—Family of one of the 13 service members fallen in Afghanistan, and of parishioners who have died from Covid were present during the vigil; media welcomed to cover Nov. 2 All Souls Mass—

Archbishop José H. Gomez prayed for the departed and affirmed that “death does not have the last word in anyone’s life because God is stronger than death!” during a virtual Día de los Muertos outdoor vigil prayer service he celebrated this evening, the Feast Day of All Souls, at Calvary Cemetery and Mortuary. The celebration, which featured Mariachi music, folkloric dancers and altars, was hosted by the Catholic Cemeteries & Mortuaries of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. The entire event can be seen on lacatholics.org/ddlm. Due to the ongoing pandemic, it is the second consecutive year that the annual event was virtual since its inception in 2014.

“So this evening we pray for all our faithful departed. All those loved ones who have gone before us,” said Archbishop Gomez. “Especially in our families. They have left us. We can’t see them anymore. We can’t touch them anymore. We miss them. This can make us sad. Like there is a hole in our hearts that we know we cannot fill,” he told the people present at the vigil, including members of the family of Hunter Lopez, the servicemember from California of the 13 fallen in Afghanistan in August, and a family representing all those who have died from Covid-19, plus Archdiocese’s employees who decorated altars for those who have died from mental health conditions, or from human trafficking. The full homily is below.

“But our Christian hope is that God will wipe away all our tears. By faith we know –that our loved ones have salvation. By faith we know –that the holiness of Heaven will be theirs.

“God did not make death! We all know this. He wants only life for his children! Death, sadly, entered our world through sin. But even then, God will not let sin or death have the last word in anyone’s life. God’s love is stronger than death! So by his cross and Resurrection, Jesus Christ has destroyed sin and death. And in our Gospel today, we hear his beautiful promise: ‘Do not let your hearts be troubled…. I will come … and take you to myself. So that where I am you also may be’.”

Traditional All Souls Day images were projected on a large scale on the exterior walls of the Mausoleum, which will remain open to the public the evenings of Nov. 2-3, from 6 p.m. to 8pm. The event also featured altars honoring the lives of victims of human trafficking, those who have died from mental health conditions, the unborn, lives of those claimed by Covid-19, and fallen servicemembers in Afghanistan, among others. The altars were built by representatives of the Archdiocese’s departments, including the Office of Life, Justice and Peace, and the Mission Office and partner organizations. Altars in the Mausoleum Courtyard will remain on display from November 2- 5, 2021 for public viewing from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Also featuring on the decorated entrance to the Mausoleum Courtyard, were more than 100 handmade butterflies by students of local Catholic Schools, including St. Anthony, Resurrection, Santa Isabel, Our Lady of Guadalupe on Hammel, St. Lawrence of Brindisi, and St. Alphonsus. The students participated in a virtual Catechetical Day sponsored by the Archdiocese’s Office of Religious Education, where they learned about the meaning and significance of the cultural celebration commemorating All Souls Day, according to our Catholic faith.

“Once again, we find ourselves with a modified celebration of Día de los Muertos and observance of All Souls Day,” said Brian McMahon, Director of Community Outreach of the Catholic Cemeteries & Mortuaries Department. “However, that has not dampened our efforts to provide a meaningful Catechetical Day for the children, our evening Prayer Vigil, All Souls Day Mass, and altar displays.”

Día de los Muertos, an All Souls Day celebration, is a vibrant faith-based tradition, when the life of the deceased is honored and celebrated through songs, prayer and ofrendas (altars).  

“Death will come. Just as surely as we live. We know that. But we know also that Jesus has a place waiting for us in his ‘Father’s house.’ We know that Jesus has gone to prepare this place in Heaven for us,” said Archbishop Gomez in his homily.

On Tuesday, November 2 at 10 a.m., Archbishop José H. Gomez will celebrate All Souls Day Mass at 10 a.m., which will be livestreamed from Calvary Cemetery & Mortuary on lacatholics.org/ddlm and facebook.com/lacatholics.

For more information, please visit lacatholics.org/ddlm or https://catholiccm.org/.

