OneLife LA — and a challenge for Advent

Advent is a season of mercy.

The mercy of God is the great theme running through the first stories of Jesus’ coming.

In her Magnificat, Mary sings: “His mercy is from age to age.” Zechariah, father of St. John the Baptist, sings: “The tender mercy of our God … will visit us.”

Archbishop Gomez on immigration and the next America

Many of us have forgotten our immigrant roots. But our Church has always been a Church of immigrants, as our nation has always been a nation of immigrants. In earlier generations, we welcomed newcomers from every nation in Europe. Today, we are still welcoming newcomers — but now they come from Latin America, Asia, Oceania and Africa.

Time for immigration reform

I am writing you this week from Baltimore, where I am taking part in the annual meeting of the Catholic bishops of the United States.

This is an important gathering every year — a time for all of the Church’s bishops to pray and reflect on the challenges and opportunities we face in our pastoral ministries.

In this month of remembrance

Always as we enter the final month of the liturgical year, the Church calls us to remember our loved ones who have gone before us. The Church also calls us to reflect on the last things in our lives and our own final end.

The Church is a people of charity

As we prepare for Election Day next week, the California Catholic Conference has offered reflections and analysis on the important propositions on the ballot this year.

You can find these reflections elsewhere at AngelusNews.com.

The Gospel of the family

It’s amazing that in our sophisticated, secularized world, global attention has focused on a meeting of Catholic bishops with the Pope in Rome these past two weeks.

The Extraordinary Synod on the Family, which concluded on Sunday, was marked by lively debates and differences in pastoral perspective.

Heaven is for real and forever

God’s ways are not our ways, and his will is not always easy for us to understand.

We know that God has a plan of love for every life. But we also know that within his plan, people can find sickness and suffering that seems to have no reason, no justification.

These are some of my reflections as the sad drama of a young California woman has been unfolding this week on cable news and in the social media.

Priestly joy is a missionary joy

It’s a beautiful sight to see — hundreds of priests, happy and relaxed, laughing and just enjoying their time together. It is beautiful to see. And it can get pretty loud, too!

I had this wonderful experience Monday at the Cathedral, when the priests of the archdiocese gathered for our annual Presbyteral Day.

A love that embraces every life

This Sunday, bishops from around the world will gather in Rome with Pope Francis for an Oct. 5-19 synod that will examine marriage and the family.

As we know, families and marriages face many challenges in our culture. So I hope you will join me in praying that the Synod will cause the world to once more see that marriage and family are sacred realities, gifts that God has given to us for our happiness and for the stability of our societies.

Remembering our ‘historia’

Every people has a story they tell about their beginnings. A story about where they came from and how they got here. A story that helps them make sense of their identity, of who they are as a people.

We are all familiar with the story of America’s beginnings. It’s the story of the Pilgrims and the Mayflower. It’s a story about leaders — Washington, Jefferson, Adams. And big ideas — religious liberty, democracy, individual rights.