FAITHFUL JOINED ARCHBISHOP GOMEZ IN PRAYERFUL SOLIDARITY TO RECOGNIZE ALL IMMIGRANTS DURING ANNUAL MASS AT CATHEDRAL

September 19, 2022  |  By: newsroom  |  Uncategorized  |  

—50+ Ministry volunteers and leaders were recognized during the Mass, which featured the relics of three Saints important to the immigrant community—                                                                                              

Faithful from the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, and the Dioceses of San Bernardino, Orange, and San Diego united today in celebration of the immigrant spirit in the United States at the bilingual (English/Spanish) Mass in Recognition of All Immigrants presided by Archbishop José H. Gomez at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in downtown Los Angeles. Livestream of the Mass is available at  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znUVQiYvj4E.

“Our country has always been a beautiful collection of many immigrant peoples,” said Archbishop Gomez during the homily (full text below). “This nation has been a beacon of hope, a refuge for peoples who have no place left to turn. America is a nation of nationalities, a nation of migrants and refugees.”

The Mass commemorates National Migration Week 2022, from September 19-25, and the World Day of Migrants and Refugees, “Building the Future with Migrants and Refugees,” on September 25.

The bilingual celebration at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels began with a pre-liturgy procession inside the church. Civic and diplomatic leaders, including the Consuls of Mexico and Guatemala, were also present.

“We need to pray harder for our government officials and lawmakers, said Archbishop Gomez. “Let’s pray today in a special way that we can create a society that better serves the poor and the least among us, a society of solidarity and compassion.

“We know that times are hard, that things aren’t easy for many of our family members, our loved ones and friends. It has been decades now — literally decades — and our nation has still not resolved the problems and injustices of our immigration system.”

Following the Mass, the faithful were invited to venerate the relics of St. Junípero Serra, St. Frances Xavier Cabrini and St. Toribio Romo sitting by the altar. The saints are of great significance to the Catholic immigrant community in the U.S. from its founding to present day.

Archbishop Gomez concluded the homily by asking the faithful to continue to pray for immigration reform and keeping their lives always centered on Jesus.  

If the faithful and the public would like to support immigrant and refugee efforts, please consider Catholic Charities Los Angeles, which offers legal advice, catholiccharities.org/donate. For more information, please call (213) 637-7820 or visit lacatholics.org/immigration. For information on World Day of Migrant and Refugees and National Migration Week, visit justiceforimmigrants.org.

Homily — Mass in Recognition of All Immigrants[i] (as prepared)

Most Reverend José H. Gomez

Archbishop of Los Angeles

Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels

September 18, 2022

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

It is great to see all of you! We gather again this year to celebrate our faith at our Mass in Recognition of All Immigrants.

So, we come to this altar today to thank God for his blessings on our families and our communities. We come also bearing our burdens, our sorrows and dreams. We lay everything down before Jesus on this altar today.

Our country has always been a beautiful collection of many immigrant peoples. This nation has been a beacon of hope, a refuge for peoples who have no place left to turn. America is a nation of nationalities, a nation of migrants and refugees.

In our second reading today, St. Paul tells us to pray for our civic leaders. He tells to offer “supplications, prayers, petitions, and thanksgivings … for all in authority, that we may lead a quiet and tranquil life in all devotion and dignity.”

That is a beautiful prayer for us, my brothers and sisters. We need to pray harder for our government officials and lawmakers. Let’s pray today in a special way that we can create a society that better serves the poor and the least among us, a society of solidarity and compassion.

We know that times are hard, that things aren’t easy for many of our family members, our loved ones and friends. It has been decades now — literally decades — and our nation has still not resolved the problems and injustices of our immigration system.

Hoy venimos a la Santa Misa para agradecerle a Dios por sus bendiciones sobre nuestras familias y nuestras comunidades. Y para rezar especialmente por los funcionarios de gobierno y por nuestros legisladores. Y le pedimos a Dios Nuestro Señor, que nos ayude a crear una sociedad que de un mejor servicio a los pobres, a los más necesitados, y a los inmigrantes para que tengamos una sociedad solidaria y compasiva.

We need to pray harder for our government officials and lawmakers. So, we need to intensify our prayers for those in authority.

But we should never lose hope. Our Father holds us in the palm of his hand, he loves us with an undying love, and he has a special love for the poor and the vulnerable.

