ARCHBISHOP GOMEZ URGED FAITHFUL TO CONTINUE SERVING OTHERS DURING THE CLOSING OF JUBILEE YEAR MASS AT MISSION SAN GABRIEL ARCÁNGEL

September 10, 2022  |  By: newsroom  |  Press Releases  |  

— During the Mission’s one-day opening since a fire destroyed its roof faithful could tour its grounds and receive encouragement from Archbishop to keep supporting the most vulnerable in their communities — 

During his homily at the Mass Archbishop José H. Gomez celebrated to mark the end of the “Forward in Mission” Jubilee Year today at Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, he urged the faithful to remember their quest to become missionary disciples helping the most vulnerable in their communities, main purpose of the jubilee year, which began in September 2021 and continued throughout the year with numerous activities at parish and archdiocesan level. The entire Mass and homily can be seen here.

“Jesus is sending us out to continue his work, to be missionaries among the men and women of our times. He sends us out to seek those who are lost, to speak to their restless hearts, to bring them to the encounter with Jesus. We are called to be always in mission, always forward. Let’s follow Jesus with enthusiasm,” said Archbishop Gomez in his homily after declaring it a blessing to be able to celebrate the first Mass after the restoration of the Mission. “The encounter with Jesus Christ is never just a casual encounter. It is always the meeting of our desire for God and God’s desire for each one of us.

“We celebrate today with St. Junípero Serra, founder of this great Mission, his Franciscan brothers and also the Claretians priests, who have been ministering here at Mission San Gabriel for more than 100 years. We are also united in our worship with so many souls who down through the years found salvation in this Mission, beginning with those who made up the first generation of Catholics in Los Angeles, including many of the Gabrielino Tongva, the first peoples of this land.

“Truly, salvation has come to this house, as our Lord says in the Gospel today. This house is where the faith began in Southern California, We are part of a movement that is so much greater and so much beautiful that any of us could have ever imagine. The greater movement of God’s Holy Spirit through history.

“The church’s mission —your mission and my mission— is to complete his beautiful work of creation, to be coworkers in this beautiful work of making the world God’s temple a kingdom of justice and love. We are being called to build on this foundation. Let us be renewed by this Jubilee and let us be bold im making Jesus Christ the only way for our lives and the only way for the Church in Los Angeles.” Please see full homily below.

The celebration began outside of the Chapel of the Annunciation at the Mission where faithful gathered as Archbishop Gomez closed the Jubilee Doors. The Archbishop was accompanied by Chief Anthony Morales of the Gabrieleño/Tongva San Gabriel Band of Mission Indians who led a special blessing, and by the choir of the Sisters of the Poor.

Following the Mass, the community was invited for a reception in the school yard sponsored by Catholic Cemeteries & Mortuaries of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and Spectra Historic Construction. They could also tour inside the Mission church, for the first time since it suffered arson in July 2020, to view restoration progress. The Mission closed its doors again for additional restorations.

Archbishop Gomez proclaimed a Jubilee Year in June 2021 to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the founding of Mission San Gabriel, the birthplace of Christianity in Los Angeles. On September 8, 2021, the Archbishop led an outdoor prayer service at the mission on the anniversary, and on September 10, he opened the Holy Door at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angles to inaugurate the Jubilee. The cathedral also hosted 250 Years of Mission, an exhibit featuring treasures from the Archdiocesan Archives to showcase the rich legacy of Catholic faith in Los Angeles. Thousands participated in 40 hours of Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament at the 22 pilgrimage sites across the Archdiocese, as well as in regional retreats to hear anew the call of Jesus to be his missionary disciples. More than 2,500 pilgrims walked on the “Camino” from Mission San Gabriel to the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels.

The Holy Door represents Jesus Christ, who states: “I am the door” (John 10:1). To cross the threshold of the Holy Door into the church is to step into Christ, and to pass through the doors of the Church into the world is to step into mission. The “Jubilee Year” originally comes from the Book of Leviticus, in which God instructs Israel to observe every 50th year as a special season of mercy – a time of release from debt and labor (Leviticus 25: 10-13). Since the 14th century, the Church has celebrated jubilees at regular intervals.

For more information, visit lacatholics.org/jubilee and forwardinmission.com.

FULL HOMILY FOLLOWS:

Homily — Closing Mass of the Jubilee Year^[i]

Most Reverend José H. Gomez

Archbishop of Los Angeles

Mission San Gabriel Arcángel

San Gabriel, California

September 10, 2022

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_wL2VbMkk8

My brothers and sisters in Christ,

Good morning to everyone. Isn’t it beautiful that we gather this morning for the celebration of the Eucharist in our Mission San Gabriel. It’s a blessing that we are able to celebrate the first Mass after the restoration of the Mission.

