Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney joined newly ordained diocesan priests, seminarians, and young men, who are discerning their vocation, on Aug. 5 for a Mass and barbecue, sponsored by the diocesan Vocations Office and held at St. Lawrence the Martyr Church in Chester. The event included evening prayer and Mass, a barbecue cooked and served by members of the Paterson Federation of the Knights of Columbus, and a game of soccer. At the Mass, the Bishop preached about his devotion to St. John Vianney, whose feast day the Church celebrated the day before.

Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney made a pastoral visit to the Shrine of St. Joseph in Stirling on Aug. 7 to celebrate the 11:45 a.m. Mass in Spanish in its main chapel. St. Joseph Shrine is one of the many mission sites of the Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity, also known as the Trinitarians — a Catholic order of priests and brothers, established by Father Thomas Judge.

Priests and brothers of the Society of Divine Voca­tions have been introducing the growing faith community at the Sanctuary of Mary, Our Lady of the Holy Spirit here to the spirituality of St. Justin M. Russolillo since the order reopened the sanctuary in 2019. St. Justin, founder of the order, also known as the Vocationists, said that everyone is called to be a saint.

Priests and brothers of the Society of Divine Voca­tions have been introducing the growing faith community at the Sanctuary of Mary, Our Lady of the Holy Spirit in Branchville, to the spirituality of St. Justin M. Russolillo since the order reopened the sanctuary in 2019. St. Justin, founder of the order, also known as the Vocationists, said that everyone is called to be a saint.

As a graduate of the University of Notre Dame, you will not hear many words of praise from me for the University of Michigan, our longtime archrival on the football field. However, news reports out of Michi­gan in the past few weeks have led me to stand up and applaud the actions of the university’s medical school and its head football coach for having the courage of their convictions.

“I say, ‘Father Justin,’ because that is what I always called him. He was my ‘Father Justin’ when I lived with him and got to know him. And now he is St. Justin.”
The above is not a direct quote, but those are the words I recall hearing on this past Tuesday, Aug. 2 at the (newly named) Sanctuary of Mary, Our Lady of the Holy Spirit and Shrine of St. Justin, when Father Louis Caputo recalled having known St. Justin Russolillo. St. Justin is the founder of the Society of Divine Vocations, commonly known as the Vocationists. He can be called a “new saint” because he was canonized less than three months ago by Pope Francis at a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome on May 15. There were nine other “new saints” canonized on that day.

Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney commemorated a century of faith of St. Joseph Parish in Lincoln Park — a “small parish with a big heart” — during a noon Mass on July 31 in the church. In recent years, the evangelizing spirit of this parish has grown — from welcoming different ethnic groups to expanding its spiritual devotions and social-justice outreaches to enable the faithful to minister in different and creative ways.

In the coming days, the U.S. Senate will take up a vote on the so-called “Respect for Marriage Act,” which would codify same-sex marriage into federal law. On the surface, the name of the bill (H.R. 8404), which has already been passed in the U.S. House of Representa­tives, seems innocuous enough, but it is far from that.