Growing in our knowledge of Jesus Christ

It’s back-to-school time, a great time of year.

I know many of you have been getting ready for the new school year with your kids and grandchildren. All of the archdiocese, confirmation and religious education programs are starting up again in our parishes.

Forming men of mission and men of mercy

This 75th anniversary marks a new beginning.

St. John’s is one of America’s historic seminaries — with a long legacy and an important role still to play in the Church’s mission in the 21st century. Here in this seminary, we are forming priests for the new evangelization of our country and our continent — men of mission and men of mercy.

The beautiful truth about marriage and family

In my recent columns for The Tidings and AngelusNews.com, I’ve been reflecting about marriage and the family, trying to help us pray and prepare for the important Synod of Bishops that will begin in just a few weeks.

What is the family’s value in our society?

We need to put the family first again in our society.

For the Church, the family has always been what the popes call “the vital cell” of human society. For the Church, the family is the center of love where individual personality is formed and values and traditions are passed on to new generations.

God’s magnificent plan for the family

As the summer winds down and we move into fall, we need to turn our prayers and reflection to the meeting of the world’s bishops that Pope Francis has called for October 5-19 in Rome.

The Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops will discuss the theme of “pastoral challenges to the family in the context of evangelization.”

Archbishop Gomez: Jesus Has Social-Media Tips for Church

HOUSTON — If Christianity could be contained in one tweet, it might read: “God creates man; man sins against God; God sends his only Son into the world to bring man back to him.”

Vatican’s social media head encourages Catholics to ‘develop imagination’

Pope Francis told the Vatican’s social media to “listen, converse and encourage” when embracing the challenges of the technical revolution, according to Msgr. Paul Tighe, the Pope’s social media expert, who spoke at the Archdiocese’s 3rd Annual Catholic Communication Collaboration (C3)
Technology Conference.

3rd Annual Catholic Communication Collaboration (C3) Technology Conference

Msgr. Paul Tighe, the Vatican’s social media expert, discussed the Catholic Church’s emerging presence in the digital world with teachers, clergy and staff from the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. Msgr. TIghe, Secretary to the Pontifical Council for Social Communications of the Vatican, was the keynote speaker at the 3rd Annual Catholic Communication Collaboration (C3) Technology Conference on Wednesday, Aug. 13 at Loyola Marymount University. With more than 10 million followers on Twitter, the Vatican’s resident expert on social media hopes to inspire the faithful in new and exciting ways.

The new media and the new evangelization

This week, we held our annual C3 Technology Conference at Loyola Marymount University.

You can read more about the conference elsewhere in the pages of this week’s Tidings and online at Angelusnews.com.

For me, this conference is another sign of how important new technologies are for our mission of the new evangelization.

‘The hidden homeless’

They are the “hidden homeless,” and they are legion.

The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority tries to count the number of homeless individuals each year, but this year they also estimated the number of individuals who live in their cars.

Of an estimated 39,000 homeless persons living in L.A. County, more than 8,000 live in their cars, according to LAHSA’s George McQuade. The city of Los Angeles alone has nearly 5,000 people living in 3,000 cars.