Mary Morrell has decided it is time to “trust that small, still voice” she hears, urging her to explore new avenues to share her faith, and has announced her retirement from the position of managing editor of The Monitor, the Catholic newspaper of the Diocese of Trenton. Morrell plans to do consulting and freelance work through her business, Wellspring Communications.

Morrell began diocesan work in the early 1990s as a freelance reporter for the Metuchen edition of The Monitor, eventually joining its staff full-time as head staff writer and served as part of the start-up team when the Diocese launched its own newspaper, The Catholic Spirit.  She resumed her career in newspaper publications after positions first in the Diocese of Metuchen’s Office of Religious Education, then as associate editor with RENEW International, where she developed a new line of children’s faith sharing bulletins which have been translated into several languages.

Morrell holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Siena College, Loudonville, N.Y.; a certificate in religious studies from Felician College, Lodi, and a master’s degree in Jewish Christian Studies from Seton Hall University, South Orange. She has served the Church for more than 25 years in the fields of both communications and catechesis, working as a writer, editor, journalist, educator, speaker and catechetical consultant, and has garnered several Catholic Press Association awards for her feature stories, advertisements and her syndicated column, Things My Father Taught Me.

Morrell plans to devote considerable time to writing both her column and the reflection journals her readers have come to love, but acknowledged, “You know how God is when you tell him you are making plans. Actually, I’m not really sure what God has in store for me,” she continued, “but I’ve learned to trust that small, still voice – and sometimes that slap across the back of the head – telling me to be prepared for something new.”

She recalled an image that had a powerful impact on her many years ago, an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary on which she reflects when making important decisions.

“I saw a statue of Mary as an older woman, her hair up on her head, her face lined with age. She was seated – Mary, Seat of Wisdom – and her arms were outstretched with her palms opened upwards. I thought that to be a woman of faith and prayer and wisdom, like Mary, means opening yourself to the will of God, so that’s what I pray for.”

Morrell added, “Henri Nouwen said, ‘To pray means to open your hands before God. It means slowly relaxing the tension which squeezes your hands together … and accept your existence with an increasing readiness … this acceptance not only means that you are ready to look at your own limitations, but that you expect the coming of something new …’

“Let’s just say I am happily expecting the coming of something new.”

Rayanne Bennett, associate publisher of The Monitor and executive director of the diocesan Office of Communications, noted, “We are happy for Mary as she transitions into a new direction, but she will be missed. The Monitor benefited greatly from Mary’s unique writing talent and keen insight on matters of faith and spirituality. While she will no longer be on staff, we are grateful that she will continue to be a presence in The Monitor and different diocesan projects through her columns and other writing.”