On the eve of the Nov. 12 U.S. Supreme Court hearing on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, local Catholics gathered in prayer and solidarity with immigrants at a rosary and Mass at St. Charles Borromeo Parish in North Hollywood Nov. 11.
The following message from Archbishop José H. Gomez, who is currently attending the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Fall Assembly in Baltimore, Maryland, was read at Monday night's vigil.
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
I am sorry that I cannot be with you tonight. As some of you may know, I am in Baltimore this week for the annual meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic bishops.
Please know that I am close to all of you tonight in your prayer.
It is long past time for our leaders to do the right thing and welcome the Dreamers, helping them to make their own contribution to the American dream.
In this great country, we should not have our young people living under the threat of deportation, their lives dependent on the outcome of a court case.
So, we pray tonight that our President and Congress will come together, set aside their differences, and provide our young brothers and sisters with a path to legalization and citizenship.
But tonight is not about politics, it is about prayer. And prayer is so much more powerful than politics.
We stand in the presence of our Heavenly Father tonight as one family of God. As St. Paul said, when one member of our family is suffering, we all suffer together.
So, let us continue to stand together as one family, in solidarity and compassion — to defend the rights and dignity of our brothers and sisters, who are children of God.
To those of you who are undocumented — please know that your family, the Church, will never abandon you. Stay close to Jesus and stay close to the Church.
Brothers and sisters, let us entrust all of our cares and anxieties to Our Lady of Guadalupe, our Mother. May she keep us always in the mantle of her loving care.
And may she intercede to guide our leaders — that they might grow in wisdom and mercy, and they might have a heart to feel the pain of those who are suffering.
