BLACKWOOD – The wide smile on Makayla Gallashaw’s face spoke volumes of the pride she has for her mother, Sgt. Tracey Stanton, a juvenile detention officer in Camden County.
“Her work and faith encourage and inspire me,” the sixth-grader from Sacred Heart School, Camden, said as she hugged her mother outside Saint Agnes Church. “I love her so, so much.”
The mother and daughter were among the hundreds to attend the Diocese of Camden’s 23rd annual Blue Mass, celebrated the morning of Sept. 30 at Our Lady of Hope Parish. Bishop Dennis Sullivan, who celebrated Mass, and Coadjutor Bishop Joseph Williams were among the clergy, religious, faithful, Catholic schoolchildren, families and more who gathered to honor the men and women who serve in law enforcement, fire and emergency medical services.
PHOTO GALLERY: 23rd annual Diocesan Blue Mass
Noticing the elementary and high school students in the pews – about 600 from 27 Catholic schools in the Diocese – Sgt. Stanton said she was happy the youth could “get to see the people who keep their environment safe, and interact with and learn from them.”
Bishop Sullivan thanked those in uniform for their “service, sacrifice, dedication, commitment and generous spirit,” telling them that the prayers of the congregation gathered are “a prayer of thanks to God, for your contribution to the right ordering of society. We pray that God protect them from all harm.”
Celebrated the day after the Feast of the Archangels (Saints Michael, Gabriel and Raphael), the Mass was an opportunity to remember those who, like Saint Michael the Archangel, “confront evil all the time.”
“They deal with people who are its victims. They see personally the results of violence, hate and crime,” Bishop Sullivan said, adding that that these first responders are witnesses to situations “in which evil causes the loss of human beauty and the destruction of human decency, of human goodness, and even death.”
“Much too much evil is in the world, and … they need the help of Saint Michael as they go against it. May they share the victory of Saint Michael” in casting out the demons they deal with, Bishop Sullivan said.
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