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Canisius College hosted a weeklong immersion experience for high school students to expose them to the wonders of faith and tragedies of injustice in the city of Buffalo. The Be the Light Youth Theology Institute welcomed 10 students from July 10-15.

As jubilarians, we welcome and thank all who come to celebrate with us today: Bishop Richard J. Malone, our family and friends, priests concelebrating, and all who have supported us along our way to this day.

Although they have long histories, many Catholic parishes in the United States has become plagued by an issue many pastors have noticed, one that could lead to a shorter history than they would like. With many millennials, or young adults born during an ill-defined time period that usually includes the 1980s to late 1990s, not attending Church or participating in religion in general, parishes have been put in a bind.

St. John Kanty Parish celebrated a new beginning as it prepares to commemorate the past. Bishop Richard J. Malone installed Father Michael H. Burzynski as administrator of the Buffalo church, which will hold its 125th anniversary later this year.

Catholic Charities of Buffalo's In-School Social Work Program was the recent recipient of a $411,000 grant from Fidelis Care, the New York State Catholic Health Plan.

ORCHARD PARK — A 5K race, food truck rally, classic car show and entertainment by Hit n Run and Eric Van Houten are among the highlights of the 25th annual St. John Vianney Lawn Fete, taking place July 20-23.

LEWISTON — Thanks to the funds provided by a donation from Catherine DiMino of Niagara Falls, Mount St. Mary's Hospital has acquired the latest vein visualization technology to assist in the placement of IVs and blood draws. The newly acquired system was unveiled in May at a luncheon as part of the hospital's celebration of National Nurses Week.

KENMORE — The Briana Talty Memorial Scholarship was recently awarded at St. John the Baptist School in honor of Briana Talty, the school's Spanish teacher, who passed away earlier this year. Families and friends of both St. John's and Talty established a memorial scholarship to honor the beloved teacher. Talty's parents and members of her family joined St. John the Baptist's principal, Cynthia Jacobs, at the ceremony to present the scholarship awards to the recipients, eighth-grader Alyssa Barnum and seventh-grader Colin Richey.

A Mass in honor of divine mercy and Hymn to St. Michael the Archangel, composed by David Butler, were premiered at the noon Mass on Pentecost Sunday at St. Michael Church in Buffalo. Butler, a well known Western New York musician and teacher, arranged and conducted the scores of his original works for voice, strings, piano and congregation. He was assisted by Jim McNeill, Colleen Mazella and the Burnett String Ensemble. Father Benjamin Fiore, SJ, pastor, presided and preached at the Mass.

"Jesus knows how hard life can be," Pope Francis said.

On Independence Day weekend, Bishop Richard Malone, along with 18 other representatives from the Diocese of Buffalo, participated in the Convocation of Catholic Leaders in Orlando, Florida. The four-day event brought together a diverse group of over 3,000 Catholics who joined more than 150 bishops from across the United States to respond to Pope Francis's call, in Evangelii Guadium, "to embark upon a new chapter of evangelization marked by the Joy of the Gospel, to become ever more, and to form others as missionary disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ."

PERRY - Catholic Charities of Buffalo began a new chapter on June 12 as the agency celebrated the grand opening of its Wyoming County office on the campus of Community Action for Wyoming County in Building #1, 6470 State Rt. 20A, Perry. About 25 guests attended the event, including Sister Mary McCarrick, OSF, Catholic Charities' diocesan director, and Father Richard Blazejewski of St. Isidore Parish in Perry, who blessed the office.

Reverend Monsignor David S. Slubecky, vicar general and moderator of the curia of the Diocese of Buffalo, announced this morning the 2017 Appeal in support of Catholic Charities of Buffalo met and exceeded its $11 million goal. After a very challenging Appeal, officials expressed gratitude for the incredible parish, community and corporate support, especially last-minute gifts, which brought the campaign total to $11,069,168.36.

The parishioners of St. Bernadette's have put their money where their mouths are. To support the Orchard Park parish's youth ministry, parishioners bought $1,300 worth of the luncheon meat at the May 20 Baloneyfest. The fundraising idea came from Father Paul Seil, pastor and friend of the Wardynski family of Wardynski Meats fame, who donated 16 logs of baloney to the parish.

Several diocesan priests, including the four men who were ordained in June, have received new assignments from Bishop Richard J. Malone.

Two priests walk into a kitchen. One has a mallet, and one has a cutting board. No, this is not the beginning of a joke. It's a description of this month's encore episode of "Our Daily Bread."

In commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, the Diocese of Buffalo has been collaborating with the Upstate New York Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America throughout the calendar year. Although the Reformation began after Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses in 1517, the goal in 2017 is to foster unity. On May 19, they joined for an ecumenical study day at Christ the King Seminary in East Aurora, with Sister Susan K. Wood, SCL, Ph.D. as keynote speaker.

The Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities in Williamsville have now entered Phase II of their property study and are pursuing a senior care provider owner/operator for the community living center and region house at 201 Reist St. for the 62 sisters currently in residence as well as for any additional future sisters currently residing in local mission houses in Western New York.

For 70 years, Mary Queen of Angels Regional Catholic School served Cheektowaga and surrounding municipalities of Western New York, most of this time under its former name, Queen of Martyrs School. However, as the 2016-17 school year came to a close, the MQA community recognized the end of its era with a special field day of activities on June 2 and a Mass celebrating the school's history on June 21.

For the past seven years, Theresa Zielinski has watched her parish teens grow into leaders of the Wyoming County Association of Catholic Youth. They learn how to grab the reins of a problem and steer it into a positive outcome by attending the Christian Leadership Institute, a program that teachers young people to be servant leaders in the mold of Jesus Christ.

