ARCHBISHOP GOMEZ TO CELEBRATE NATIONAL MASS ON THE SOLEMNITY OF ST. JOSEPH IN THE YEAR OF ST. JOSEPH PROCLAIMED BY POPE FRANCIS
March 16, 2021  |  By:   |  Press Releases  |  

—A special blessing will be given to all families during the transmission of the Mass as  Pope Francis will also inaugurate the Year of “Amoris Laetitia Family”— 

Archbishop José H. Gomez will celebrate a special national Mass on March 19, 2021, the Solemnity of St. Joseph, at 8 a.m. at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in downtown Los Angeles. A special blessing for families will be given during the transmission of the Mass in recognition of the efforts and contributions of families to continue building the domestic Church.

“Throughout this Lent, I’ve been trying to pray and reflect more on the figure of St. Joseph, as his story is told in the early pages of the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Luke,”  said Archbishop Gomez. “His quiet hope and courage in the face of adversity, his trust in God’s providence, his simple dedication to doing God’s will – these are virtues I think all of us need to develop at this moment in our lives.”

This Solemnity is particularly special as Pope Francis has declared December 8, 2020 – December 8, 2021 the Year of St. Joseph, a “father in the shadows,” as the Pope described him in the Apostolic letter “Patris corde” (With a Father’s Heart), which marks the 150th anniversary of the declaration of St. Joseph as the Patron of the Catholic Church by Blessed Pope Pius IX.

Also on March 19, the fifth anniversary of the Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia, Pope Francis will be inaugurating the Year of “Amoris Laetitia Family” (March 19, 2021 – June 26, 2022). In launching this initiative, the Vatican is upholding the important role that families play, which has been highlighted during the COVID pandemic. The spiritual, pastoral, and cultural content and resources for the initiative are meant to reach families around the world and are meant to be implemented at the local level in parishes and dioceses, as well as in universities, by ecclesial movements, and family associations. The year-long celebration will conclude at the Tenth World Meeting of Families in Rome in June 2022.

The Mass at Cathedral will be livestreamed for all to celebrate virtually on the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (@USCCB), Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels (@OLACathedral) and the Archdiocese’s (@LACatholics) digital and social platforms.

For more information about the Year of St. Joseph, visit https://lacatholics.org/st-joseph/.

 

####