More than a year since ICE raids overwhelmed immigrant communities last summer, hundreds gathered inside the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels on Sept. 20 for the annual Mass in Recognition of All Immigrants to pray for the undocumented families still feeling pain and uncertainty across Southern California and beyond.
Archbishop José H. Gomez welcomed immigrants and supporters from across the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, as well as those from the Dioceses of Orange, San Diego, and San Bernardino, to “celebrate the truth that we are a Church of immigrants, a family of families who have come here from almost every nation on earth,” he said.
“We pray that once again, America will see herself as a light of freedom for peoples of all nations, a home for all peoples, races, and languages,” Archbishop Gomez said in his homily. “And we pray for ourselves, that we commit ourselves to continue to be good neighbors, good parishioners, to continue working with gratitude for the common good of this country we have come to call our home.”
While immigration enforcement and deportations continue both locally and nationwide, Archbishop Gomez stressed that there were “words of hope” in Jesus’ address in the Gospel that “the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
“Jesus knows that sometimes when we look around us in the world, things don’t always look good, seem fair,” he said.
“We ask him to stay near to us in this time of fear and uncertainty. We ask him to change the hearts of our leaders, to give them compassion, new eyes to see the humanity of our brothers and sisters who are suffering under our broken immigration system.”
As part of the Mass, relics of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini and other immigration-related saints were displayed on the altar. Also displayed was a “Ribbons of Prayer” exhibit where visitors could write the name of a person affected by recent immigration enforcement on a ribbon and tie it to a stand. Prayers were offered during the Mass for each person on a ribbon.
As she approached the relics, Rosa Miriam Sánchez from St. Agatha Church in Mid-City had intentions to ask for. But the Mass itself, she said, was already something to be grateful for, leaving her with a sense of hope and reassurance.
“Being involved in something like this with the Church, and knowing that we have even stronger support from the cathedral … makes us realize how strongly we need to fight,” Sánchez said.
Guadalupe Alemán, who migrated to the United States from Mexico about 40 years ago, said her experiences shaped her commitment to support other immigrants.
“We have to understand that we are brothers and sisters in Christ, and when one of us hurts, we all hurt,” Alemán said.
Mayra Velarde, a parent leader at a school in the San Fernando Valley, said families remain afraid, but that there is hope in faith communities gathering and supporting one another.
“Sometimes staying isolated, alone in a house, without talking about what you’re feeling, makes things feel even harder,” Velarde said.
“Even though the problem doesn’t go away, you feel like it’s more manageable because you know you’re not alone.”
