Essays and Messages

It’s summertime again, although the look and feel of it is quite different this year.  Most of us have been working at home or home schooling so, despite the change of seasons, it seems just “more of the same.”  But it is different. 

Like “Mother’s Day” in the United States, “Father’s Day” celebrations began here in the early 20th century. Their true origins, however, are rooted in Catholic religious devotions to St. Joseph in the Middle Ages. For the most part, the national observance of “Father’s Day” is a secular holiday.

Devotion to the “Sacred Heart of Jesus” can be traced back to the twelfth and thirteenth centuries in the Catholic Church. Inspired by over 500 years of tradition, this devotion became part of the Church’s liturgy in 1670, with Mass and prayers composed by French priest St. John Eudes (1601-1680). Three years later, the Lord Jesus appeared multiple times to a 26-year-old French nun of the Visitation Order, St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647-1690), revealing the love and mercy for which the popular image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus has become a universal symbol. Pope Pius IX placed the feast in honor of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on the Catholic Church’s liturgical calendar in 1856, 19 days after Pentecost. This year it is celebrated on Friday, June 19.

In June 2011, our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI reminded us that the feast we celebrate today in Catholic Churches throughout the United States – the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ often referred to as “Corpus Christi” –  “is inseparable from the Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord’s Supper in which the institution of the Eucharist is also celebrated (Homily, June 24, 2011).” A profound and beautiful thought that we should keep in mind.

All of us in our Diocese, in our nation, indeed, throughout the world looked with horror at the video depicting the May 25 death of George Floyd, an African American citizen of the city of Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The Sacred Scriptures remind us that “the love of God has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit dwelling with us (Romans 5: 5).”

Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., has announced new liturgical and pastoral directives during the COVID-19 pandemic, including limited “in church” weekend Masses beginning June 13-14, with Mass schedules to be determined by pastors.

For Catholics, sacrifice and dying for others is very familiar to us since it is the foundation of our faith. 

Although the liturgical celebration of the Solemnity of the Ascension has been transferred to this coming Sunday in the Dioceses of New Jersey this year, I can’t help but reflect about its meaning today, Thursday, 40 days after Easter.  This great feast – whenever it’s placement of the Catholic Church calendar occurs – commemorates our belief that the Risen Lord Jesus, gathered with his disciples on Mt. Tabor near Jerusalem, ascended body and soul into heaven, returning to his Father. 

My fellow seminarians and I sat together shortly after noon on Monday, October 16, 1978, with our eyes fixed on the television set.  White smoke rose from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel signifying to the world that a new Pope had been elected by the College of Cardinals assembled inside.  “Habemus Papam, we have a Pope” proclaimed Cardinal Perecle Felici, the senior Cardinal deacon.  It was the second time that year he made the same announcement, once before for Pope John Paul I on August 26 who served only 33 days, and now for Pope John Paul II.  At 59 years of age, Polish born Cardinal Karol Wojtyla was the first non-Italian elected Pope since 1523.