Now, the question for us, always, is how do we respond to His love?

In today’s passage of the Gospel, Jesus tells us that we have to choose between “God and mammon,” between the priorities of God, and the priorities of the world.

The world tells us to be selfish, just like that steward in the parable.

The world tells us to set our heart on worldly riches and security.

That is the world that the prophet Amos strongly condemns in today’s first reading. It is a world obsessed with profit and power — even if,

as the prophet Amos says, that means “trample upon the needy and destroy the poor of the land”.

But that’s not the way of Jesus. The way of Jesus is the way of love.

The way of Jesus, is not about “getting.” It’s about giving. It’s not about ourselves. It’s about others.

The love that Jesus shows us, is a love that is self-giving, self-sacrificing. It means using our resources and talents, not to enrich ourselves, but to enrich the lives of others.

Existen muchos desafíos en el mundo, en nuestras familias, en nuestra sociedad y en nuestra cultura. Pero lo único que importará al final de nuestras vidas es solamente el amor. El amor de Dios y el amor a los demás. Eso es lo importante para Dios y para nuestras familias.

In the Gospel today Jesus tells us: “The one who is faithful in little things is faithful also in big things.”

This is the message for us. The saints teach us that we grow in holiness and virtue — little by little, day by day. Little things matter in a big way.

We need to be faithful to our spiritual life to have a personal relationship with Jesus and become missionary disciples.

So much of our spiritual life is about being faithful to our devotions and practices. Spending time in prayer, asking the Lord for guidance, for help. Even when we are tired, even when we don’t feel like it.

We also need to be faithful in the little things of charity, of love. It means responding generously to people who need your help, or even just your attention, or some of your time.

So, let us rededicate our lives to living as Jesus calls us to live, according to his words and his priorities. Then, we can really make a big difference in our society and help people to discover the presence of God in their lives.

En este evangelio Jesús nos dice: “El que es fiel en las cosas pequeñas, también es fiel en las grandes”.

 Los Santos nos enseñan que el crecimiento en la santidad y en la virtud se da poco a poco, día con día. Las cosas pequeñas tienen una importancia grande.

Gran parte de nuestra vida espiritual consiste meramente en dedicarle tiempo a la oración, pidiéndole al Señor que nos guíe y nos ayude.

Ayudando generosamente a la gente que requiere de nuestra ayuda o incluso, solamente, de nuestra atención o de algo de nuestro tiempo.

Today, as we celebrate the World Day of Migrants and Refuges and we start the National Migration Week, we need to continue “Building the Future with Migrants and Refugees’, as the message of Pope Francis for today’s celebration reminds us. 

In his message Pope Francis reminds us that “If we want to cooperate with our heavenly Father in building the future, let us do so together with our brothers and sisters who are migrants and refugees. Let us build the future today!”

So, my brothers and sisters, once again we are called to help our neighbors and leaders to feel compassion for the common humanity and destiny that we share with one another, including our immigrant brothers and sisters.

So, let us keep praying for our nation and working hard for immigration reform and let us remember to keep our lives always centered on Jesus.  

And let us ask Our Lady Guadalupe, to continue to intercede for us. May she keep us always in the tender mantle of her care, and may she help us to always stay faithful in the little things of love.

Hoy que celebramos el Dia Mundial de Migrantes y Refugiados y la Semana Nacional de Migración debemos seguir “Construyendo el futuro con los Migrantes y los Refugiados” como el mensaje del Papa Francisco de este año nos lo recuerda.

Sigamos rezando por nuestro país y trabajando con decisión por la reforma migratoria y teniendo siempre nuestra vida centrada en la persona de Nuestro Señor Jesucristo, pidiéndole a Maria de Guadalupe que interceda por nosotros para que seamos fieles en las cosas pequeñas del amor de Dios y a los demás.

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Under the spiritual leadership of Archbishop José H. Gomez, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles is the largest in the United States, serving the counties of Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara, covering approximately 9,000 square miles in 120 cities. The nearly five million Catholics in the Archdiocese come from some 70 countries and from every continent. Weekly Masses are celebrated in 42 languages throughout 288 parishes, and more than 73,000 students attend an Archdiocesan Catholic elementary or high school. For the latest news, events and to subscribe for media alerts, visit media.la-archdiocese.org.