I hope this has been a beautiful summer for you, that you were able to spend some time resting and relaxing with your families; hopefully you also found a little more time for yourselves for prayer, reflection, and recreation.
My summer has been busier than in years past, but it has been renewing and refreshing. Especially during summer, I like to do a little more spiritual reading and reflecting on the Gospels, and I have been able to do that. As many of you did, I also enjoyed watching the World Cup games this summer.
We all need these summer months to step back from the demands and worries of the moment and to make time to treasure the gifts in our lives, especially our families and our faith.
So I pray that all of us begin our return from these summer days rested in body and soul and renewed in our commitments to live our faith and share our faith.
As we turn the page on the calendar, August begins a busy month in the life of our local Church.
On the evening of Saturday, Aug. 1, I’ll be taking part in our annual Eucharistic Procession on Skid Row, which begins at St. Francis Xavier Chapel at 7 p.m.
Eucharistic processions are among the most powerful public witnesses of our Catholic faith in Jesus and our desire to bring the Good News of his love to our neighbors.
These processions demonstrate that Jesus is not far off in heaven, or confined to the tabernacles in our churches, but is alive and present and active in our lives, walking with us in our streets and in all the pathways of our daily lives.
In this particular procession, we bring Jesus to men and women and children living in the poorest neighborhoods in America, and we commit to giving ourselves in love and service to these brothers and sisters, as Jesus gave himself to us as the gift of bread broken to feed our hunger and need.
Also, this weekend marks the beginning of the four-month pilgrimage of the images of Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. Juan Diego.
I love this pilgrimage tradition, which brings out the most beautiful expressions of our popular devotion to Our Lady, with cultural celebrations, including music and dance, special Eucharist celebrations, and more.
This year’s pilgrimage will begin with Mass on Aug. 1 at St. Marcellinus Church in Commerce and will include a candlelight-procession with the pilgrim images.
Over these next four months, the images will visit more than 70 parishes, schools, and cemeteries throughout the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
The pilgrim image of the Virgin of Guadalupe is special, it is a digital reproduction of the original image that hangs in the basilica, and was blessed and touched to the original image.
It is our 16th year hosting these pilgrimages, which will lead to our 95th annual procession and Mass in honor of Our Lady and St. Juan Diego on Dec. 6 in East Los Angeles.
Please keep this pilgrimage in your prayers and make time to venerate these images in a parish near you. There is more information at lacatholics.org/guadalupe/.
Later this month, I will be kicking off the start of the new school year for our seminarians studying at St. John Seminary and the students at Queen of Angels Center for Priestly Formation.
This year I am delighted to report that we have 59 seminarians at St. John’s from the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, and 16 men studying at Queen of Angels. Let’s pray for these men and let’s keep praying for more and many more vocations to the priesthood and the religious life.
We also look forward to our Catholic schools opening up again for another school year, and our parish religious programs. Once again this year, we will be educating and forming in the faith tens of thousands of young people, so let’s keep them in our prayers, too.
I will celebrate an All-School Mass at Cantwell-Sacred Heart High School in Montebello on Aug. 5.
That Mass will include a special commissioning and blessing of our new Catholic school principals in the archdiocese.
So, we pray also for our teachers and principals who are entrusted with forming our young people to be disciples who will use their gifts and talents to make a difference for Jesus in our world.
As we wind down these last days of summer, my prayer for you and your families is that you will keep growing in your faith and friendship with Jesus and your desire to spread that faith and friendship.
Pray for me and I will pray for you. And let’s thank God for all his blessings in our lives and in the life of this great archdiocese.
Let us ask Our Lady, Queen of the Angels, to always help us to continue walking in friendship with her Son.
