“… For here the saying is verified that ‘One sows and another reaps.’
I sent you to reap what you have not worked for; others have done the work, and you are sharing the fruits of their work.”
Jn. 4:37-38
I have often thought of these words from St. John’s Gospel, “One sows and another reaps,” when I consider the ministry and efforts of our Bishop Emeritus Arthur Serratelli, as our diocese continues to “reap” the efforts of the “seeds sown” by Bishop Serratelli in his 16 years of service and leadership as bishop of our diocese. One of the countless examples of the ways in which I have benefitted and been supported in my five-plus years as bishop is the tradition that was initiated by Bishop Serratelli in 2009 for an annual recognition of parishioners, parish leaders, and ministers who receive the Vivere Christus Award.
This year, the Vivere Christus Ceremony was held on Sunday, Oct. 19, which was also World Mission Sunday. In preparing for Mass and for the Vivere Christus Ceremony, I realized that there was a spiritual “connection” between what (and who) was being celebrated by the Universal Church and what we were doing, here in our diocese, by means of the Vivere Christus Ceremony.
I hope that it may be helpful for those who were not able to attend the Vivere Christus Ceremony to read the text of the homily that I offered (below). As individuals and families, as parishes and as a diocese, we can be aware that there are many challenges to living our faith, day by day. Still, as we pray for and support missionaries and the missionary work of the Church, and as we recognize the generosity, dedication, and faithful service of those who receive the Vivere Christus Award, we can be renewed, inspired, and strengthened to live as true “pilgrims of Hope” and be the missionary disciples Jesus is calling us to be.
It was providential that Mission Sunday should be the day when the Vivere Christus medals are awarded, since the intersection between our baptismal call to be evangelizers and the ministry of missionaries and life in Christ is evident. Jesus himself directs our goals through our baptism into his Paschal Mystery, “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). All of our efforts draw their life from the Lord Jesus, “I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing (John 15:5). The witness of members of our own families and parish communities helps us to understand our call to share the gospel with others.
To evangelize is to look outward to discover where we can most effectively be instruments of God’s love and mercy. Missionaries are keenly aware of the need to take the dynamism of the gospel to wherever they are sent by God, even to distant corners of a world far from their experience. Most of those missionaries, I feel quite certain, would tell us that the power of the gospel was first understood through the love of their parents, through grandparents whose whole lives were suffused with faith, or from catechists, teachers, and members of their parish family who demonstrated the joy of faith in action. In presenting the Vivere Christus Awards, we not only honor the contributions of individuals — important as that is in its own right — but we recognize the call of our common baptismal vocation to announce the truth that life in this world and in the next is found in our relationship to Jesus Christ.
In establishing the Vivere Christus award, Bishop Serratelli insightfully recognized the indispensable need to foster in our families and parishes the yearning for holiness of life that is found in our relationship with Jesus Christ in the sacraments He gives us to celebrate His presence among us and in His unchanging and living Word that directs our attention toward love of neighbor as a guidepost to heaven.
Homily at the Vivere Christus Awards Ceremony, Oct. 19, 2025:
We just heard from St. Paul’s Letter to the Philippians:
“…What difference does it make, as long as in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is being proclaimed? And in that I rejoice. Indeed, I shall continue to rejoice, for I know that this will result in deliverance for me through your prayers and support from the Spirit of Jesus Christ.
My eager expectation and hope is that I shall not be put to shame in any way, but that with all boldness, now as always, Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me life is Christ, and death is gain…”
(Phil. 1: 18-21)
The Award and Recognition that you receive today is called “Vivere Christus.” These words of St. Paul are also the Episcopal Motto of Bishop Arthur Serratelli, our bishop emeritus: “Vivere Christus est” — “To Live is Christ.”
Each year, we ask our pastors and parish leaders to nominate women and men who live these words, who live, as St. Paul says, so that Christ and His Love are proclaimed. Today, we recognize and give thanks for your lives of Faith, Hope, and Love; for your generosity of time, talent, and treasure; for the ways in which you share your gifts and talents in service, leadership, and ministry.
In this Jubilee Year of Hope and on this day when the Universal Church celebrates World Mission Sunday, we give thanks for the ways in which you live for Christ as Pilgrims of Hope and as Missionaries of Hope among God’s people, especially here in our Diocese of Paterson.
In preparing for Mass today, I was doing a little research on “World Mission Sunday” and I came across this summary on the website of the Pontifical Missions Society of the United States:
- Celebrated every year on the second-to-last Sunday of October, World Mission Sunday is the day when Catholics around the world unite to support the missionary work of the Church.
- Established by Pope Pius XI in 1926, it remains the only annual global collection that directly supports the 1,124 mission territories where the Church is young, struggling, or persecuted.
- On this day, every parish, in every diocese, in every country, joins in prayer and giving to ensure that missionaries can continue their vital work — building churches, forming priests, supporting catechists, and serving communities in need.
- Be a missionary of hope this World Mission Sunday and support the work of the Pope’s Missions.
- On this day when, Catholics around the world unite to support the missionary work of the Church.
How appropriate and meaningful it is that Catholics from all parts of the Diocese of Paterson unite to recognize the ways in which our Vivere Christus honorees live as “Missionary Disciples” in our parishes and contribute to the “missionary” work of Evangelization, Catechesis, Charity, and countless other ministries.
In a video message for World Mission Sunday, Pope Leo XIV invites every Catholic parish in the world to take part in World Mission Sunday. He also shares his personal experience, as he says:
“When I served as a missionary priest and Bishop in Peru, I saw firsthand how the faith, the prayer, and the generosity shown on World Mission Sunday can transform entire communities.”
I am very happy and blessed to be able to echo Pope Leo’s words and say that, as Bishop of Paterson, I get to see “firsthand,” every day, how the faith, dedication and generosity of our priests and pastors, deacons and consecrated religious, parish and diocesan staff members and leaders help to build up the Church of our diocese. I also get to see “firsthand” that we could not be the vibrant Church that we are without dedicated and generous volunteers, parishioners, and parish leaders who are represented each year by those who receive the Vivere Christus Award.
Pope Leo concludes the video message with these words: THANK YOU for everything you will do to help me to help missionaries throughout the world.
To our Vivere Christus recipients, to your families, pastors, and co-workers, on behalf of the Church of our Paterson, I say THANK YOU for helping each of us to strive each day to be able to say with St. Paul, “Vivere Christus,” “for to me, Life is Christ.”
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