On Aug. 26, Archbishop Gomez celebrated the annual Queen of Angels Mass and Mass for Cultures at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. The following is adapted from his homily.
We remember the founding of our great city today under the mantle of Nuestra Señora de los Angeles de Porciuncula, Our Lady the Queen of Angels.
Holy Mary is the Queen of Heaven, the Lady of All Creation! Clothed with the sun, the moon at her feet, all the angels and saints, the prophets, apostles, and martyrs pay her homage.
And so do we.
She is the mother of God, and we are her children, each one of us. She is one mother, and we are many peoples!
Today we are celebrating once again the beautiful diversity of cultures, and peoples, and languages that make up the one family of God here in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. And we come to her, from every nation, in faith and filial love.
We turn our eyes to Our Lady today, just as St. Junípero Serra and his brother Franciscans did, and just as that first generation of Angelenos from San Gabriel Mission did, including our Tongva brothers and sisters, the first peoples of this land.
We implore her intercession for our city, for our country, for all the countries of the Americas, and the whole world. We pray today especially for our families and our children. We ask her to turn to her eyes of mercy toward us, to look upon us in her maternal care.
Our Lady still longs for her Son to be born in every human heart. In your heart and mine. In the hearts of every one of our loved ones, and in the hearts of every one of our neighbors.
Pope Francis this week talked about the beautiful story of St. Juan Diego. “Let us dwell then on the testimony of St. Juan Diego,” he said, “who is the messenger, this young man, this indigenous man who received the revelation of Mary, the messenger of our Lady Guadalupe.”
Our Lady Guadalupe came to Diego at the dawn of faith in the Americas, and she asked him to help her to spread the love of Jesus throughout the land.
Our Lady spoke to Diego with such tender motherly love: “Listen, my youngest and dearest son … I have no lack of servants, no lack of messengers, to whom I can give the task of bearing my word. … But it is very necessary that you personally go … that my wish may become a reality.”
I believe our mother is speaking those same words to you and to me, in this generation.
It is very necessary that we go out, each one of us personally, and make our mother’s wishes real — in our time and in our place. Just as Mary said “yes” to the angel Gabriel in the Gospel today, she is calling each of us to say yes.
We all know Mary’s beautiful words by heart: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.”
Today, let us ask for the grace to make these words our own, to live these words in our own lives. We ask for the grace to say yes, as Mary did — to do the will of God in our lives, and to bring Jesus into the world.
Our Lady is calling us to continue the mission to Los Angeles, and we need to answer her call. It is urgent. So many souls are waiting to know Jesus, and so many are lost without him! And these souls may never meet Jesus unless we are the ones who introduce them.
We are apostles, missionaries, we are servants and messengers. Just like Juan Diego, just like Serra and those first Angelenos from Mission San Gabriel.
You have a part to play that no one else can play! And it is so beautiful to speak to others about Jesus, to tell others about our love for him and our Blessed Mother. This is the true meaning of our lives: to love Jesus and to share our love for him with others.
So let us ask for the grace today to truly be messengers of the love of God and the love of Mary, our Blessed Mother, for everyone.
If we speak honestly to others from our heart, if we offer love with genuine affection in every situation, if we bring peace wherever we can. If we do these things, Jesus will do the rest! He will make Our Lady’s wish a reality through each one of us.
So, let us make that our prayer today, and every day. Holy Mary, Queen of the Angels and Mother of the Church, pray for us!
