At first, Christopher Caulfield felt uncomfortable. The graduate student, now 23 years old, delighted being welcomed by the smiling children of Hogar Immanuel home for disabled children outside the city of Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic during a mission trip this summer. But Caulfield also felt disheartened to see so many kids there living with severe physical and mental disabilities. Most of them are non-verbal and confined to their beds or wheelchairs or use walkers.

Bishop Serratelli celebrated a jubilee anniversary Mass for deacons Sept. 10 in St. Peter the Apostle Church in Parsippany. Thirty deacons were honored marking 15, 25, 30, 40 and more than 40 years since their ordination day. The jubilee Mass for the deacons a first for the Diocese. Concelebrating at the Mass was Bishop Emeritus Rodimer and Msgr. Robert Diachek, who formerly served as diocesan director of deacons. The deacons were joined by their wives, family and friends.

Amid great fanfare and excitement, Divine Mercy Academy has opened as a new Catholic school — the only one in the Rockaways — that offers its 237 students a wealth of offerings in curriculum, technology and extracurricular and faith-filled activities, thanks to expanded facilities and generous parish support.

Two anti-Catholic incidents before and after a high school football game in Arizona last week point out once again how deeply religious intolerance has pervaded our secular society. Prior to a football game between Notre Dame Prep and Desert Mountain High School in Scottsdale, a white statue of the Virgin Mary that sits on a lit pillar at the entrance of Notre Dame Prep campus was desecrated.

Our Lady Star of the Sea Parish in Lake Hopatcong welcomed Bishop Serratelli on Sept. 3. During his pastoral visit, the bishop was main celebrant and homilist at the 5 p.m. Vigil Mass for the 23nd Sunday of Ordinary Time.

Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit to St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Oak Ridge Sept. 4. During his visit, the Bishop was main celebrant and homilist for the 11 a.m. Mass for the 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time.

For the rest of this Year of Mercy and beyond, why not learn about how to share the Lord’s boundless love and mercy from the master of mercy: Jesus himself? Allan Wright, academic dean of St. Paul Inside the Walls: the Diocesan Center for Evangelization at Bayley-Ellard in Madison, guides readers through many instances of Christ’s mercy — in word and action — found in Scripture in his new, “A Month’s Journey with the Merciful Jesus.” The Catholic Book Publishing Corporation, Totowa, recently released the pocket-sized volume, which examines his mercy from the perspective of each Gospel writer.

Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit to St. Clement Pope and Martyr Parish in Rockaway Township on Aug. 27 where he was main celebrant and homilist at the 5 p.m. Mass for the 22st Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Among the faithful at St. Mary’s Parish in Pompton Lakes, Charles Carreras has turned to the 489-year-old Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola — a personal retreat that consists of a series of Scripture readings, prayers, meditations and spiritual exercises — to find God in his busy life, deepen his relationship with Jesus, integrate his faith life with his everyday experiences, discover the Lord’s graces and find inner peace.

Pope Francis officially declared Mother Teresa of Calcutta a saint of the Catholic Church in front of thousands of pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square Sept. 4 — a move the entire world has been waiting for. “For the honor of the Blessed Trinity, the exaltation of the Catholic faith and the increase of the Christian life, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, and our own, after due deliberation and frequent prayer for divine assistance, and having sought the counsel of many of our brother Bishops, we declare and define Blessed Teresa of Calcutta to be a Saint,” Pope Francis exclaimed as the crowd roared with applause.

Catholics are well aware of the pitched battle that is being fought with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) due to the Obamacare mandates it has tried to enforce that violate our religious liberties. Unfortunately, the HHS is unrelenting in this battle.

The first meeting of the year for all principals, high school presidents, and school pastors and vicars was held at St. Paul Inside the Walls, the Diocesan Evangelization Center at Bayley-Ellard in Madison Aug. 23. The program began with an opening address given by Msgr. James Mahoney, vicar general and moderator of the curia, and pastor of Corpus Christi Parish in Chatham Township.

The Diocesan Office of Family Life will offer “First Steps in Faith,” a three-session series for parents and their newborn to pre-school-aged children. The first session will begin by introducing these “little ones” to the concept of the Theology of the Body in simple language that they can understand. It will be held on Mondays, Sept. 12, 19 and 26, from 11 a.m. to noon, at St. Paul Inside the Walls: the Diocesan Center for Evangelization in Madison.

This will be an exciting year for Catholic schools in the Diocese of Pater­son this year as two schools in the Diocese will be having especially exciting new experiences and environments. In Madison, St. Vincent Martyr School is opening its doors to its $2 million, two-story addition as enrollment continues to grow. In Sparta, the new St. Pope John XXIII Middle School is being built. It is a $4.5 million, two-story school, which will open in November to students in grades 5, 6, and 7.

Bishop Serratelli will confer the Rite of Candidacy to 18 men who are in formation for the Permanent Diaconate in the Diocese of Paterson at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 15 in St. Peter the Apostle Church in Parsippany. The Rite of Candidacy is the first official recognition of the positive signs of the vocation to the Diaconate.

Bishop Serratelli will celebrate a jubilee anniversary Mass for deacons at 10 a.m., Saturday, Sept. 10 in St. Peter the Apostle Church in Parsippany. “This is the first time the Diocese is having a Jubilee Mass for deacons,” said Deacon Peter Cistero, diocesan director for deacons. The deacons being honored at the Mass are marking 15, 25, 30, 40 and more than 40 years since their ordination day. It will be a special day for the 30 men who are celebrating their jubilees this year.”

Bishop Serratelli traveled to Sandyston in northern Sussex County Aug. 28 to celebrate 75 years of faith at St. Thomas the Apostle Parish — a small, tight-knit rural “frontier” faith community at the furthest reaches of the Diocese that has remained close to the heart of Jesus through worship, service and fellowship.

The 2016 Bishop’s Annual Appeal (BAA) kicks-off during the weekend of Sept. 10-11, at Masses in parishes across the diocese giving the faithful the opportunity to support the work of various ministries in the Diocese. Led by the theme, “Be Rich in Good Works” (1 Tm 6:18), the Appeal invites parishioners to help fund ministries that serve the poor, sick and needy; inner-city elementary school students; diocesan seminarians and retired priests.

The Diocese hosted its annual summer gathering for new religious, those discerning religious life and vocation directors at Mallinckrodt Convent, Motherhouse of the Sisters of Christian CharitY in Mendham Aug. 25. Nearly 100 new religious and discerners, both men and women, attended the day that started with the celebration of Mass by Bishop Serratelli. After the Mass, the Bishop gave a teaching on religious vocations to young women and men currently in the discernment process or who are in their first years of religious life.

As another school year opens in the Diocese of Paterson, let’s not take for granted the religious freedom our students enjoy. They can begin and end their day with prayer, attend Mass and learn about the tenets of their faith in all their lessons. The name of God can be spoken without anyone saying that his name should never be mentioned in school so as to be “politically correct.”