Essays and Messages

I just returned from visiting my Mother’s grave, where I placed some flowers in her memory for Mother’s Day. It is hard to believe that it has been four years since she passed away. These occasions at the cemetery are sacred moments for me, a time to remember and a time to be grateful for those memories. And, although the Lord has called her home, she has never really left me. I feel her presence with me every single day. I hope and pray that all our faithful whose Moms are with the Lord share that same experience, that same feeling.

A message from Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., reflecting on the power of Easter faith over sin, as our journey continues through the Easter season.

This year, 2019, Easter Sunday falls on April 21. That will not happen again until 2030. By all accounts, April 21 is one of the latest dates on which Easter can occur, the latest of which is April 25, which will not happen until 2038. While these are interesting facts from meteorological, practical and planning points of view, the actual date of Easter in the Western Church does not change what Easter means for the Catholic, for the Christian.

They say “life is a marathon, not a quick sprint.” I think that is true although the older you get, the faster the days seem to pass. The same could be said of the holy season of Lent: it is a marathon to Easter!

I am a great believer in the “both/and” rather than the “either/or” approach to life. And, so, for me Lent is a holy season of penance when I feel called, as a Catholic, by the very nature and purpose of Lent, to both “give up” and to “give” something.

Historically, religious orders developed in the Church, first because of some particular need that was not able to be met in the Church at the time and, second, because the vision and charism of some particular individuals were able to inspire others to come together and determine how to meet that need. And, so, religious orders, communities, congregations and societies were born!

In his column for The Monitor, Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M. remembers Bishop Emeritus John M. Smith

This past year, five of our Catholic schools in the Diocese of Trenton were awarded the coveted National Blue Ribbon School recognition by the United States Department of Education. That is an amazing accomplishment and a source of pride not only for the individual schools themselves – administrators, faculty, staff, volunteers, parish priests, students and families – but for all of us committed to Catholic education. Our Catholic schools have been regularly among those singled out for this recognition but to have five in one academic year is truly awesome!

I have said it before and I say it again. There is one thing we all have in common, my brothers and sisters. Regardless of our race or place of natural origin; regardless of our religion or absence of it; regardless of our age or status or station in life: God gave us the gift of life which our mothers carried until the day of our birth. We were allowed to live!

The Basilica Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in suburban Mexico City is the most visited Marian shrine in the world. Millions of people pass through the Basilica’s doors each year, especially as the December 12 feast day approaches.