Essays and Messages

We read these words in the Gospel of St. John: “You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you. I have appointed you to go and produce fruit that will last, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give it to you (John 15:16).” That is a profound thought for anyone considering a vocation to the priesthood or religious life in the Catholic Church today. It is God who chooses us for his purposes. As a seminarian many years ago I remember reading in Thomas Merton’s great book “No Man is an Island,” that “for each one of us, there is only one thing necessary: to fulfill our own destiny, according to God’s will: to be what God wants us to be.” He wrote: “Discovering vocation does not mean scrambling toward some prize just beyond my reach but accepting the treasure of true self I already possess. Vocation does not come from a voice “out there” calling me to be something I am not. It comes from a voice “in here” calling me to be the person I was born to be, to fulfill the original selfhood given me at birth by God.”

Our Mothers are one of God’s greatest gifts to us. They love us unconditionally and without hesitation, asking precious little in return. We honor them with a special Sunday in May once a year, but every day that we enjoy the breath of life should be a day to honor our mothers who, with God’s grace, gave us life.

Today, the Diocese of Trenton rejoices and gives thanks to God for the election of our new Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV. This momentous occasion marks the beginning of a new chapter in the life of the Church, filled with hope and renewed commitment to our faith.

Love for and devotion to 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 and venerate her as his Mother.

Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., has shared this prayer ahead of the conclave beginning May 7.

The world welcomed Pope Francis with evident joy, watched him with great expectation, waiting with hope that he would courageously and boldly lead the Catholic Church forward in the third millennium. Yes, from those first moments, he was clearly a different kind of pope, taking as his papal motto “lowly but chosen (miserando atque eligendo).” And his papacy would also be different, reflecting a pope who loved tradition but would not be burdened to or held captive by it.

I can only imagine the thoughts that went racing through her mind as she ran to tell “Simon Peter and the other disciple whom Jesus loved” that “they have taken the Lord from the tomb and we do not know where they put him (John 20:2).” Upon arrival at the tomb, the Lord’s followers rushed in only to find the burial cloths but no body. Where was Jesus? John’s Gospel then says of Peter, “He saw and believed (John 20:8).”

A screengrab from Pope Francis' video message, released March 4, 2025, highlights his prayer intention for March: "For families in crisis." (CNS screengrab/Pope's Worldwide Prayer Network) (Pope's Worldwide Prayer Network) Family: Cherishing one of God’s first gifts Family. I grew up watching shows like Father Knows Best, Leave it to Beaver, Ozzie and Harriet, and the Donna Reed Show. The television families portrayed regularly at that time had a couple of mischievous yet perennially happy kids, two loving parents who always had the right answers and situations that were as simple as they were comical and sweet. It was a great image of American family life in the late ’50s and ’60s.

In a March 6, 2025, letter, Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., encouraged the faithful to focus on the Lenten pillars of prayer, fasting and almsgiving, and suggested several ministries and organizations that would be worthwhile recipients.

The season of Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, March 5, 2025. Christians make this Jubilee Lenten “journey to Jerusalem” with our Lord Jesus Christ as “pilgrims of hope,” renewing our faith, hope and love. Such Lenten renewal invites us to “fasting, prayer and almsgiving,” three traditional Lenten paths to spiritual conversion of mind and heart.