadership Award to Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney, along with awards for other honorees, at its annual Caring Basket Gala on March 30 at the Hanover Marriott in Whippany.

Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney served as the main celebrant and homilist at Mass on Palm Sunday on April 2 at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson. Concelebrating the 1 p.m. Mass with Bishop Sweeney were Msgr. Geno Sylva, St. John’s rector and diocesan vicar for special projects, and Father Jorge Castaño, a parochial vicar of the cathedral.

Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney was the homilist and main celebrant of the diocese’s annual Mass of Chrism on April 3 in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson. Concelebrating were priests from around the diocese, along with Bishop Emeritus Arthur J. Serratelli.

On Jan. 31, Madison’s St. Vincent Martyr School took part in its annual Day of Service. The school has been holding the event on Tuesdays of Catholic Schools Week for about 10 years. Each day of the week this year celebrated a different facet of the 2023 Catholic Schools Week theme of “Faith, Faculty, Students, Community, and Service.”

For episode 4 of Beyond The Beacon, Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney and Communi­cations Director/Beacon Editor Jai Agnish welcomed their first guest onto the podcast. Scott Milliken, the CEO of Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Paterson, came on the show last week to discuss service and the vital work of Catholic Charities in the diocese.

The work of Raphael, the great artist of the High Renaissance, demonstrates his mastery of perspective. Raphael’s The Resurrection of Christ (1499–1502) unveils an aerial view of the power of the Resurrection of Christ that overarches all of human history.

The Diocese of Paterson, in conjunction with the Catechetical Leaders Association, awarded Catechetical Service Awards on March 4 during the Catechetical Conference at St. Elizabeth University in Morristown.

In preparing for Holy Week and Easter, I came across the issue of The Beacon, which was published on April 9, 2020. It was the “Easter Issue” for that year which, due to the pandemic, would become our first “virtual” Holy Week and Easter. You can see below that, in that issue, a Letter from Bishop Serratelli to his priests was printed on page 3. As I read Bishop Serratelli’s letter, I was struck by the power and beauty of his message, not only to the priests but to the whole Diocese during those most challenging of days.