Good Shepherd

Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit to St. Virgil Parish in Morris Plains where he celebrated the vigil Mass for the 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time on Nov. 9. During the Mass, the Bishop named Father Michal Falgowski as pastor of St. Virgil Parish.

Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit to St. Clement Pope and Martyr Parish in Rockaway Nov. 10 where he celebrated Mass for the 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time. During the Mass, children were present who attended the Children’s Liturgy of the Word. It is held every Sunday during the 10:30 a.m. liturgy for children to better understand Scripture and how to apply the readings to their daily lives.

All eyes are on Father Steven Shadwell as he sits on a stool behind a microphone in the middle of a darkened corner of a tavern on the evening of Nov. 6. A group of 30 Catholic young adults listens to the diocesan priest, who is barely illuminated by two small wall lamps, shine some needed light on a tricky question for many in their age group: “How much can you disagree with the Church before you aren’t really Catholic?”

The story of Mariana Yupanqui Lira’s road to healing is remarkable. Her journey consists of traveling between two countries almost 3,500 miles apart, several international flights and four surgeries. What is especially remarkable is that Mariana, who was born in Peru, is only 7 years old. Despite having to endure these long trips and surgeries, she’s like any typical youngster her age. She enjoys playing, communicating on her tablet and collecting dolls.

They call Sean Quinlan the perfect gentleman. He prefers wearing a button-up shirt and tie than a T-shirt and he always opens doors for ladies. For the past two years, this charming man has been a resident at Kelleher Super­vised Apart­ments here, a group home of the Depart­ment for Persons with Disabilities (DPD), an agency of diocesan Catholic Charities. Quinlan, a 40­­-year-old man with Down syndrome and the youngest of four children, attends Mass every Sun­day and is very faith-filled.

The grisly discovery of the remains of more than 2,200 aborted children inside the Illinois home of deceased abortionist Dr. Ulrich George Klopfer was a nationwide wake-up call to a problem that’s sadly not an isolated incident: the remains of aborted children being treated with irreverence and disrespect.

With Election Day 2019 in the rearview mirror, all eyes are now intensely focused on the presidential election in 2020. And with every candidate for president in the Democrat Party in lock step with the party’s platform that supports abortion on demand at any time during a pregnancy, the stage has been set for the inevitable clash between politics and faith on this issue.

Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit to Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish in Wayne Oct. 26. During the Mass, he confirmed 11 young people of the parish.