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I  was in High School when I first saw the “Radio City Christ­mas Spectacular.” It has been many years since I last saw the show, but I believe that the “Living Nativity,” with live animals and the retelling of the story of Jesus’ birth, continues to be one of the show’s highlights. I still remember being awestruck by the beauty of the “Living Nativity.” I also remember, during the Living Nativity, hearing for the first time the poem One Solitary Life.

For the past six weeks, I have been thinking about sharing my experience with “The Bible in a Year.” From late October through November, when I was driving through the different parts of our diocese, I was struck by the beauty of the “fall colors.” Even after a summer that was very dry, the leaves on the trees changed colors, as they do each year, and we are able to see some spectacular versions of the “Beauty of Creation.” I recall an experience when I first arrived in the diocese and Father Stephen Prisk was serving as the bishop’s secretary and Master of Ceremonies. For my first year in the diocese, Father Prisk did most of the driving when I visited parishes. I remember him saying, at some point early on, as we headed out to visit a parish, “You’re going to spend a lot of time on Route 80.”

Each year, in the beautiful Season of Advent, the Church invites us to focus and reflect upon the two great “Advent Figures”: St. John the Baptist, who prepared the way of the Lord, and Mary, our Blessed Mother, who journeyed with Joseph to Bethlehem, where her Son, the Messiah, would be born. In the Gospel on the second and third Sundays of Advent, we hear of John the Baptist, as we heard him this past Sunday, encouraging and inviting us to repentance because the kingdom of God is at hand and “… the one who is coming after me is mightier than I…” Mt 3:11

In the two-plus years that I have been writing this weekly column, I believe that there have been times when, indirectly, I asked for or encouraged “feedback” from you (Dear Readers). I believe that now may be a good time to request that feedback more directly. So, I will begin with two questions: 1. How many of you listen to Bishop Robert Barron’s Word on Fire Podcast? (more about that in a moment) and 2. As we consider Bishop Barron’s “strategies for growth,” do you have a practical suggestion or strategy that could help us “evangelize” (grow the Church)?

This past week, from Nov. 14–17, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) held their semi-annual “General Assembly” in Baltimore, Md. The “fall meeting” is always in Baltimore, and the June meeting is held in a different part of the country each year. This year’s General Assembly was my third “in-person” meeting. The first two meetings I “attended” in November 2020 and June 2021 were held “virtually” on Zoom because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It has been said that our Catholic Faith and theology will often favor (when possible) a “both/and” rather than an “either/or” approach to life, our experiences, and choices. That thought came to my mind as I chose my topics and “title” for this week’s column. I thought that, in recent weeks, I had been focusing on that “both/and” or, at least, the “and” theme. When I looked back, I realized that my previous three columns had the headings: “Vivere Christus AND the Universal Call to Holiness,” “The Diocesan Ministries Appeal AND the Inspiration of the Saints, “Faithful Citizenship AND our Right to vote.” We will see what next week brings, but for this week, I feel the need to continue with the “AND” theme because there are two events about which I would like to share some thoughts and reflections. First, our Diocesan Respect Life Convocation, which took place on Saturday, Oct. 29, and second, National Vocation Awareness Week (Nov. 6–12), which is taking place (or has recently concluded) as you read this column.

I begin my column this week with two (somewhat lengthy) quotations and by addressing you personally, with an awareness that, by the time you read this, some of you may have already cast your ballot in this year’s (coming) election. I also hope that many will read this as they consider voting on “Election Day,” Nov. 8. I take this opportunity to remind all Catholics that part of being who we are and who we are called to be as disciples involves our sharing the Gospel, the Good News of Jesus, by contributing to the “common good.” In other words, part of being a faithful disciple or living as a Catholic Christian means that we are called to be good and faithful citizens — wherever and in whatever (political) circumstances we may live.

This is the time of year when the faithful are invited to support the work of our Diocesan Ministries Appeal. Since 1991 when it began as the “Bishop’s Annual Appeal,” the Appeal has focused on four specific causes in our Diocese: Catholic Charities, seminarian education, Catholic urban education, and Nazareth Village, our retirement residence for senior priests. The work of each of these ministries is unique and varied — and inspired by the lives of saints in the Church. This year, the “in pew” Appeal Weekend will take place in most parishes on the weekend of Oct. 29 and 30 — a day before “All Hallows Eve” (aka Halloween) and two days before All Saints Day. Here are just a few of the ways that the “lives of the Saints” are an inspiration to the Ministries supported by the “DMA.”

