Archbishop Gomez called for peace & unity today at Mass celebrated at Cathedral

Archbishop José H. Gomez celebrated Mass today at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in downtown Los Angeles calling for our communities in the Archdiocese to unite in prayer during this time of unrest. Over 200 faithful attended the noon Mass which was also livestreamed at https://lacatholics.org/praying-together/.

“Today we are united with parishes throughout the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in praying for peace in our streets and in our city,” said Archbishop Gomez in the homily. “We are facing a challenging moment in our city and many of our neighbors are frightened. There is too much tension, too much uncertainty and violence. So, we bring our cares and anxieties to Jesus today, and to his Mother, Our Lady of the Angels.

“We pray for our neighbors who are hurting, good-hardworking men and women, people of faith. We pray for the police and for all those who put their lives on the line to keep our communities safe. And we pray for civic leaders.”

Archbishop Gomez called on the faithful to follow the example of St. Barnabas, and early Church missionary. “My dear brothers and sisters, this is who we want to be, as Catholics, especially in this moment. We want to be good people; loving and understanding; men and women of faith and virtue. Like St. Barnabas, we want to go out and console our neighbors and strengthen their hearts and encourage them to keep the faith. Through our love and compassion, we want to let them know: Jesus is with them. Always.”

Archbishop Gomez called for a day of prayer for peace and unity in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles on June 11, 2025. Parishes across the Archdiocese were also invited to commit to prayer in the days ahead for peace, unity and healing. Parishes were given special prayers of intention and asked to observe the call through the celebration of daily Mass as well as other prayerful observances such as family rosary, Liturgy of the Hours, Divine Mercy Chaplet, Eucharistic Adoration, Litany of Trust, the reading of Sacred Scripture, fasting, Works of Mercy, Sacred Heart Novena as reported in Angelus News.

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The full homily follows below.

Homily — Mass for Peace and Unity^[1]

 Most Reverend José H. Gomez

Archbishop of Los Angeles

Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels

June 11, 2025

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAmd8l-eBME

My brothers and sisters in Christ,

Today we are united with parishes throughout the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in praying for peace in our streets and in our city.

We are facing a challenging moment in our city and many of our neighbors are frightened. There is too much tension, too much uncertainty and violence.

So, we bring our cares and anxieties to Jesus today, and to his Mother, Our Lady of the Angels.

We pray for our neighbors who are hurting, good-hardworking men and women, people of faith. We pray for the police and for all those who put their lives on the line to keep our communities safe. And we pray for our civic leaders.

In the Word of God today, the Church remembers St. Barnabas, who was an important missionary in the early Church, working alongside the apostles and St. Paul.

The name Barnabas, you may know, means “son of encouragement” or “son of consolation.”^[2] That’s a beautiful way to understand our mission as Catholics, as followers of Jesus. Especially in this challenging moment.

We heard in that first reading how St. Barnabas and St. Paul helped many people to turn to the Lord and follow him.

We heard that beautiful line about St. Barnabas: “He rejoiced and encouraged them all to remain faithful to the Lord in firmness of heart, for he was a good man, filled with the Holy Spirit and faith.”

My dear brothers and sisters, this is who we want to be, as Catholics, especially in this moment. We want to be good people; loving and understanding; men and women of faith and virtue.

Like St. Barnabas, we want to go out and console our neighbors and strengthen their hearts and encourage them to keep the faith. Through our love and compassion, we want to let them know: Jesus is with them. Always.

Then Jesus tells us today in the Gospel that God is in charge of this world.

Jesus says today: “Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place.”

God, again as we know, has a plan for his creation, a dream of love for the whole human race. And that plan will be fulfilled. That plan is being fulfilled, even in this moment.

Jesus loves us so much that he gave his life for us. Not just for some of us. But every man and woman who was ever born or ever will be born. No matter what countries we come from, or the language that we speak.

And Jesus gave his Church the work of continuing his mission: of proclaiming God’s love and gathering all the world’s peoples into one family.

That’s what “Catholic” means. It means universal, international, worldwide. It means no one is left behind or left out. It means all of us are children of God, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters of our Father in heaven.

This is the beautiful vision of the Gospel!

Today we ask St. Barnabas and all those first disciples and missionaries to pray for us and help us to renew our faith in this beautiful vision.

Those first generations of disciples were willing to sacrifice everything for that vision. We pray for that strength, too.

So, let’s keep living the Gospel and proclaiming it with confidence and joy, and with love and peace in our hearts.

Jesus tells us today: keep the faith, keep obeying and teaching his commandments. Do this and you “will be called greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.”

That’s a promise that Jesus will keep.

So today we especially ask Mother Mary, Our Lady of the Angels, to pray for all of her children in this city that was named for her glory. Amen.