Our church was decked in red: red cloths, red flower wreaths
around the candles, red ribbons on the edges of the pews, and red vestments on
the bishop, priests and deacons. “Red”
as you know is the liturgical color of the Holy Spirit. At the ceremony, the boys and girls reaffirmed
their faith in God and His Church by responding “I do” to the Bishop when he
asked them if they believed various teachings of the Faith and the Creed. The Bishop then laid hands on them as a group
while praying a prayer. He then placed
chrism on their foreheads in the form of a cross and said “Be sealed with the Gift
of the Holy Spirit” followed by “Peace be with you.”
Each youngster of course had chosen a confirmation
name. Just as a piece of trivia, the
Bishop told me that the two most common confirmation names for girls are
“Cecilia” and “Elizabeth.”
One could truly feel the presence of the Holy Spirit in the
sacrament. May we all support these
young men and women as they strive to live their Faith this year, in their high
school years and beyond! We pray that
the gifts of the Holy Spirit will continue to blossom and shine forth in them.
It was such an honor to have Bishop O’Connell with us to celebrate
confirmation. The Bishop is not able to
go to all the 109 parishes in the Diocese of Trenton to perform confirmation,
so it was a privilege that he selected us.
Most of you know about the Bishop already I am sure, but I
just wanted to share some biographical information about him with you. A member of the Congregation of the Mission
(the Vincentians), Bishop O’Connell since his ordination to priesthood has
served at various institutions in the areas of academic administration and
education; he has served as a professor of theology, philosophy, religious
studies and canon law.
In 1998, then-Father O'Connell was named the 14th president
of The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. One of his main priorities while he was president
of the university was the Catholic identity of the programs on campus. I was a canon law student at CUA while Bishop
O’Connell was president there and was able to meet him there on one occasion
(not knowing that he would be my bishop one day!).
On June 4, 2010, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI appointed Father
O'Connell as Coadjutor Bishop of the Diocese of Trenton. He was ordained to the
episcopacy by Bishop John M. Smith in St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral,
Trenton, on July 30, 2010. Bishop
O'Connell succeeded Bishop Smith as the 10th Bishop of Trenton on December 1,
2010.
Since becoming the shepherd of the Diocese, Bishop O’Connell
has focused his efforts on the catechetical development of his flock, the
sanctification and cultivation of his priests, and the advancement of vocations.
The Bishop has also devoted special
attention to the sustainability of Catholic schools in the diocese, and I know that he thinks very highly of our Academy.
The bishop also serves on the United States Conference of
Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Catholic Education. He is also a consultor to the Congregation
for Catholic Education at the Vatican.
Congratulations again to all our newly confirmed and to their
parents and families!
No comments:
Post a Comment