The final prayer in the Breviary for the First Sunday of Lent read: Father, through our observance of Lent, help us to understand the meaning of your Son’s death and resurrection and teach us to reflect it in our lives. The “alternative” concluding prayer was: Lord our God … bring us back to you and to the life your Son won for us by his death on the cross.
The Church of Trenton is seeing growth and renewal following the Rite of Election, held Feb. 18 in St. Robert Bellarmine Co-Cathedral in Freehold. Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M. , welcomed 185 adults and youth to the rite, and acknowledged them as members of “the elect.” For their part, they declared to the Bishop that they will continue their formation so that they may receive the Sacraments of Initiation – Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist – for the first time at the Easter Vigil.
Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., announced Feb. 19 that the Diocese of Trenton will join the worldwide Catholic community in observing 24 Hours for the Lord, an initiative requested by Pope Francis and set for March 9 and 10. In his 2018 Lenten message, Pope Francis invited dioceses, parishes and faith communities to join him in the initiative for the second consecutive year. He asked that at least one church in each diocese remain open for 24 consecutive hours over the prescribed dates. During this time, the faithful will have the opportunity to pray before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, reserved in the tabernacle or exposed in the monstrance. Confessions will also be made available during this period.
I frequently visit our Catholic schools throughout the Diocese. On one of those occasions, a student assigned to accompany and lead me around the school asked: “What does a bishop do?” I thought of the words of the psalmist: “Out of the mouth of children, you have formed strength (Psalm 8:2).” It is a good question and an important one in any diocese entrusted to its bishop’s care. The answer is as ancient as the Apostles whose “Successors” the Church’s bishops are. A diocesan bishop’s primary “job” is to share and carry on the Lord Jesus Christ’s mission in and for the Church: “to teach; to govern; to sanctify” the diocese assigned to him by the pope. The ways a bishop fulfills that mission are always “works in progress” as they attempt to meet the evolving needs of the Church in his diocese.
The 2018 Annual Catholic Appeal is being rolled out in most parishes of the Diocese of Trenton Feb. 17 and 18, with the theme “This Is What Love Looks Like.” In his message for the appeal, Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., recalls a question posed 1600 years ago by St. Augustine of Hippo: “What does love like?”
We begin again. The season of Lent begins with the imposition of ashes on our foreheads in the sign of the cross. The ashes are a “mark of our repentance,” the Liturgy tells us, a sign of blessing upon the “sinner who asks for God’s forgiveness.” We are surrounded by reminders of the journey that lies ahead of us in the next 40 days: vestments changed to purple, the color of penance; the Mass stripped of “alleluias;” readings focused on conversion; fasting and abstinence are required today and on the Fridays of the season. These are all signs that help us as we “begin again,” as we seek to “be reconciled to God.”
With this week’s arrival of Ash Wednesday and the start of Lent, Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., recently issued his 2018 Lenten message, and instructions to his flock on a faithful observance of Lent.
With this week’s arrival of Ash Wednesday and the start of Lent, Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., recently issued his 2018 Lenten message, and instructions to his flock for a faithful observance of Lent.
The theme of our conference today has been “Fearless 365.” It’s been pointed out that the words “do not be afraid” appear in the Bible 365 times. That’s an interesting coincidence since there are 365 days in the year. But what does it mean to be “fearless?” To know the answer, to be “fearless,” you have to know what “fear” is.
You can learn a great deal studying the lives of the saints and reading their words. Two giants in the field of social service and pastoral care, St. Vincent de Paul (1581-1660) and St. Louise de Marillac (1591-1660), co-founders of the Daughters of Charity, spoke together often about serving the poor and the sick.
My Mom was a great cook and baker. One needs only to look at her sons to see the evidence! Growing up, I would frequently sit with her in the kitchen as she worked her magic. I remember so well a little file box in the kitchen cabinet, decorated with Pennsylvania Dutch symbols. In it she kept clippings from magazines or notes written out in pencil on index cards or scraps of paper.
In response to questions spurred by the current flu outbreak, the Diocese has issued this advisory: With the guidance of the bishop it is the role of the pastor to judge whatever measures are needed to ensure the well-being of his parish community and to take every opportunity to remind the faithful that they should refrain from receiving Communion from the chalice if they are ill. The sick are not obliged to attend Mass and should use prudence and good judgment before coming into contact with others.
Ask any brother, sister or priest living a vocation to consecrated life and they will advise you that family life cultivated the seed of their vocation. Early on they experienced the self-donation of their parents to one another and their children in numerous ways in their homes.
I want to engage your imagination for a moment. Suppose the Lord God appeared to you in a dream and said to you what he said to young Solomon in the First Book of Kings (1Kgs3:4-13), Ask something of me and I will give it to you. What do you think you would say? Does a response come to mind immediately? There were no conditions or boundaries attached when the Lord God spoke to Solomon … there wasn’t a lot of time either. Ask something of me and I will give it to you.
World Day for Consecrated Life, established in 1997 by Pope John Paul II, is Feb. 2 -- the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord – and will be observed at Masses throughout the United States Feb. 3 and 4.
As Feb. 2 marks the day when the universal Church observes World Day for Consecrated Life, Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M, prepared a message in which he reflected on his own journey to the priesthood and what it means for one to discover his or her own vocation in life.