Raising a son with Down syndrome

Rick and Abbie Smith were going to have a son. By the end of nine months, they had dreamt up vivid forecasts of the child’s future and their life with him.

After delivery, the Smiths received the diagnosis.

The Baptism of the Lord, Homily by Archbishop José H. Gomez

Friends, our Lord’s Baptism is meant to remind us of our own. Baptism is our “second” birthday! Our first, of course, is when we are born as children of our mothers and fathers. But on the day when we are Baptized we are “born again” as children of God!

Archbishop celebrates Christmas Mass at Men’s Central

The Christmas morning entourage had to practically shuffle sideways through the dingy corridor of Men’s Central Jail, module 1750. Built in the early 1960s and expanded in the ‘70s, the green-barred single cells lining one side and reserved for high security inmates are the oldest in MCJ.

AB 60 allows undocumented immigrants to apply for driver’s licenses

For Maricela De La Rosa, a parishioner and member of the social justice ministry group at St. Martha Church in Huntington Park, 2015 couldn’t come soon enough. Thanks to AB 60, this new year will bring the fulfillment of a long-held wish for several family friends and members of her parish community. The new law requires the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to begin issuing driver’s licenses for undocumented immigrants after Jan. 1.

Photos: Archbishop Jose Gomez speaks about the Rose Parade Band

Archbishop Jose Gomez speaks during mass as the Delfines Marching Band from Veracruz, Mexico, representing Latin America in Rose Parade listens at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles, Calif., Sunday, Dec. 28, 2014.

Liturgy takes getting used to

The Catholic Church has changed its liturgy, making it a more literal translation of the Latin. Father Jarlath Dolan from St. Maximilian Kolbe Catholic Church said the new liturgy recovers some of the richness of the Latin.

Plenty of vacancy for event with Nativity sets

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – More than 400 Nativity sets from around the world have been on display this weekend in Thousand Oaks as part of an annual fundraiser to help the homeless.

Volunteers deliver Christmas cheer to needy families

Gifts, glitter and glee often take a backseat to long workdays, an overflow of worries and too many bills during the Christmas season.

Religious in Los Angeles welcome new Cuba-U.S. policy

Priests and women religious of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles welcomed the recent announcement made by President Barack Obama of the abandonment of a half-century of embargo and reestablishment of diplomatic and economic relations with the government of Cuba.

The conversion of a Catholic Worker

‘It was the most radical thing I’d ever heard of and it was being done by Catholics.’