This past Tuesday, Oct. 11, was the feast of St. Pope John XXIII. I sent an email to all our priests on Tuesday and, for some reason, wished them a Happy Feast of St. Clare, whose Feast Day is Aug. 11. I realized I had made a mistake at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday morning, just a little too late to correct my error in the email that was scheduled to be sent at 8 a.m. Yet, realizing my mistake led me to spend a little more time thinking about “Good Pope John” and appreciating that his Feast Day, now as St. Pope John XXIII, is on Oct. 11 because that was the date of the opening of the Second Vatican Council.

At the recent Convocation for the priests of our diocese, I shared with our priests my belief that amongst many “pastoral priorities,” as disciples, as the Church, it must be a priority to witness and work to promote the dignity and value of every human life, from the moment of conception to the moment of natural death. In speaking with our priests, I shared some personal experiences and the ways in which the “Pro-Life Movement” has had an impact on my own life and vocation.

It was just about a year ago when we learned that Archbishop Rino Fisichella would be available to lead our Diocesan Eucharistic Congress on the weekend of Sept. 23 to 25. When we looked at the Diocesan calendar, we realized that having the Eucharistic Congress on that weekend would mean it would be immediately before our Priests’ Convocation, an event that occurs once every three years.

Two weeks ago, I shared some thoughts from Rome as I was participating in the (annual) “New Bishops’ Orientation Program.” I tried to describe the humbling and uplifting experience of being with 150 “new” bishops from so many parts of the world and, in particular, the powerful feeling of being united with the whole Church, the one Body of Christ, as we celebrated the Eucharist. That experience was most strongly felt when I had the privilege of concelebrating Mass in St. Peter’s Square with Pope Francis on Sunday, Sept. 4, at the Mass for the Beatification of Pope John Paul I.

As we were making plans for our Diocesan Eucharistic Congress — which will take place on the weekend of Sept. 23 to 25 — one of our Diocesan leaders said, “many people have never heard of a Eucharistic Congress — and maybe we should tell them that it does not involve any voting?”

Greetings from Rome! This is the third opportunity I have had to visit the “Eternal City.” My first trip was in January 1989, as a seminarian during my first year in college. I then visited in October 2008 when I was serving as Vocation Director in the Diocese of Brooklyn and two of our seminarians were to be ordained Deacons in St. Peter’s Basilica. It is somewhat of a coincidence that, due to scheduling commitments, I will not be able to be here in three weeks, but, on Sept. 29, one of our seminarians, Krzysztof Tyszko, will be ordained a Deacon in St. Peter’s.

In the years that I served as pastor of a parish, one of the responsibilities that I came to appreciate and prioritize more and more each year was the call to collaborate with parents in the religious education of their children. There was a section from the Catechism that I would often share at parent meetings:

The words from the 12th chapter of the Letter to the Hebrews, which we heard at Mass on this past Sunday, lead me to reflect again on the gift of the “communion of the saints.” That beautiful phrase and image, “… Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses …” invites us to recall that from the very beginning of the church there has been an awareness that Christians are assisted in their earthly pilgrimage by those who have “gone before us in faith”. Christians have always believed that the saints are with us, to encourage and inspire us as we “run the race.”

“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.

Most of us either saw or heard at least some coverage of Pope Francis’ recent visit to Canada. Many also heard the media coverage of his press conference on the plane during his trip home from Canada, in which he discussed the question of his potential retirement, “I haven’t felt like thinking about that possibility (of his retiring). But maybe that doesn’t mean the day after tomorrow I will start thinking,” he added. He also spoke about discernment of God’s will: “discernment is key in a Jesuit’s vocation” and that means that “he must be open to whatever the Lord asks of him.”

Earlier this month, Major League Baseball held its Mid-Summer Classic, or what we commonly refer to as the All-Star Game. Interest in (and television ratings for) the All-Star Game is not what it used to be. But for most baseball fans, it is exciting each year to find out which players are selected as All-Stars and then to root for the American or National League.

If you read last week’s Beacon (or follow the Diocese of Paterson’s Facebook page or my Instagram), you would know that I recently had the opportunity to travel to Ireland. On the eighth day of a nine-day trip, I visited St. Teresa’s Church on Clarendon Street in Dublin. After returning home, I wanted to learn more about the church, so I visited the parish website. There, I found a very informative “introduction video” and learned how historic the church is. Some of the most notable people in Irish history worshiped there. Watch the video here.