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Bishop O'Connell's Easter message ∙ Blue Mass information ∙ Chrism Mass ∙ Chancery holiday hours
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March 27, 2024JESUS OF NAZARETH LIVED MOST OF HIS LIFE IN OBSCURITY without much notoriety or attention paid to him. The Gospels tell us about his birth in Bethlehem and, later, about his appearance in the temple at age 12. Other than that, the Gospels are largely silent about Jesus of Nazareth until he appears before John the Baptist in the Jordan and begins his public ministry around age 30.
Those hidden years of Jesus’ life leave everything to the imagination ad to speculation. And while that is true of Jesus of Nazareth, the Jesus of history, it is not true of Jesus the Messiah, the Christ of faith.
A thousand years or more of Old Testament writings and traditions kept the Messiah before the Jewish people’s minds and in their hopes and expectations before the “Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” They are not two different persons, no. They are one and the same. Jesus the Messiah, the Christ of faith is eternal but chose to live in a specific, identifiable, historic time period, hence the title, “Jesus of history.”
It is the New Testament, especially the Gospels, that connect all that was planned and foretold about the Messiah with Jesus of Nazareth. And the events of Holy Week have made that abundantly clear.
Read the full message HERE.
UNIFORMED OFFICERS FILLING PEW AFTER PEW; heart-pounding music from bagpipers and drum corps; the dignified and disciplined cadence of color guard units, a stream of vested priests leading the congregation in prayer – these are the sights and sounds of the annual tribute to law enforcement that will unfold April 4 in the Diocese of Trenton.
Safety officers of all faiths throughout Central New Jersey, along with their families and supporters, are invited to attend the 22nd Annual Blue Mass in St. Robert Bellarmine Co-Cathedral, Freehold, beginning at 10:30 a.m.
Luncheon prepared by Sir Ives Catering in Jamesburg will follow in the Co-Cathedral’s Dentici Hall. Tickets are $20 per person and can be purchased at the event or in advance at dioceseoftrenton.org/blue-mass; there will be no charge for immediate family members of law enforcement attendees to attend the luncheon.
St. Robert Bellarmine Co-Cathedral is located at 61 Georgia Rd., Freehold.
To read more visit HERE.
THE SANCTITY AND THE SIGNIFICANCE OF HOLY WEEK in the
salvation story of Catholic
Christians were ever present at the March 25 Chrism Mass.
Hundreds of people hailing from Burlington, Mercer, Monmouth and Ocean Counties gathered in St. Robert Bellarmine Co-Cathedral, Freehold, for a celebration that Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., said “belongs to the entire community of the faithful in the Diocese -- clergy, religious and laity – all united by their common Baptism and the sacramental life that use the oils consecrated and blessed by the Bishop.
To read more click HERE.
To view a recording of the Chrism Mass, see HERE.
THE CHANCERY OFFICES IN LAWRENCEVILLE will be closed Holy Thursday through Easter Monday. Normal operations will resume at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, April 2.
