UPDATED: Bishop on Christmas Eve: Story of Christ's Birth is truly worth repeating
December 25, 2022 at 1:10 a.m.
So said Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., during the Christmas Eve Mass he celebrated in St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral, Trenton.
“You would think after 2,000 years, Christians would get tired of telling the same story,” Bishop O’Connell said in his homily. “And, yet, they never have, and I suspect they never will.
PHOTO GALLERY: Bishop's Christmas Eve Mass in Trenton Cathedral
“The real miracle of the Christmas story is precisely that – it never gets old,” he said. “That God became man, that the Word became Flesh and dwelt among us, has an impact on us. It has an effect upon us; it means something important and changes us.
“Humanity is different because Jesus Christ – the Lord of Lords, the Prince of Peace, the long-awaited Messiah, the Eternal Savior – became one of us,” he said. “It is news, great ‘Good News’ and a story truly worth repeating again and again, every year for the past 2,000.”
Bishop O’Connell celebrated the first Mass of the Christmas season in the Diocese’s Mother Church, which was decorated with brilliantly colored poinsettias and Christmas trees softly glowing from twinkling lights.
Set up alongside the Cathedral’s right-side aisle was a large Nativity scene with images of Mary and Joseph already in place. The image of the Infant Jesus arrived after being blessed by the Bishop, who remained at his chair in the sanctuary.
Msgr. Joseph Roldan, Cathedral rector and Mass concelebrant, then carried the blessed image to the Nativity, where he kissed it, then placed in in a straw-filled manger. Msgr. Roldan stood by the Nativity for a few minutes to pray and incensed the Holy Family figures.
Bishop O’Connell briefly reviewed the three Readings that were proclaimed then urged the congregation to “take all of those scriptural sound bites as context, as background, as interpretation and we can understand the ancient Christmas story, why we tell it over and over again.
“That God loved us, loves us enough to give us his son and his son loved us, loves us enough to give us his life is a fundamental fact of our faith that never wears out or wearies our minds and hearts,” he said.
“What a profound thought, really a meditation and prayer for us on this Christmas night. As Christ came to give himself fully to us, let us who tell the story again make of ourselves a Christmas gift of love and kindness to one another,” Bishop O’Connell said, adding, “Merry Christmas!”
Check back on TrentonMonitor.com for continued coverage of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day celebrations taking place around the Diocese.
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So said Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., during the Christmas Eve Mass he celebrated in St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral, Trenton.
“You would think after 2,000 years, Christians would get tired of telling the same story,” Bishop O’Connell said in his homily. “And, yet, they never have, and I suspect they never will.
PHOTO GALLERY: Bishop's Christmas Eve Mass in Trenton Cathedral
“The real miracle of the Christmas story is precisely that – it never gets old,” he said. “That God became man, that the Word became Flesh and dwelt among us, has an impact on us. It has an effect upon us; it means something important and changes us.
“Humanity is different because Jesus Christ – the Lord of Lords, the Prince of Peace, the long-awaited Messiah, the Eternal Savior – became one of us,” he said. “It is news, great ‘Good News’ and a story truly worth repeating again and again, every year for the past 2,000.”
Bishop O’Connell celebrated the first Mass of the Christmas season in the Diocese’s Mother Church, which was decorated with brilliantly colored poinsettias and Christmas trees softly glowing from twinkling lights.
Set up alongside the Cathedral’s right-side aisle was a large Nativity scene with images of Mary and Joseph already in place. The image of the Infant Jesus arrived after being blessed by the Bishop, who remained at his chair in the sanctuary.
Msgr. Joseph Roldan, Cathedral rector and Mass concelebrant, then carried the blessed image to the Nativity, where he kissed it, then placed in in a straw-filled manger. Msgr. Roldan stood by the Nativity for a few minutes to pray and incensed the Holy Family figures.
Bishop O’Connell briefly reviewed the three Readings that were proclaimed then urged the congregation to “take all of those scriptural sound bites as context, as background, as interpretation and we can understand the ancient Christmas story, why we tell it over and over again.
“That God loved us, loves us enough to give us his son and his son loved us, loves us enough to give us his life is a fundamental fact of our faith that never wears out or wearies our minds and hearts,” he said.
“What a profound thought, really a meditation and prayer for us on this Christmas night. As Christ came to give himself fully to us, let us who tell the story again make of ourselves a Christmas gift of love and kindness to one another,” Bishop O’Connell said, adding, “Merry Christmas!”
Check back on TrentonMonitor.com for continued coverage of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day celebrations taking place around the Diocese.