Dr. Timothy Flanigan worked to combat the deadly Ebola outbreak of 2014. If someone asks him, “Is it safe for me to go to Mass?” Flanigan has one answer: “Are they following the guidelines the CDC has provided us to decrease the risk of transmission?” In his view, it is the wrong question to ask whether it is safer to go to Home Depot than to go to church.

At first, Rose Robayo of Our Lady of the Lake (OLL) Parish in Sparta thought that a daily commitment to 30 minutes of reading, praying and journaling on Sacred Scripture might take up too much time. Nevertheless, Robayo devoted herself to a half-hour each day of praying and writing her reflections in a journal — her “homework” each week as a member of “Abide in Me,” a spiritual direction program that offers prayer and support for wives of candidates studying to be permanent deacons of the Diocese, who will be ordained in 2023.

At the Paterson Adult Day Center located in Governor Towers in Paterson, the sounds of a piano fill a room with songs of yesteryear. A wave of memories and nostalgia flashes to the minds of the 120 seniors who enjoy daily activities and socialization at the center with their peers living in their golden years.