So I’m very happy that we are here in this special celebration.

We join with the angels and saints in heaven today, to praise God for the graces he has poured out upon us during this Jubilee Year.

We celebrate today with St. Junípero Serra, founder of this great mission, his Franciscan brothers, and I would say also the priests that have been ministers here at Mission San Gabriel for more than 100 years.

We are also united in our worship with so many souls, who down through the years, found salvation in this mission — beginning with those who made up the first generation of Catholics in Los Angeles, including many of the Gabrielino Tongva, the first peoples of this land.

Truly, “salvation has come to this house,” as Our Lord says in the Gospel today!

Within these walls, that is where the faith began in Southern California! And we walk now in the company of a great cloud of witnesses. Angels and saints, our ancestors and loved ones, in heaven and on earth.

And my dear brothers and sisters, we are part of a movement that is so much greater and so much more beautiful than any of us could ever imagine: the great movement of God’s Holy Spirit through history.

I pray that this Jubilee Year has awakened in all of us a new awareness that our lives participate in this mystery, which was hidden from all ages — the mystery of God’s plan of love, the history of salvation.

The world is God’s house. And he puts us here for only a short time. Our lives are like grass, or like a breath, the Scriptures say. But we are born for greater things. We are born in time, but we are made to dwell with God for eternity.

And our lives unfold as part of this plan of the love that God has for his creation, this plan of love that he has for every nation, and every person.

In the first reading of today’s Mass, we heard that extraordinary vision of the prophet Isaiah, who sees the peoples of every land streaming to God’s holy mountain in Zion — not only the Jewish people, but also “foreigners” — all coming to worship the Lord in his temple, in his holy house.

So this is God’s plan! This is the mystery hidden from ages and generations. As the prophet says: “For my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.”

And this was what God wanted in the beginning.

We all know the story of how God walked with Adam and Eve in the garden, how he spoke to the first couple in the cool of the day. God created this world to be his temple, his holy house, a place where he could live with his children in love.

And he wants to build this house with us, each one of us, with his children.  

So the Church’s mission — your mission and my mission — is to complete his beautiful work of creation, to be co-workers, in this beautiful work of making the world God’s temple, a kingdom of justice and love.

So today, we especially ask St. Junípero Serra, and we ask the first peoples who built this mission, to pray for us, to give us the strength to continue the work they started.  

They “laid a foundation,” as St. Paul tells us in the second reading. Now, we are being called to build on this foundation.

But, as Paul says, we must be careful how we build. He says: “For no one can lay a foundation other than the one that is there, namely, Jesus Christ.”

So let us be renewed by this Jubilee, and let us be bold in making Jesus Christ the only way for our lives and the only way for the Church in Los Angeles.

In the psalm today, we prayed those sorrowful words: “My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.”

This is the cry of every human heart. The human heart is made for God, our hearts are restless and lonely without him. Every heart needs to find its home in him. 

This is why Jesus comes into our world, and comes into our lives. Just as he meets Zacchaeus in the Gospel today.

The encounter with Jesus Christ is never just a “casual encounter.” It is always the meeting of our desire for God, and God’s desire for each one of us.

Zacchaeus was looking for Jesus, but he couldn’t see him “because of the crowd.” In a sense, we can say that the world got in his way. Zacchaeus got lost in worldly ambitions, in the priorities of the crowd; he got lost in the pursuit of wealth and power.

But his heart was still restless, and so he climbs up that sycamore tree to “see who Jesus was.” And then he hears those beautiful words that change his life right there. Jesus says to him: “Come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house.”

So the story of Zacchaeus is the story of every human heart. It’s your story and it’s mine. It’s a story of God’s mercy. “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost.”

My dear brothers and sisters, Jesus Christ is still passing by. He is still on the road, still seeking to save what is lost.

So each of us today are here because Jesus called us. Because he saved us when we were lost. Each of us, in our own way, has heard those beautiful words: “Today, salvation has come to this house.”  

Now, Jesus is sending us out, to continue his work, to be missionaries among the men and women of our times. He sends out to seek those who are lost, to speak to their restless hearts, to bring them to the encounter with Jesus.

Always forward!

So my brothers and sisters, let us follow Jesus with enthusiasm! Let us share his mercy with every soul!

Let’s pray to St. Junípero Serra — St. Junípero Serra, pray for us!

And all you holy men and women of San Gabriel Mission, pray for us!

And may Our Lady of Guadalupe, guide and protect us, and keep us in the mantle of her tender love!