I am not sure if there is a “rule” or “standard” that establishes something as an “annual tradition,” but as I move towards the completion of my third year as bishop and as I have done some things for the third consecutive year, I get the sense that some things could become an “annual tradition.” At this time last year, I wrote a column about “Opening Day” of the Baseball Season and the “hope that springs eternal.”

The faith community of Sacred Heart and Holy Rosary Parish in Dover welcomed Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney on March 5 for his celebration of the 9:30 a.m. Mass in Spanish (left) and the the 11 a.m. Mass in English (right). Con­cele­brating with the bishop were Father Leonardo Lopez, the parish’s administrator; Father Brendan Murray, pastor emeritus; and Father Luis de la Cuadra.

In a section of Morristown often known as the “Dublin” neighborhood, Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney celebrated the annual St. Patrick’s Day parade Mass in Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church in Morristown on March 11. Descendants of the early Irish immigrants to this area more than a century ago and many others who consider themselves Irish by blood or by heart attended the 9:30 a.m. Mass. The popular parade stepped off at noon.