ANNANDALE – Enveloped in soft light and prayerful silence, adorers at Immaculate Conception Church Aug. 13 were led to discover an immutable truth: Jesus’ love and healing serves as the perfect end of a busy week.

The last weeks of August were filled with emotion for Stacey and Paul Miller, who were preparing to send their only son, Jacob, back to college.

Along with the Labor Day holiday which reminds us of the dignity and purpose of work, September always brings a change in mindset as the summer break and vacations end, and we return to “normal” life.  This year, however, life has been anything but normal. There was a major earthquake in Haiti and tragedy reigned in Afghanistan. Hurricane Ida devastated parts of our state, and the ongoing pandemic is still claiming too many lives and even creating challenges for our schools.   

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Sixty-two floors up in the southeast corner of One World Trade Center, where the North Tower once stood in Lower Manhattan, now-Deacon Stephen Kern locked eyes with his administrative assistant, who was kneeling under her desk paralyzed in fear as the building shook around them.

Two weeks ago today, on the Feast of the Dedication of St. Mary Major Basilica, at St. Anthony Church, Hawthorne, Salesians of St. Don Bosco Sister Natasha Roig, joyfully said, “Here I am Lord, You have called me,” and with that her Rite of Religious Profession began. What is significant about her vocation is that it is another sign of how St. Augustine of Canterbury Parish, Kendall Park, continues to promote vocations.