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Bishop calls Diocese's faithful to pray for end to abortion ∙ Holy Week schedule ∙ The Annunciation
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March 20, 2024WE HAVE WITNESSED A WIDESPREAD, RENEWED EFFORT IN OUR COUNTRY, especially in this election cycle, to promote and foster the acceptance, accessibility and practice of abortion in its many insidious forms.
On March 26, the Supreme Court of the United States will hear oral arguments in a case that has the potential to make a major impact in the widespread accessibility of chemical abortion (abortion pills). Chemical abortions are now the most common form of abortion in the United States.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has announced a nationwide invitation to prayer beginning on March 25 (the eve of the oral arguments), through June 2024, when the court's decision is expected.
As Bishop of the Diocese of Trenton, I encourage all the clergy, religious and faithful of the Diocese to pray for the end of abortion and also to pray for and support the true health and wellbeing of expectant mothers and the children they bear in the womb.
Read more HERE.
EACH YEAR, C
ATHOLICS FROM THROUGHOUT THE WORLD are invited to experience the unfolding of the Paschal Mystery of Jesus by participating in the various liturgies that commemorate his Passion, Death and Resurrection during Holy Week which this year will be held March 24-31.
Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., has announced his Holy Week schedule of the parishes he will visit for the celebration of Masses and liturgical services. To view Bishop O’Connell’s schedule click HERE.
THE SOLEMNITY OF THE ANNUNCIATION OF THE LORD, celebrated nine months before Christmas, is assigned to March 25 on the church's General Calendar. But, on occasion, March 25 might fall on a day that would trigger a transfer of the solemnity.
Such liturgical shuffling is guided by a document promulgated after the reform of the church's calendar following the Second Vatican Council. General Norms for the Liturgical Year and the Calendar, promulgated by Pope St. Paul VI in 1969, ranks various liturgical celebrations according to an established precedence or order of importance and significance. The General Norms states that the Sundays of Lent and the days of Holy Week take precedence liturgically, even over feasts of the Lord – which is the type of feast the Annunciation is classified as.
Learn more HERE.
