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Blessed Pope Paul VI, scheduled to be canonized a saint on October 14 of this year, was the first pope I ever saw in person. The date was May 25, 1975. The place was St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome at the canonization Mass for Saints Juan Garcia Lopez-Rico, O.SS.T., and Vincenta Maria Lopez y Vicuña. I had no particular attachment to either new saint but just happened to be in Rome at the time, prior to entering the novitiate of the Congregation of the Mission (C.M.). I did have an attachment to Pope Paul VI, however, who was Pope since I first entered the seminary in 1969. I admired him greatly.

A message from Bishop David M. O'Connell, C.M. The Church just observed the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul on June 29, commemorating the martyrdom of the Apostles, St. Peter as Chief of the Apostles and St. Paul as the Apostle to the Nations. Each year, this solemnity is a national holiday in Rome and has traditionally marked the beginning of the summer vacation period for Vatican officials following a public Mass celebrated by the Holy Father in St. Peter’s Basilica.

A message from Bishop David M. O'Connell, C.M. It is not often that I am surrounded by the experience of pure joy. My visit to the Motherhouse of the Sisters of Life in Suffern, New York, this past Saturday was such an occasion. Mother Agnes Mary Donovan, SV, Superior General, invited me late last year to celebrate Mass for her Sisters of Life during which four of the Sisters would renew their vows. The special attraction of her invitation was the opportunity to celebrate Mass for the Sisters on the altar I gave them from the chapel of the Bishop’s Mansion in Trenton along with a tabernacle for reservation of the Blessed Sacrament.

The epidemic of gun violence has struck once again, this time close to home. The people of Trenton awoke this morning to the tragic news that twenty of our brothers and sisters —- our families, neighbors and friends —- were injured during a mass shooting in the early hours of Sunday morning at the city’s “All Night Art Festival.” One suspect has been killed and the motive is under investigation.

Like many veterans of World War II who lived through its conflicts and loss of life, my Dad didn’t talk a lot about what he witnessed. He was proud of his naval service as a boatswain’s mate on five battleships in both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters. Occasionally, he’d mention battles in which his ships were engaged, among them Guadalcanal.

The heart as a symbol of love dates back to ancient times and the writings of philosophers. In the Middle Ages (12th to early 14th centuries), the heart appeared in popular artwork of the time, gradually finding a place in many religious representations associated with Christ. In the Renaissance period (late 14th to 17th centuries), depictions of references to the “Sacred Heart of Jesus” became commonplace.

The Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, the Body and Blood of Christ, is celebrated throughout the Church in several ways: first, on the altar through the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass; second, from that same altar in the Sacred Host brought by priests, deacons and lay extraordinary ministers to the sick in hospitals and to the homebound; third, again from that same altar, in prayer and adoration before the Tabernacle containing Sacred Hosts either reserved or exposed in the rite of Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.

A message from Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., addressing acts of hatred and discrimination in our communities

On Thursday, May 17, two Vatican departments — the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development — released a jointly issued document from Jan. 6 entitled “Oeconomicae et pecuniariae quaestiones: Considerations for an Ethical Discernment Regarding Some Aspects of the Present Economic-Financial System (hereinafter, CED).”

The Easter Season comes to an end as the Church celebrates the Solemn Feast of Pentecost, traditionally called the “birthday of the Church.” Before returning to his Father, Jesus promised in the Gospel of John that he would send the Holy Spirit to those who believe in him (John 7: 39); that he would ask the Father to give us another, the Advocate, to be with us forever — the Spirit of Truth (John 14: 16-17); that he would not leave us orphans: “I will come to you (John 14: 18),” that when the Spirit comes, “he will guide you into all Truth (John 16: 13).” As Jesus ascended into heaven, described in the Gospel of Matthew, he proclaimed, “Behold, I will be with you always, even until the end of time (Matthew 28: 20).”

I miss her every day. It’s been three years since my Mother passed away. I still find it hard to believe she is gone. She was a wonderful Mom who loved her husband and family without reservation. That’s what mothers do. That’s who mothers are. Unconditional love. Mothers’ Day has come once again and our attention turns to the women who gave us life, who took care of us, who raised us and who stood beside us come what may. What a blessing our mothers are, what a gift from God. They deserve more than a single day set aside in their honor. We owe them a lifetime of gratitude and love.

Love for Mary, the Blessed Mother of the Lord Jesus Christ, is as natural to the Christian as love for one’s own mother. Mary is, after all, the Mother of the Lord and he is, at once, our Savior and our Brother. “We never give more honor to Jesus than when we give honor to his Mother and we honor Her simply and solely to honor Him all the more perfectly. We go to Her only as a way leading to the goal we seek, Jesus Her Son (St. Louis Marie de Montfort).” We worship him as God. We love her as his Mother.

When you enter the Great Upper Church of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC, as the clergy and faithful of the Diocese are invited to do on pilgrimage every three years, your attention is immediately focused upon the mosaic of “Christ in Majesty” that adorns the apse behind and above the high altar. If you turn around to look back at the narthex, you will see a white bas relief that stretches from side to side across the back of the Shrine. The artist labeled his work, “The Universal Call to Holiness.” In it you will see portrayed the Holy Spirit descending with the rays of his divine graces upon the Church, represented by the Blessed Mother and figures from every walk of life.

St. Paul wrote, “If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith (1 Corinthians 15: 13-14).” Those are some pretty big “ifs” with some pretty big consequences for us as Christians. Think about them for a moment. Everything we preach in the Church and everything we believe comes down to this: Jesus Christ has risen from the dead! It’s all about Easter!

Today, as young people across this nation took part in a school walk-out to end gun violence, students in some of our Catholic high schools in the Diocese of Trenton walked out of their classrooms to come together in prayer.

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!

How blessed we are as Catholics to have Our Lord Jesus Christ present in our churches any hour, every hour, of the day or night. Our Lenten “24 Hours for the Lord” was a deeply moving reminder of his constant presence and of the merciful forgiveness that the Sacrament of Penance offers us simply for the asking.  

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.

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.

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.