Today, Archbishop José H. Gomez celebrated a Mass at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels to initiate the Sixteenth Synod Bishops themed “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, and Mission” throughout the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. This Synod is a two-year process of reflection and sharing, which began with a solemn opening in Rome on October 9-10, 2021 and concludes in 2023. The full livestreamed Mass and text of the homily are available at archbishopgomez.org/blog/mass-with-opening-of-the-16th-synod-of-bishops. 

Archbishop Gomez began the homily today by sharing a special blessing from Holy Father Pope Francis following a visit earlier this month to the Vatican for the Opening of the Synod for the global Church.

“Our Holy Father hopes that this process of prayer and reflection and conversation will lead every one of us in the Church to a new appreciation of our responsibility for the Church’s mission of bringing all souls to know Jesus Christ and his salvation,” said Archbishop Gomez during the homily. “So, as we begin our journey down this “synodal path,” as the Pope calls it, let us ask for the grace to think more deeply about our lives as disciples and followers of Our Lord Jesus Christ.”

The first part of the synod process, a consultative process at the diocesan level, will begin in early 2022 and will explore 10 general themes: Companions on the Journey; Listening; Speaking Out; Celebration; Sharing Responsibility for Our Common Mission; Dialogue in Church and Society; Ecumenism; Authority and Participation; Discerning and Deciding; and Forming Ourselves in Synodality.

“Because love, as we know, is the way to heaven, and love is the way his Kingdom grows on earth,” said Archbishop Gomez. “And as we, today especially, reflect on the synodal path that we are called to live in these coming months and years, we can reflect that one practical way we can show our love for God and our neighbors is through friendship.”

During the time of the Synod, Pope Francis invites the entire Church to reflect on a theme that is decisive for its life and mission: “It is precisely this path of synodality which God expects of the Church of the third millennium.” This journey, which follows in the wake of the Church’s “renewal” proposed by the Second Vatican Council, is both a gift and a task: by journeying together and reflecting together on the journey that has been made, the Church will be able to learn through Her experience which processes can help Her to live communion, to achieve participation, to open Herself to mission.

“So loving others in the little things of everyday life, this is our call — this is how we fulfill his great commandment. This is how we lead others to Jesus,” said Archbishop Gomez as he concluded the homily. “It is true: kindness is the best sermon we can ever deliver. So, my dear brothers and sisters, as we begin on this path to the Synod, let us ask our Blessed Mother Mary to go with us and to help us to put love into everything that we do.”

The insights gathered from local Catholics will be combined with those from other dioceses and will then be used to guide the discussion at the international level. The synod process will conclude with a General Assembly at the Vatican in October 2023.

Full text of the homily as it was prepared is below and available at archbishopgomez.org/blog/mass-with-opening-of-the-16th-synod-of-bishops. 

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Homily — Mass with Opening of the 16th Synod of Bishops[i]

Most Reverend José H. Gomez

Archbishop of Los Angeles

Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels

October 31, 2021

My brothers and sisters in Christ,

First of all, I want to share with you that I had the blessing of attending the Mass in Rome for the Opening of the Synod. It was a beautiful Mass that Pope Francis celebrated and he gave a beautiful homily — just sharing with us some of the ideas and his desire for this Synod of Bishops that we are now opening here in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

Also, the following day we had audience with the Holy Father — Archbishop Vigneron, the Archbishop of Detroit and myself. It was a beautiful gathering and the Holy Father sent his blessing to all of us here in the United States and I will say, especially for us here in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

So I’m happy to bring today to you a blessing from the Holy Father. Let’s keep him in our prayers in a special way.

So today, in this Holy Mass we begin our local observance of the Sixteenth Synod Bishops called by Pope Francis.

In the coming year we will hold consultations across the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, looking ahead to the convening of the Synod by the Holy Father in Rome in October of 2023.

As we know, a Synod is a meeting of the world’s bishops.

