This Lenten season, the parish communities of St. Philip the Apostle here and Immaculate Heart of Mary in Wayne have been “Journeying with St. Joseph” to embrace this holy time in the Year of St. Joseph. Inspired by the “spiritual tools” of St. Joseph, who was entrusted with the care of the Holy Family, the two parishes have been reflecting on St. Joseph as a “Prayer, Dreamer, and Provider” these past three weeks and until Holy Week.

Last Friday evening at 8 p.m., EWTN News launched a new weekly discussion show “EWTN News In Depth,” covering the intersection of faith and current events. With Montse Alvarado, a Hispanic Catholic who also serves as vice president and executive director of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty as host, the show is important programming in these turbulent times for all Catholics in our nation.

I grew up in a parish that, I would come to learn, was similar to many other parishes in New York City, as well as many others in Long Island, Westchester, other parts of the tristate area, and many other parts of the North­eastern United States. One thing that many of those parishes had in common, in addition to all that made us Catholic, was that in February and early March there would be announcements and invitations to join in the parish’s “St. Patrick’s — St. Joseph’s Day” Party — or Dance or Celebration. I believe that, in some parishes with a larger number of Italian families, it may have been advertised as the “St. Joseph’s — St. Patrick’s Day” celebration. These celebrations were also held in the seminary, which led to some “healthy competition” and more or less friendly rivalries between the Irish-American and Italian-American seminarians. It was only in hindsight that I realized that the rest of the seminarians, who were neither of Italian or Irish ancestry, were left a little bewildered or asking themselves, “What are these guys getting themselves all worked up about?”

Bishop Sweeney made a pastoral visit to Our Lady of Mount Carmel (OLMC) Parish in Passaic on March 7, where he celebrated Mass to mark the Third Sunday of Lent.

This Lent, people have been taking a prayerful walk right beside Jesus while he suffers his Passion and Death on the Cross as they pass by the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson along Grand Street. Passersby can almost touch Christ as he takes up his Cross, falls on his way to Calvary, and dies, nailed to the Cross, as dramatized by a tall wooden crucifix on the corner of Main and Grand streets at the end of St. John’s new outdoor Stations of the Cross.

Bishop Sweeney made a pastoral visit to St. Thomas More Church in Convent Station where he celebrated the vigil Mass for the Second Sunday of Lent Feb. 27.

Everything changed for James Caulfield and his wife, Coleen, once their four kids were born. Like all parents, these parishioners of St. Peter the Apostle in Parsippany experienced a lack of sleep and peace and quiet in their home. He also remembers enjoying the important “everyday moments” of fatherhood together with his now-grown children. All in all, Caulfield said, “I wouldn’t have had it any other way,” in a short video on Feb. 26 for a men’s Lenten recollection, “With a Father’s Heart: an Evening of Reflection on St. Joseph,” held by St. Paul Inside the Walls: the Diocesan Center for Evangelization in Madison.

St. Peter the Apostle Church in Parsippany recently received much-needed major upgrades for better energy-efficiency, making it brighter inside and out with new LED lights and warmer this winter with two new boilers. The church is expected to be cooler this summer because of two new air-conditioning units.

Bishop Sweeney administered the Sacrament of Confirmation to candidates at St. Joseph Parish in Paterson Feb. 28 on the Second Sunday of Lent. The eight young people who received the Sacrament had taken part in the parish’s two-year Confirmation preparation program.

Ancient Egyptians had a “go-to” guy they could rely on while their nation was grappling with seven years of famine in the time of Genesis: Joseph, Pharaoh’s second in command. Pharaoh would tell Egyptians, “Go to Joseph!” for some of the grain, which he had stored ahead of the famine that God revealed to him in a vision — enabling him to provide bread for countless physically hungry.

When the COVID-19 pandemic forced measures to be taken to limit contact with one another last March, the world went into lockdown and the term “social distancing” was introduced. Schools, churches, and business were closed. Families and friends spoke virtually and could not see each other in person. The sick and the dying could not receive visits from loved ones.

With the universal Church in the midst of marking the Year of St. Joseph, the feast day of the foster father of Jesus is getting special attention this year. Annually, the Solemnity of St. Joseph is celebrated on March 19 and this year, throughout the Diocese, special Masses will be held on his feast day.

When Gov. Henry McMaster (R) of South Caro­lina signed the Fetal Heart­beat and Protection from Abortion Act on Feb. 18, he called it “a major step forward in the pro-life movement in South Carolina.” Michael Acquilano, director of the South Carolina Catholic Conference, said, “It was a historic day for the pro-life movement in South Carolina.”

As I finish my eighth month as Bishop, I am still experiencing many “firsts.” I suppose that this will continue, at least for the next four months. This past Sunday, I experienced my first Rite of Election as Bishop. The Rite of Election is a ceremony that takes place in most Catholic Dioceses each year usually on the First Sunday of Lent, when the adults who are preparing to receive the Easter Sacraments (Baptism, Communion, and Confirmation) are presented to the Bishop to be formally enrolled in the Book of the Elect. The “Elect” are officially accepted as candidates who will be fully initiated as members of the Church at the Easter Vigil. They are usually accompanied by their Godparents (sponsors) and representatives of their parish communities. This year we have 75 “Elect” from 22 parishes, as well as schools and ecclesial communities. The numbers of “Elect” and those accompanying them were significantly less than the previous year, due to the pandemic and restrictions. At the same time, the gathering of these candidates is a very clear sign that the Church in the Diocese is alive and growing.