Homily — Día de Los Muertos Vigil[i]

Most Reverend José H. Gomez

Archbishop of Los Angeles

Calvary Cemetery

Los Angeles, California

November 1, 2021

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

In the calendar of the Church, this is a day of joy! Today we celebrate our hope — our reason for living! The hope of Heaven. The glory of Heaven.

We celebrate our hope today, as we remember those who have gone before us. And in this time of pandemic, we remember this evening especially those who have died from the coronavirus.

God wants us all to be with him. God’s arms are wide open to all of his children. He is calling all of us to the purity and holiness of Heaven. This is the beautiful truth that we are celebrating today.

In our first reading, the prophet Isaiah describes Heaven as a holy mountain filled with all kinds of peoples.

On this mountain, the prophet promises, God will “destroy death forever!” On this mountain, God will “wipe away the tears” from every face!

God did not make death! We all know this. He wants only life for his children! Death, sadly, entered our world through sin.[ii]

But even then, God will not let sin or death have the last word in anyone’s life. God’s love is stronger than death![iii]

So by his cross and Resurrection, Jesus Christ has destroyed sin and death. And in our Gospel today, we hear his beautiful promise: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. … I will come … and take you to myself. So that where I am you also may be.”

Jesus promises us salvation. And Jesus keeps his promises! So our hearts should never be troubled, my brothers and sisters. There’s nothing for us to be afraid of.

Death will come. Just as surely as we live. We know that. But we know also that Jesus has a place waiting for us in his “Father’s house.” We know that Jesus has gone to prepare this place in Heaven for us.

This is the promise, the direction of our life! We are heading for God’s holy mountain. We are heading for the Heaven that God wants for us.

St. Paul tells us the same thing in the second reading we heard this evening.

When we leave our earthly dwelling we will be going to a building from God, eternal in Heaven.  

This memorial of All Souls celebrates the beautiful promise of our Christian faith — that our God is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living! And in him, we will all rise to eternal life![iv]

So this evening we pray for all our faithful departed. All those loved ones who have gone before us. Especially in our families. They have left us. We can’t see them anymore. We can’t touch them anymore. We miss them. This can make us sad. Like there is a hole in our hearts that we know we cannot fill.

But our Christian hope is that God will wipe away all our tears. By faith we know — that our loved ones have salvation. By faith we know — that the holiness of Heaven will be theirs.

Purgatory is one of the most beautiful and consoling truths of our Catholic faith. We should remember the souls in Purgatory every day in our prayers. We should pray for these souls as they are purified and prepared to meet God face-to-face.

Purgatory shows us the pure mercy of God!

And my brothers and sisters, we need to trust in the Lord’s mercy! We should trust in his mercy for us. And we should trust in his mercy for our loved ones.

St. Paul says tonight: We walk by faith, not by sight.

That’s how we have to live. With confidence. With trust. That’s what faith is.

Faith means knowing that what we hope for is real. It means knowing that God will give us every good thing that he promises to us.

Jesus has shown us the way to go. We heard his words in the Gospel this evening: “Where I am going — you know the way!”

And he’s right. We do know the way, my brothers and sisters. Jesus is the way for. He is “the way and the truth and the life.”

So we need to follow Jesus. We need to let Jesus show us the way to live and the way to get to Heaven.

We can follow Jesus to Heaven if we follow in his footsteps here on earth. The way of Jesus is the way of love. So we need to love as Jesus showed us how to love. The Scriptures tell us that Heaven is the “love that never ends.”[v]

That love begins for each one of us here on earth — in the love that we hold in our hearts and in the love that we share with others.

Out of love for our brothers and sisters, we need to share with them our beautiful hope in the Resurrection. We need to tell our brothers and sisters the good news — that God desires that every one find salvation and come to the knowledge of the truth.

Let us then renew our faith in the Resurrection. And let us encourage everyone we know to turn to Jesus. To seek his salvation and the love that never ends.

And let us ask the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe, our Mother. Let’s ask that she, along with all the angels and saints, may come to meet our beloved dead.

And at the hour of our own death, may she lead us with St. Joseph to see God face-to-face in the Kingdom of Heaven.