Top photo: Bishop O’Connell presides over a groundbreaking ceremony where a statue of St. Michael the Archangel will be erected in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the Blue Mass which the Diocese celebrates next year. Mike Ehrmann photos
By Mary Stadnyk | Associate Editor
In keeping with its traditional pageantry, the 24th annual Blue Mass unfolded amid the stirring sights and sounds of bagpipes and drums, color guards carrying an array of flags and columns of uniformed officers filing into St. Robert Bellarmine Co-Cathedral, Freehold.
Along with the hundreds of officers and agents from every level of law enforcement who gathered for the April 7 Blue Mass with Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., were family members, parishioners from around the Diocese and civic and political leaders.
Shepherd’s Gratitude
“To all who wear the uniform, to your families and to those who support you: thank you,” Bishop O’Connell said to the priests, family members and well-wishers who filled the Co-Cathedral as well as those watching the livestream on the diocesan Youtube channel. “Your presence here is a witness of faith and your service in our communities is a witness of courage.”
In his homily, Bishop O’Connell likened the messages of the day’s Readings to the experiences that law enforcement personnel regularly encounter in their work.
He reflected on the Resurrection story in which Mary Magdalene stood outside the tomb, overwhelmed by grief. “She believes everything she loved has been taken from her. She is disoriented, afraid and alone,” the Bishop said.
“Many of you in law enforcement have stood beside people in that same moment – at a crash site, on a doorstep delivering news that no family wants to hear, in the aftermath of violence or tragedy. You have seen tears like Mary’s. You have heard the same questions in a hundred different forms: ‘Why is this happening? Where is God in this?’” he said.
“And then something extraordinary happens. Jesus speaks her name, ‘Mary.’ And in that instant, everything changes. The darkness lifts. Hope returns. She recognizes the Lord who was standing before her all along,” the Bishop said.
“That is the heart of Easter: the Risen Christ steps into our fear, our confusion, our grief and calls us by name,” the Bishop said. “And he calls each of you by name in your vocation of service. Law enforcement is not simply a job. It is a ministry of presence, a vocation, a willingness to step into places where others cannot go or will not go.”
“In doing so, you reflect something of the Good Shepherd, who walks into the valley of the shadow of death, not because it is safe, but because his people are there.”
In Memory
The Blue Mass is also an opportunity for the law enforcement community to honor and pray for fallen officers and their families. Survivors of officers lost in the line of duty were invited to attend and participated in the Presentation of the Gifts.
After Communion, a member of the law enforcement community proclaimed the names of 11 officers who lost their lives because of their service. A family member or representative from their department was presented with a memorial shadowbox.
In the Trenches
Chief Warrant Officer Joe Wilk of the Burlington County Sheriff’s Department and member of St. Raphael-Holy Angels Parish, Hamilton, said the Blue Mass is a way of showing “the brotherhood connecting with the Church and it’s a good feeling.”
Newark Police Captain Elvis Perez attended the Blue Mass in the Trenton Diocese for the first time, saying it’s a way to support those families who had lost loved ones. He noted that “one of his own,” Det. Joseph Anthony Azcona, was shot and killed in the line of duty in March, 2025 while investigating illegal weapons possession.
“We can’t forget our fallen officers,” he said.
Michelle Carroll recalled that she and her husband, a state trooper, were married only six weeks when he was killed on the NJ Turnpike in 1984.
“That experience left a huge impact on my life – even to this day,” she said. Ever since, she has devoted much time to helping other survivors of fallen officers. She is currently vice president of a chapter of Concerns of Police Survivors and a longtime member of the diocesan blue Mass committee.
Carroll, a member of St. Joseph Parish, Millstone Township, commented on how the Blue Mass brings together members of the law enforcement community and their families in a faith environment, regardless of their religious beliefs.
“It’s wonderful to have the community at-large of law enforcement officers and first responders coming together in a place of faith and reverence, to be thankful for what they do and to remember the people who died doing what they do.”
Tears welled up for Joan Hendrickson, who talked about her husband, Sgt. Lee E. Hendrickson, a member of the New Jersey State Police, who died last year from a 9-11-related illness.
“Lee’s last squad was with the Marine police” and he was involved with transportation and rescue during the 9-11 tragedy, she said.
“It’s quite an honor to be invited to the Blue Mass,” Hendrickson said.
“I had no idea such events occurred until I was brought into the Survivors of the Triangle,” she said of her first time attending a Blue Mass. “All I can say now is that I only wish that Lee was here.”