The faith community of St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Passaic welcomed Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney on Jan. 21 to celebrate a Mass for the Feast of Our Lady of Altagracia, considered the protective mother of the Dominican people.

The faith community of St. Agnes Parish in Paterson on Jan. 21 welcomed Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney, who celebrated a Mass for the feast day of its patroness, St. Agnes, virgin and martyr.

Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney celebrated Mass at Bethlehem Hermitage in Chester on Jan. 17.

In November, the Paterson Diocese celebrated the wedding anniversaries of couples married for 25, 50, or 60 or more years, including one for 70 years. This event typically needs little advertising due to the excitement and realization of the milestone achieved.

Before Christmas, the Blessed Mother spent a week in the home of Alex and Amanda Sousa in Sandyston, taking up residence in their living room. The couple and their five children, ages 4 months to 12 years, felt Mary’s presence by praying around something tangible: a pilgrim statue of Our Lady of Fatima that stood on a table.

As we approach “Catholic Schools Week 2024,” I am looking forward to the opportunity to visit many of the Catholic Schools in our diocese to celebrate with students, parents, teachers, and administrators the gift and ministry of Catholic Schools.

Working at the food pantry of Father English Community Center in Paterson can be physically demanding. On the front lines serving the poor, many staff spend time lifting, carrying, and opening large boxes of food and household items and moving skids of donations. After doing warehouse-like work during the day, they go home with sore muscles.

Eileen of Blairstown has always been a chronic “people pleaser” — a debilitating behavior she said “ends up pleasing no one.” Her habit stems from years of co-dependency — maintaining unhealthy relationships. She grew up with a father who was an alcoholic and a mother who battled depression.

Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney invited his Paterson neighbor, John DeCando, onto the podcast last week for a fun Beyond The Beacon episode about animals.

“New year, new life” is part of the lyrics of a very well-known Christmas song, which those of us from a Latin-American background are familiar with, especially this time of the year. Its secular lyrics could also be applied, mutatis mutandis, to our Christian life, especially as we begin this new trip around the sun.

During the past week on our liturgical calendar, on Wednesday, “of the First Week in Ordinary Time” (Jan. 10), and on the “Second Sunday in Ordinary Time” (Jan. 14), we heard the same Scripture passage for the First Reading at Mass. The passage, sometimes referred to as “The Call of Samuel,” is from the third chapter of the First Book of Samuel (1 Sm. 3:1–10, 19).

On the first Beyond The Beacon episode of the new year, Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney and Communications Director Jai Agnish are joined by Father Alex Nevitt — a pilot and a French chef — to discuss the upcoming pilgrimage to the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis in July.

Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney celebrated a monthly Mass for Life at St. Margaret of Scotland Church in Morristown on Jan. 6. He led an outdoor rosary procession for life to Planned Parenthood on Speedwell Avenue after the Mass.

The community of Our Lady of Fatima/St. Nicholas Parish in Passaic on Jan. 7 welcomed Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney, who celebrated Masses in Spanish at 10:30 a.m. and noon.

About 200,00 are expected to raise their voices for the lives of unborn children at the 2024 National March for Life on Friday, Jan. 19, in Washington, D.C. They will also renew their commitment to help both the mothers and children of crisis pregnancies. The march’s theme is “With Every Woman, For Every Child.”

St. Francis of Assisi Parish in the Haskell neighborhood of Wanaque held their first-ever Share a Bear event. Linda O’Connell, a St. Francis of Assisi parishioner of seven years, and the pastor, Father Greg Golba, presented the idea to the parish.

Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney invites Catholics of the Paterson Diocese to join him on a pilgrimage to the 10th National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis, Ind., from July 17–21 — the first such gathering in the United States in 83 years.

As part of a three-year National Eucharistic Revival, plans are being made for the first National Eucharistic Congress to be held in the United States in 83 years! On the website for the Eucharistic Revival, you can learn about the history of Eucharistic Congresses and that, “Since 1895, the United States has been host to nine National Eucharistic Congresses and two International Eucharistic Congresses (1926 & 1976).” 

Janely Joseph, Youth Minister of Passaic’s Our Lady of Fatima & St. Nicholas Church, recalled the conversation. Joseph said, “One Sunday, I was talking to a parent, and she said to me, ‘Something’s working. Every Friday, when I pick up my daughter from school, she asks me if there is a youth group meeting that night. She always wants to go to the youth group meeting.” Every other Friday after 7 p.m. Mass, the Christ Is Alive (CIA) Youth Ministry gathers for one-and-a-half hours in the St. Nicholas parish office. The group wants its numbers of children, teenagers, and young adults to increase.

The parish administrator of Our Lady of Mercy in Hanover Township was faced with a small challenge as Christmas was approaching. When he arrived at the parish last June, Father Michal Rybinski visited his various parish buildings to investigate any issues. While doing so, he made some nice discoveries. He said of one excursion, “We went to an attic, and there was a manger. We had the statues of Our Lady, St. Joseph, Jesus, and we had shepherds and some animals.” But, surprisingly, no sheep.