Do you sometimes wonder, though, why so many people, maybe even beloved relatives or friends, can't seem to find that joy that comes from knowing Jesus? Do you worry that they may perhaps have never truly encountered Him?

VATICAN CITY (CNA/EWTN News) - Stepping into a tumultuous legal battle involving a UK couple's push for a say in the treatment and death of their terminally ill son, Pope Francis has offered his prayers for the child, and asked that the parents' wishes be respected.

Members of an already beautiful and vibrant Catholic church in Olean took things to a whole new level on Thursday evening. With help from a string quartet, brass ensemble and an angelic choir, the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels welcomed a couple new symbols that could only be displayed in a basilica. The church's new tintinnabulum bell rang for the first time as part of the opening procession and the ombrellino was placed behind the presider's chair.

When her husband passed away after nearly 50 years of marriage, Bernie Mussen found it difficult to say goodbye. She thought keeping Charlie's ashes on the family mantle would make her feel they were still together. She later found the best way to take care of him was to give him a permanent final resting place.

WASHINGTON— The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) today has released its score on the Senate health care bill. The score could impact how the Senate votes on the Republican plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. As he is analyzing the full report and expects to release further comment tomorrow, Bishop Frank Dewane of Venice, Chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Domestic Justice and Humane Development Committee, has issued the following initial statement:

WASHINGTON- Today, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in the case of Trinity Lutheran Church v. Comer, in which the Court held that the exclusion of churches from an otherwise available public benefit violates the Free Exercise Clause of the U.S. Constitution. Trinity Lutheran's preschool sought to participate in the State of Missouri's scrap tire program, which would have allowed it to repave its playground with recycled tire pieces in order to provide a softer and safer playground surface for children.

As part of its participation in the diocesan STREAM initiative at local Catholic schools, St. Mary School in Swormville recently opted to take STREAM, usually an acronym standing for science, technology, religion, engineering, art and mathematics, literally. Polly Lougen's third-, fourth- and fifth-grade science classes hatched and raised brown trout eggs and fry (baby fish) in the school's science lab, which the Department of Environmental Conservation later released in Glen Park's Ellicott Creek in Williamsville.

ROME, ITALY (CNA/EWTN News) - Discernment is one of the words Pope Francis repeats most, especially when speaking to priests and seminarians.

OLEAN — Three months after the announcement from the Vatican that Pope Francis has bestowed the title of minor basilica on St. Mary of the Angels Church, the parish is preparing for its inaugural Mass to celebrate that recognition on Thursday, June 29.

Plans are underway for a pilgrimage to Panama for World Youth Day 2019. Father Michael LaMarca will lead a group to Central America in January 2019 for the spiritual event. Due to the winter dates, there will be no diocesan pilgrimage from the Department of Youth and Young Adult Ministry, who have organized trips to Denver, Paris, Toronto, Cologne and Krakow in past years.

When we think of the phrase "faith at work," some conventional images might come to mind: caring for the poor, a teacher explaining the faith, but we don't need to have an openly religious job for our faith to be relevant. Any honest and upright work is holy and an opportunity to grow closer to God. As St. John Paul II once reminded us, Jesus himself worked as a carpenter, and "Through their work, people share in the Creator's work."

As part of the Diocese of Buffalo, Catholic Cemeteries serves as a means for members of the community to mourn, bury and pay their respects to their departed loved ones. In serving the same clientele, Catholic Cemeteries has formed a strong bond with Stone Art Memorial Company Inc., the 160-year-old business that specializes in unique stonework to be put in cemeteries, mausoleums and other locations.

On the afternoon of April 26, Bishop Richard J. Malone received a special gift, a prayer book containing a compilation of prayers from the St. John the Baptist Parish community in Kenmore, from three of its parishioners. The bishop met with Ray Metzger, treasurer of the parish's Holy Name Society; Mary Porter, who originally came up with the idea for the book from her sister, a former Sister of St. Mary of Namur, and Porter's grandson, Ethan Franz, currently a fourth-grade student at St. John the Baptist School.

WASHINGTON—Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and Bishop Mitchell T. Rozanski, Bishop of Springfield, Massachusetts and Chairman of the USCCB Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs have issued a joint statement in response to Sunday's attack on worshipers outside a mosque in London.

Franciscans from all corners of the nation arrived in Buffalo to be inspired and enlightened at the annual Franciscan Federation Conference. Over 250 sisters, brothers, priests, and a few seculars who have answered the Third Order Regular call gathered at the Adam's Mark in downtown Buffalo for the weekend beginning June 16.

LEWISTON, NY - Under a clear blue, nearly-summer sky on Monday morning, students at St. Peter R.C. School broke ground for what will be the school's new playground. One student per grade was selected via a lottery to participate in the actual digging, each donning a matching shovel and hard hat. Construction of the playground will begin over the summer and means students should have a dedicated space for outdoor learning, active play, team sports and physical activity by the first week of the next school year.

Father Charles Zadora has a pretty low-key outlook of his 50 years as a priest.

On the first floor of the Catholic Center in downtown Buffalo, the Catholic Union Store offers a wide selection of books, gifts, statues, rosaries, cards, priests' vestments, Bibles and various other Catholic and Christian goods. In February, the store held a grand re-opening celebration with Bishop Richard J. Malone in recognition of newly finished renovations that will allow it to better serve the community.

INDIANAPOLIS, IND. (CNA/EWTN News) - Next year's synod, which will focus on young people, must address their most pressing problems, including indifference and disillusionment, U.S. bishops said at their annual meeting on Wednesday.

Father John Timon, a Vincentian priest, arrived in Buffalo in June 1847 to establish a new Catholic diocese in Western New York. He would serve as the first bishop of the diocese, ushering in religious orders, developing health care, and creating a Catholic identity for the city that would remain 170 years later.