Catholic Cemeteries Staff Appreciation Mass 2023

Most Reverend José H. Gomez
Archbishop of Los Angeles

Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels
August 8, 2023

My brothers and sisters in Christ,¹

As I was saying, I’m very happy to be with all of you today for this special celebration of the Eucharist. We are here to thank you for your ministry at the Catholic Cemeteries of the Archdiocese.

I hope you always know how important your ministry is to the Church’s mission. You probably know, care for the dead is one of the Church’s ancient works of mercy and it is a beautiful reflection of our belief in the resurrection of the body.

So the first reading today tells us the story of Moses and his relationship with God. And we hear God himself speaking of Moses and his friendship. Moses, God tells us: “Throughout my house he bears my trust: face to face I speak to him; plainly and not in riddles. The presence of the Lord he beholds.”

So I was reflecting on how what God is saying about Moses, that beautiful relationship that he is talking about — I think it is the same relationship that we all can have with God. And this is the promise of Jesus Christ. In our prayer, in partaking of the Eucharist, we behold the presence of the Lord and we have friendship with him.

In our liturgy today, the Church remembers St. Dominic — as I was saying, we celebrate the Memorial of St. Dominic today, the founder of the Order of Preachers, the Dominicans. So, we pray for all our Dominican sisters and brothers today.

And the first followers of St. Dominic also spoke of his friendship with God.

In one of the writings of his early followers, we read about St. Dominic: “Wherever he went he showed himself in word and deed to be a man of the Gospel. .. He seldom spoke unless it was with God, that is, in prayer, or about God, and in this matter he instructed his brothers.”²

Again, a beautiful example of how our relationship with God should be. We are called to be men and women of the Gospels, to speak about God and to speak with God.

And then in the passage of the Gospel, it’s a beautiful story that we probably know well because it’s a beautiful moment of the relationship between Jesus and the apostles and his disciples.

And this passage of the Gospel, again, presents to us the reality that God is always with us. Jesus is always with us, ready to give us his hand to help us.

So they were on the boat, Jesus comes walking — the apostles are scared. They think that he’s a ghost or something.

And the only one that reacts immediately is St. Peter. He said: “Lord, if it is really you, let me walk out to you. Let me on the water, too.”

And Jesus says, “Come.”

So St. Peter is walking on the water. So then at some point he gets a little nervous about it, so he starts sinking. So he cries out: “Lord, save me!” And Jesus reached out his hand and caught him.

So I think it is, again, another beautiful example for all of us today. So if we have faith we have to have the courage to ask Jesus to allow us to be with him.

And we have to have the trust of knowing that Jesus is always listening to us and with his help we can really have peace and joy in our lives.

So, there are two beautiful lessons today. First, keep your eyes on Jesus. He will give you the strength and the courage you need.

And second, remember that Jesus will always hear us when we cry out to him. Even when our faith is weak in difficult times, the hand of Christ will be there to catch us. Let us never doubt in his mercy!

So, as we continue in our Eucharistic celebration, let us ask for the grace to worship Jesus Christ as the apostles did in that boat on that stormy night.

And let us go to our Blessed Mother.

Let us ask her to obtain for us the courage we need to trust Jesus completely — so that we can navigate on the stormy waters of our lives and our world, and lead our brothers and sisters to the shores of eternal life.