"The people who protect us in the law enforcement community have an increasingly difficult job, and we need to always be mindful of the need to pray for them," the bishop said.
TRENTON -- "It's been a difficult year for law enforcement," Trenton Bishop David M. O'Connell told a sea of blue Tuesday during the annual Blue Mass.
"Yes, we live in strange and difficult times," the bishop said in his homily at St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral.
"But the 'goodness of the Lord' is still here. And for most of us, you - the women and men of law enforcement - you are the embodiment of that goodness in what you do each day for us."
"The reason we are here today is, quite simply, that there is hope," O'Connell said.
Hundreds of representatives of the law enforcement community throughout central New Jersey attended the 17th Annual Blue Mass to pray and to hear Trenton's 10th bishop speak on the role of law enforcement.
The Mass also offers an opportunity for the law enforcement community to honor and pray for fallen officers and their families.
The mass is sponsored by the Catholic Diocese of Trenton and coordinated by a committee of officers under the chairmanship of retired Trenton police Lt. Howard Allaire.
The diocese's Blue Mass honors law enforcement from Mercer, Burlington, Monmouth and Ocean counties.
Michael Mancuso may be reached at mmancuso@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @michaelmancuso Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.