Continuing a cherished tradition, Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., celebrated a special Mass Oct. 15 with hundreds of Catholic school students from across the Diocese of Trenton.
Students from 33 elementary and secondary schools located in Burlington, Mercer, Monmouth and Ocean Counties joined the Bishop, along with 20 of the Diocese’s priests, for the annual Catholic Schools Mass in St. Robert Bellarmine Co-Cathedral, Freehold.
Members of the Catholic community were able to participate in the Mass via livestream on the Diocese’s Youtube channel.
The Mass began with a procession, featuring students carrying their schools’ flags or banners down the center aisle of the Co-Cathedral. Students from St. Charles Borromeo School, Cinnaminson, formed the choir and led the music for the Mass.
In greeting the students, educators and parents gathered, Bishop O’Connell described the annual event as his “favorite event of the year.” The Bishop, who served 12 years as the president of The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., prior to first coming to Trenton in 2010, and who currently serves as the Catholic Education Committee chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, has dedicated much of his priesthood to Catholic education.
In his homily, Bishop O’Connell counseled the students on how to pray, emphasizing that Jesus is always listening. He reflected on the day’s Gospel, and added, “It’s not enough just to talk about loving God. We have to show that love in the way we live.”
“When you help someone who’s struggling, when you include someone who’s left out, when you tell the truth even when it’s difficult, when you forgive someone who has hurt you — that’s how you show Jesus you love him,” the Bishop told those in attendance.
Adding to the day’s prayer petitions, Bishop O’Connell asked the school community to pray for Pope Leo XIV’s recovery from his recent cancer surgery and for peace in the world.
In a highlight of the Mass, the Department of Catholic Schools presented the diocesan Lumen Gentium Award to two schools – Our Lady of Good Counsel, Moorestown, and St. Paul, Princeton. The award is presented annually in recognition of a Catholic school that “lives out its mission statement, shows high academic and personal growth and serves as a model of Christ’s Light to all nations and all people.”
