In top photo, An aerial view of the congregation gathered for the June 7 Mass celebrated by Bishop O’Connell in Sacred Heart Church, Bay Head. Vic Mistretta photo
Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., celebrated the second of four Masses in commemoration of the U.S. to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
The Mass was celebrated June 7, on the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Jesus in Sacred Heart Church, Bay Head, with Bishop O’Connell serving as principal celebrant and homilist. Joining him at the altar was Father Joseph Hlubik, pastor of Sacred Heart and St. Pio of Pietrelcina Parishes.
In his homily, Bishop O’Connell spoke of the feasts of Corpus Christi, which was June 7 and the Feast of the Sacred Heart which this year will be June 12, saying the two “are inseparable.”
“One feast draws our eyes to the altar; the other draws our eyes to the heart of Christ. But in truth, they are one mystery of love,” the Bishop said. The Eucharist is the gift of Christ’s Body and Blood. The Sacred Heart is the source of that gift.”
“At the center of both feasts is the astonishing truth that God does not merely care about us from a distance. He gives himself entirely to us. He feeds us with his own life. He opens his heart for the salvation of the world,” said Bishop O’Connell.
