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LISTEN TODAY TO “THE SHEPHERD’S VOICE” which airs on First Fridays at 3 PM and encores Saturdays 4 PM, Sundays 10 AM and Mondays 8 AM on Domestic Church Media.

During these high holy days celebrated by our Jewish brothers and sisters, our Holy Father has called upon all Catholics to pray and, if possible, to fast on October 7, 2024, the first anniversary of the terrorist attack on Israel. Days of fasting and prayer for warzones have been a constant throughout the pontificate of Pope Francis. “On October 7,” the Holy Father pleaded, “I ask everyone to live a day of prayer and fasting for peace in the world. … There is a need for this, especially in this dramatic hour of our history, while the winds of war and the fires of violence continue to disrupt entire peoples and nations.”

I was driving back from a priest’s funeral on Long Beach Island last week. Now those of you who have made that trip know that you pass through a long, monotonous stretch of New Jersey called “the Pinelands.” Driving along, my attention was drawn to a huge billboard ---appearing out of nowhere --- reaching across the pine trees, posting a picture of a mother holding her newborn child with the words, “Duty to Protect” printed across the picture in big, white letters. For the last week, knowing that this Mass was coming, I could not get that image and those words out of my mind. “Duty to Protect.”

CATHOLIC FAITHFUL AND PRO-LIFE ADVOCATES FROM ACROSS THE STATE will gather in St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral Sept. 26 for the first statewide Mass for Life ahead of the NJ March for Life in Trenton. Thousands are expected to convene in the state’s capitol to pray at Mass, hear speeches at a rally and offer peaceful witness to the sanctity of unborn life while they march along a one-mile trek through the city.

Anticipation is growing as pro-life advocates from across New Jersey prepare to convene in the state capitol as peaceful witnesses for New Jersey’s first annual Mass for Life and March for Life Sept. 26.

A MESSAGE FROM BISHOP DAVID M. O’CONNELL, C.M., ON FAITHFUL CITIZENSHIP It has become almost normative these days for political candidates of every stripe to end their speeches at campaign appearances, town halls or rallies with some form of the expression “God bless you and/or God bless the United States of America.” Perhaps you, too, have noticed its appearance more frequently than in the past. I actually wait for it now while watching television broadcasts of these events, especially in this election year.

As Bishop O’Connell and the priests of the Diocese of Trenton gather together for their annual convocation, they offer their Mass and prayers on the 23rd anniversary of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, for the victims, their families and all those impacted, especially those from within our Diocese.

I had the privilege of celebrating Mass at the Chancery for all the principals of our 31 Catholic schools in the Diocese on August 19, joined by superintendent Dr. Vincent Schmidt and assistant superintendents Daniel O’Connell and Bonnie Milecki from our Department of Catholic Schools. It was wonderful to experience their excitement and enthusiasm for the coming school year.

A message from Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M. This year’s World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, September 1, 2024, continues the annual tradition established by our Holy Father Pope Francis after the release of his May 24, 2015 encyclical “Laudato Si’: Care of Our Common Home.” Each year for September 1, Pope Francis selects a theme and publishes a message which “focuses on care for the natural environment and all people, as well as broader questions of the relationship between God, humans, and the earth (Christopher Rice, “Best Summary of “Laudato Si’”,May 5, 2022).

THE CHANCERY IN LAWRENCEVILLE will be closed Thursday, August 15 and Friday, August 16 for the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven. Regular business hours will resume Monday, August 19.

EVERY YEAR, WE CELEBRATE MOTHER’S DAY ON THE FIRST SUNDAY OF MAY. And whether our moms are living or deceased, we remember them in special ways. One day a year, however, is not enough time to consider all that our mothers have done for us. I think it is fairly safe to say that most of us think of our moms much more than on just a single day

IF ONE IMAGE COULD POSSIBLY HAVE CAPTURED THE AWE-FILLED EXPERIENCE shared at a five-day spiritual gathering on the Eucharist, this month’s cover image comes pretty close. Brought to you courtesy of Amanda Kleinmann, one of the participants from the Diocese of Trenton, the image shows the Blessed Sacrament housed in the monstrance and illuminated in the midst of some 60,000 attendees during evening Adoration at the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis.

"Grandparents, the elderly and all the faithful who, motivated by a true spirit of penance and charity," attend Mass or other prayer services as part of the day's celebration can receive the indulgence, which "may also be applied as a suffrage to the souls in purgatory," said the announcement published July 18 by the Apostolic Penitentiary, the Vatican court charged with granting indulgences.

As Bishop, I invite all the clergy and faithful of the Diocese, once again, to show the generosity for which I have come to know you so well by contributing to the third annual collection for the retired, elderly and infirm priests of the Diocese. They, too, deserve our love and gratitude in their twilight years!

There are virtues and then there are virtues. Here's one you don't see or hear a lot in our polarized society today: civility. In a world in which instant information, instant messages, instant solutions and instant gratification are not only expected but presumed --- and, indeed, required --- precious little room and time are left for the virtue of civility.

THE IMAGE OF NEWBORN TWINS THAT GRACES THE COVER of The Monitor Magazine’s July issue tells one of the joyful stories coming out of the tumultuous two years since the U.S Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade. With abortion rates rising and national support for legalized abortion growing, this month’s IN FOCUS offers a post-Dobbs progress report and highlights the many ways that the Church and other leaders continue to advocate for and support both the mother-to-be and her baby in the womb.

BISHOP DAVID M. O’CONNELL, C.M., CELEBRATED A MASS OF THANKSGIVING July 7 to commemorate the canonical establishment of the Red Bank Oratory of St. Philip Neri by Pope Francis.

THE CHANCERY IN LAWRENCEVILLE will be closed Wednesday, July 4 and Friday, July 5, for Independence Day. Regular business hours will resume Monday, July 8.

Summer is a special time for family and friends by making time for them. No school! Picnics and barbecues; trips to the shore or mountains or wherever we enjoy some rest together; longer hours of daylight and star-filled nights; sitting outside, playing games, going to carnivals or summer concerts, taking long, leisurely walks or renewing healthy exercise to shed some winter pounds; gardening, picking strawberries or Jersey tomatoes and eating Jersey corn on the cob; doing lots of things or doing nothing in particular, summer is a time to slow down and realize how blessed we are by God, surrounded by those we love most who are truly gifts the Lord places in our lives.

Offered for young men ages 14-40 wanting to learn more about the priesthood, the annual “Come & See” event will begin with a Mass celebrated at 4 p.m. in St. Robert Bellarmine Co-Cathedral, 61 Georgia Rd., Freehold, in which all are welcome to attend and pray for an increase in vocations to the priesthood.