While the annual “Fortnight for Freedom” was being observed to focus on religious liberty issues, the Supreme Court’s refusal to hear a conscience rights case raised by pro-life pharmacy owners pointed to just how fragile our freedom to live out our faith has become. The case before the Supreme Court challenged Washington state rules that required pharmacies to dispense abortion-causing drugs and prevented those who object to abortion from referring customers elsewhere.

Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit to St. James of the Marches Parish in Totowa June 25 where he celebrated the vigil Mass for the 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time. During the Mass, Bishop Serratelli administered the Sacrament of Confirmation to young people of the parish.

Our Lady of Mercy Parish in Whippany welcomed Bishop Serratelli as he made a pastoral visit to the Morris County church June 19. During the visit, the Bishop celebrated Mass for the 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time, which was also Father’s Day.

The Serra Club of Paterson hosted its annual event honoring seminarians, retired priests, golden jubilarians and newly ordained at St. Gerard Majella Church in Paterson June 20 followed by a beefsteak dinner at the Brownstone.

Last year, a hearty team of young men that consisted of two priests and three seminarians from New York State successfully finished a physically demanding 1,400-mile bike trek up the East Coast — called “Biking 4 Vocations” — to put into high gear efforts to raise awareness for vocations.

To help facilitate much-needed prayer in marriage — as well as offer advice and encouragement, Catholic Book Publishing Corp. in Totowa recently released ‘Daily Companion for Married Couples.’ The 192-page volume presents minute-long meditations on various aspects of marriage for each day that contain a Scripture quote or inspirational reading, a reflection and a prayer to help support the relationships of both engaged and married couples. The volume —which features a faux-leather cover and red and black type inside that resembles printing found in a lectionary — also makes a perfect gift for this current wedding season.

Last month, Bishop Serratelli granted retirement to four pastors, effective June 29. The retiring priests are Msgr. Robert Carroll of Our Lady of Fatima Parish, Highland Lakes; Father Paul O’Donnell Duggan of Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish, Pompton Plains; Msgr. Martin McDonnell of Good Shepherd Parish, Andover; and Father Frederick Walters of Holy Family Parish in Florham Park.

While First Communion outfits are sometimes passed down to younger siblings in families, others are kept for sentimental value but often get forgotten and are buried deep in a closet where they collect dust. For this reason some parishes have decided to host collections of First Com­mun­ion outfits and donate them to those less fortunate.

Religious sisters, who work tirelessly in a variety of Catholic ministries throughout the U.S. today, carry on the legacy of their courageous forebears — religious communities whose members often acted like CEOs, blessed with the vision and perseverance to found major institutions in the early history of the country, including women’s colleges, parochial schools and hospitals.

As July 4, Independence Day, comes into focus, we are again in the midst of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ annual “Fortnight for Freedom,” a two-week period for all Catholics to not only cherish the religious freedom they enjoy but also to work together to stop any restrictions placed on it.

Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit to St. Jude Parish in Hamburg and celebrated the Vigil Mass at 5 p.m. marking the 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time. During the Mass, Bishop Serratelli administered the Sacrament of Confirmation to teenagers of St. Jude Parish and three adults belonging to Our Lady of Fatima Parish in Highland Lakes.

Bishop Serratelli installed Father Brando Ibarra as pastor of St. Mary Help of Christians in Paterson June 17 during 12:15 p.m. Mass, which was celebrated in Spanish and English. Several priests from the diocese concelebrated the Mass.

Two weeks before thousands of priests gathered in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome for a jubilee for priests, Pope Francis celebrated a special jubilee for deacons on the weekend of May 27 to 29 telling them to be “a good and faithful servant to whom they are called to minister.”

Bishop Serratelli has appointed Dr. Sam Pirozzi as the new executive director of Straight and Narrow in Paterson, an agency of diocesan Catholic Charities which provides prevention, education and treatment services to clients with addictive disorders. The appointment is effective July 1. Pirozzi succeeds Joseph Duffy, who is retiring June 30.

This month, the Church and the global community celebrate the first anniversary of the publication of “Laudato Si: On Care for Our Common Home,” Pope Francis’ groundbreaking encyclical that urges everyone to take part in the urgent mission of protecting the Earth and caring for our fellow humans. In that time, the document also has inspired some parishes in the Paterson Diocese to get involved in educating people about the Pope’s message, the environment and social justice or take direct action on conservation initiatives.

Earlier this month, five priests of the Paterson Diocese shared in a once-in-a-lifetime experience in Rome — the heart of the Catholic Church. The priests, along with 6,000 fellow priests from around the world, received faith-filled encouragement directly from Pope Francis about how they can invite people into the heart of God’s love and forgiveness during this Jubilee Year of Mercy and beyond.

This week’s edition of The Beacon pays tribute to the Class of 2016 — made up of students graduating from both high schools and elementary schools in the Diocese of Paterson. The collective message from the Class of 2016 bodes well for the future of our nation. These graduates will succeed because our Catholic schools in our Diocese have done and continue to do an outstanding job of building a sound educational foundation for students rooted in the teachings of the Catholic Church.

Donations of food to the annual Corpus Christi Food Drive, instituted by Bishop Serratelli three years ago, are used to keep the food pantries of Diocesan Catholic Charities agencies and 40 parish food pantries stocked during the summer months when donations of food are at their lowest level of the year. Each parish was assigned specific food items to collect by diocesan Catholic Charities so that sufficient quantities of each item would be available during the summer months.

Marie Mullaney, Ph.D., a professor of women’s history and the history of Catholicism in America at Caldwell University, will speak about the history and impact of religious sisters on the U.S., in her presentation, “Catholic Sisters and the Shaping of America,” on Wednesday, June 22 at 7:30 p.m. at St. Paul Inside the Walls: the Diocesan Center for Evangelization at Bayley-Ellard in Madison.

Danielle Nicosia of St. Ann Parish in Parsippany uses long vertical strokes to help paint the walls of an upstairs bedroom in a house that sits on a quiet dead-end street in Morristown. On a hot June 11 morning, sunlight streams through a large window into the room, empty except for her and her team of four other parishioners, who volunteered to paint the interior of the new residence — part of a five-unit townhouse complex that the non-profit Morris Habitat for Humanity has almost finished building.