And the theme of this Synod is “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, and Mission.” And our Holy Father hopes that this process of prayer and reflection and conversation will lead every one of us in the Church to a new appreciation of our responsibility for the Church’s mission of bringing all souls to know Jesus Christ and his salvation.

So, as we begin our journey down this “synodal path,” as the Pope calls it, let us ask for the grace to think more deeply about our lives as disciples and followers of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

In our Gospel today, we hear the story of Our Lord’s meeting with the scribe who asks him what the greatest commandment is.

We all are familiar with the story and with the answer that Jesus gives. And I was thinking that his words today are a beautiful summary of the entire Gospel and the whole meaning of our lives. As we just heard, Jesus tells him: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.” 

I am always touched by this story and especially the way that Jesus treats this man. What we see is that Our Lord is teaching us about love, and at the same time, he’s showing us what love looks like by his example.

I think in order to understand the power of his witness today, it’s good for us to remember: the scribes were part of the religious establishment that was opposed to Jesus. Throughout the Gospels, we see the scribes trying to trick Jesus into saying or doing something wrong so they can bring him up on charges before the authorities.

Yet, as we notice, Jesus does not reject this scribe or label this man according to “his party.” He treats this man as an individual, and he looks for the good. And Jesus sees in this man a sincere search for the truth. So Jesus listens carefully to the man’s questions and listens carefully to how the man responds to his own answers.

And we heard this at the conclusion of the Gospel today: “And when Jesus saw that he answered with understanding, he said to him, ‘You are not far from the kingdom of God.’”  

My brothers and sisters, we need to have this same love and respect for others, even those we disagree with. This is part of the love that Jesus commands of us.

And as we reflect on this Gospel, we need to be aware that Jesus is not simply giving us “orders,” and demanding that we obey.

God wants our love for him to be freely given. We love God because he loved us first, because in his love for us he sent his only Son Jesus Christ to suffer and die for us.

So we are called to really open our hearts to the love of God and try to be generous in responding in our lives to the love of God and loving others.

Our second reading, from the Letter to the Hebrews, reminds us how precious we are to God. And each of us is loved so much by God, that Jesus “offered himself” as a sacrifice for our sins.

So Jesus wants our love to be a response to this beautiful gift of his love.

Jesus gave his life for us out of love, so that we can share in his divine life of love, beginning in this life and then continuing into eternity.

And Moses tells us today in the first reading, that God gives this command to love so that we will “grow and prosper,” and enter into heaven, “a land flowing with milk and honey.”

So that’s our vocation — loving God and loving one another. But love takes practice. We learn to love by making acts of love, making it a “habit” in our lives, so that our heart opens to God and to our neighbor, until love becomes our natural way of thinking and acting toward others.

And love also requires grace. We cannot love like Jesus loves without his strength and his power. So again today we ask for that grace that we might walk in his footsteps, and open our hearts to his great commandment of love.

Because love, as we know, is the way to heaven, and love is the way his Kingdom grows on earth.

And as we, today especially, reflect on the synodal path that we are called to live in these coming months and years, we can reflect that one practical way we can show our love for God and our neighbors is through friendship.

My brothers and sisters, as we know, the Kingdom of God grows through families and friendships. This is always the way. The first Christians converted the whole Roman Empire by simply spreading the love of Jesus in their families and among their friends. Still today, the faith grows by one heart speaking to another of their love for Christ.

This is our beautiful responsibility and opportunity, my dear brothers and sisters. And it is so important now, in these times we are living in. Because many people in our society, even in our own families, have drifted away from God and organized religion. So these people are waiting for a new invitation to meet Jesus again.

So loving others in the little things of everyday life, this is our call — this is how we fulfill his great commandment. This is how we lead others to Jesus. It is true: kindness is the best sermon we can ever deliver.

So, my dear brothers and sisters, as we begin on this path to the Synod, let us ask our Blessed Mother Mary to go with us and to help us to put love into everything that we do.

May she help us to show our love for God by the witness of our love for our neighbors, speaking to then of his love and mercy in our lives, and his promise of salvation.