On Feb. 4, Archbishop Gomez celebrated a Mass and led a holy hour for peace at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. The events were held in response to a call from the U.S. bishops for prayer in the wake of tensions and violence related to federal immigration enforcement actions. The following is adapted from the archbishop’s homily.
We join our prayers with those of our Catholic brothers and sisters all across our country. We pray for peace. Peace in our streets and neighborhoods, and also peace in our hearts.
We pray for government leaders, law enforcement officers, and for those protesting and defending the immigrant families caught up in this struggle — here in Los Angeles, in Minneapolis, and in so many other cities.
We ask the Lord to take away the spirit of confrontation and give us a spirit of cooperation. We ask Jesus to open every hardened heart and awaken again the conscience of America.
In the Gospel passage that we just heard, Jesus comes back to his homeland, but he finds that his countrymen have closed their hearts to his mighty deeds and message of love. Jesus is saddened by this. As we heard: “He was amazed at their lack of faith.”
This passage of the Gospel makes me reflect on what’s going on in our country. We’re in a moment when it seems like many have lost faith in America’s promise and her founders’ vision.
And it is sad that this is happening this year, when we are celebrating our nation’s 250th anniversary. This should be a time for renewal, not a time of retreat.
America’s founders dreamed that this would be a land where men and women from every race and faith, from every national background, could live with dignity.
As Americans, as Christians, we have to speak out for the dignity of the human person.
Every crisis is a crisis of saints. So now is the hour for our Christian witness. It is our duty as followers of Jesus to help America recover her soul.
Jesus calls his followers to be people who heal, make peace, and bear witness to his love.
Jesus calls us to love our enemies and to pray for those who oppose us. Practically speaking, that means we need to treat others with dignity and respect, even if we don’t share their point of view, even if they have a different vision for our country.
So, we pray today for the strength to be more disciplined in our words, more restrained in our actions. We pray for the grace to see the humanity of those around us, especially those who oppose us.
We all share this beautiful vision — the vision of God, the vision of Jesus, the vision of America’s founders. This beautiful vision of every man and every woman as a child of God, made in God’s image, with a sanctity and dignity that must be cherished and fostered.
And the most beautiful witness we offer is our solidarity with those who are suffering. So, let’s keep close to our immigrant brothers and sisters. Let them know that nothing can ever separate them from the love of God!
In this time and this moment we are also called to help our country to recover her national story of liberty and equality under God.
We need to help our neighbors to see the beautiful vision that we see. We need to find new ways to summon the best of the American character, “the better angels of our nature,” as someone once said.
We are in a difficult moment, a challenging moment, a time of division and even violence. But our country has faced hard times before and overcame them.
So it is, again, a moment to especially pray for our country. To pray that we open our hearts to the beautiful reality of so many of our brothers and sisters who are here just to make a difference in our country.
So let’s pray seriously about a spirit of nonviolence and a renewal of commitment to America’s founding principles.
Let us open our hearts to the grace of God. Let us especially ask God to bring peace to our country at this time.
And let us meet the challenges we face with prayer and moral seriousness, with the spirit of nonviolence, and with a commitment to America’s founding principles.
We ask Mary our Immaculate Mother, patroness of America, to pray for us. May she help us to seek justice, love mercy, peace, and may she help us to walk together humbly with her Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ.
