Essays and Messages

In recent days, many of the faithful in the Diocese have reached out to me as Bishop and Shepherd of the local Church with concern, confusion, sorrow, and, in some cases, even anger regarding public comments made by President Donald Trump about our Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, as well as the Holy Father’s measured response. Moments like these can unsettle hearts, especially when the unity of the Church and the dignity of her mission appear to be drawn into the turbulence of political discourse.

That first Easter Sunday morning at the tomb was just such an occasion. All four Gospel accounts describe the women coming to the tomb but finding it empty. They arrived to mourn and to anoint Jesus’ body but it was not there. We can be sure a thousand thoughts raced through their confused and frightened minds in an instant as they peered into the burial space to see the funeral cloths lying there but no body.

The season that begins on Ash Wednesday, once marked by an unmistakably sober tone, has gradually taken on a more inviting character. The Church has never abandoned the penitential heart of Lent, but she now often expresses it in ways that accent the more life-giving and transformative rather than simply things burdensome. Sacrifice remains important – but it is no longer meant to stand alone.

In his 2026 message for the annual World Day of the Sick, our Holy Father Pope Leo XIV invites us to contemplate the Good Samaritan and to rediscover what true compassion really is. He reminds us that the Samaritan “does not remain at a distance, does not look away, does not pass by, but draws near, bends down, and takes upon himself the pain of the wounded man.”

As the Church in the United States joins together to celebrate National Marriage Week, I am grateful, as Bishop of the Diocese of Trenton, for the opportunity to reflect with you on the beauty, dignity, and mission of Christian marriage. This year, beginning with World Marriage Day on February 8 and continuing through February 14, the Catholic community of our nation pauses to honor the vocation that stands at the heart of family life and serves as one of the most powerful witnesses to God’s faithful love in our world.

The Diocese of Trenton stands in deep solidarity with our Haitian brothers and sisters here – approximately 2,000 – many of whom worship, serve and lead within our own parish communities. Their faith, resilience and cultural richness are a blessing to our local Church. In light of the ongoing crisis in Haiti – marked by widespread violence, political instability and life‑threatening conditions – I join my brother U.S. bishops in expressing grave concern for Haitian families in the United States who now face the loss of “Temporary Protected Status (TPS),” as of February 3, 2026 (officially announced in the Federal Register by the Department of Homeland Security on November 26, 2025).

Each year on the Feast of the “Presentation of the Lord (February 2),” the Church is invited to contemplate the beautiful mystery of “consecration.” We gaze upon Christ, offered to the Father in the temple; upon Mary and Joseph, faithful in their obedience; and upon Simeon and Anna, whose long years of prayerful waiting are finally fulfilled. It is fitting, then, that this feast is celebrated throughout the Church as the “World Day of Prayer for Consecrated Life,” often observed in our parishes on the preceding weekend.

This year’s theme, “Catholic Schools — United in Faith and Community,” invites us to reflect on the distinctive gift our schools offer to the Church and to society. Catholic schools are not merely places where students receive an excellent education — though they certainly do that well. They are communities of belonging, where faith is shared, values are lived, and young people are formed to see themselves as beloved sons and daughters of God, called to serve others.

Influenced by the writings of the Indian Hindu religious philosopher and civil rights activist Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948), Dr. Martin Luther King (1928-1968) embraced and advocated non-violence and civil disobedience in the sermons and speeches he gave, in the demonstrations and protests he led, in the interactions and conversations he had with both his followers and his opponents all over the country. King made the civil rights movement “front page news” everywhere throughout the turbulent 1960s.

On May 9, 2024, Pope Francis for His Holiness Pope Leo XIV will officially conclude the Holy Year 2025 for the universal Church on January 6, 2026, the Solemnity of the Epiphany, customarily closing the bronze Holy Door before Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.