Easter is the 'heart of our faith,' Bishop tells West Trenton parishioners
March 31, 2024 at 8:00 a.m.
Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., joined the community of Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish, West Trenton, where he celebrated the Easter Vigil March 30. Father Ariel Robles, pastor, concelebrated the Mass during which two candidates in the parish's Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults received the Sacraments of Confirmation and Eucharist. Two other parishioners were also confirmed.
“Tonight, we celebrate the Easter Vigil, the first official commemoration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,” the Bishop said. “It is a ceremony steeped in symbol and tradition: the blessing of the Easter fire; the Paschal Candle; the singing of the Easter Proclamation; the rich selection of scripture readings culminating in the story of the Easter; in many parishes, the welcoming into the Church newly baptized, newly confirmed, and first time recipients of the Eucharist; the blessing of water and the renewal of our own baptismal promises.
“So many things go on during the Easter Vigil that we can become overwhelmed,” the Bishop said. “That experience is as it should be precisely because no event in human history is as overwhelming as the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.”
More to come on this story.
PHOTO GALLERY: Easter Vigil in Our Lady of Good Counsel Church, West Trenton
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Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., joined the community of Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish, West Trenton, where he celebrated the Easter Vigil March 30. Father Ariel Robles, pastor, concelebrated the Mass during which two candidates in the parish's Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults received the Sacraments of Confirmation and Eucharist. Two other parishioners were also confirmed.
“Tonight, we celebrate the Easter Vigil, the first official commemoration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,” the Bishop said. “It is a ceremony steeped in symbol and tradition: the blessing of the Easter fire; the Paschal Candle; the singing of the Easter Proclamation; the rich selection of scripture readings culminating in the story of the Easter; in many parishes, the welcoming into the Church newly baptized, newly confirmed, and first time recipients of the Eucharist; the blessing of water and the renewal of our own baptismal promises.
“So many things go on during the Easter Vigil that we can become overwhelmed,” the Bishop said. “That experience is as it should be precisely because no event in human history is as overwhelming as the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.”
More to come on this story.
PHOTO GALLERY: Easter Vigil in Our Lady of Good Counsel Church, West Trenton