City of Saints 2023

Most Reverend José H. Gomez
Archbishop of Los Angeles

University of California at Los Angeles
August 5, 2023

My brothers and sisters in Christ,¹

First of all, I want to say with St. Peter, from the Gospel that we just heard: “Lord, it is good that we are here!”

I hope that you are having a great time at City of Saints.

So it has been wonderful to be with all of you this weekend to pray and worship and celebrate our Catholic faith.

As I was saying before, it’s a moment of grace for all of us.

And St. Peter and the other apostles were happy because they were with Jesus. My brothers and sisters, as we know, Jesus is the reason we are here — this weekend, here on this earth. Jesus is the reason for the universe, he is the Lord over all creation.

That is what we hear in the first reading of Mass this evening:

One like the Son of man coming,
on clouds of heaven; …
received dominion, glory and kingship.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion.

So I think the first thing that we have to do, as we reflect on the great time that we are having, is to say: Thank you, Jesus! Thank you for every gift, especially the gift of our lives and the gift of faith!

So as I was saying, tonight we are celebrating one of the Church’s great feasts — the Transfiguration of the Lord.

The Transfiguration is the moment when Jesus discovered to the apostles and to all of us his divinity. As we just heard:

Jesus took Peter, James and his brother John
and led them up a high mountain by themselves.
And he was transformed before them;
his face shone like the sun
and his clothes became white as light.

So we see the face of Jesus “shining like the sun.” His clothes turned into a dazzling “white light.” The prophets Moses and Elijah appear out of nowhere. And we hear the voice of God,  speaking from out of a cloud that covers the whole sky.

So in the Transfiguration, Jesus is showing the apostles and all of us a vision of the glory of heaven to encourage us to stay true to our faith, even in hard times.

St. Peter says in today’s second reading: “We had been eyewitnesses of his majesty.”

So this beautiful celebration, the Transfiguration, shows us that destination of our journey. It gives us a foretaste of the Kingdom of heaven.

Sometimes we ask ourselves, where are we going? At the end of our lives, we are going, by the grace of God, to the Kingdom of heaven.

So the Transfiguration reveals that you were made for glory, for the Kingdom of heaven and the resurrection of the body. You were made to be “transfigured.”

This, my dear brothers and sisters, is the truth of who we are, and about how we are made, and about why we are made.

And as we know, and we have been reflecting on this weekend, there are a lot of opinions and ideas out there in our society about these questions.

But as we heard in our Gospel: “When the disciples raised their eyes, they saw no one else but Jesus alone.”

No one else but Jesus alone can tell us the truth about our lives. No one else but Jesus alone can show us the way to happiness and the way to heaven.

The reality is, my dear brothers and sisters, is that our transfiguration begins here and now.

St. Paul used to say, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” That’s our goal, to be transformed in his image, to become more and more like Jesus.²

The question for all of us and for everybody is: How do we do that? In the Gospel, we heard God’s voice saying: “This is my chosen Son, listen to him.”

That’s the answer! We become more like Jesus by listening to him, and following his way for our life.

So in a practical way what that means is, my dear brothers and sisters, that we have to make time every day to read the Gospels. To listen to Jesus' words, reflect on his example. St. John Paul II used to say, “The life of Christ speaks, also.”³

And that’s true. Jesus calls us to love others as he loves us, and to treat others as we want to be treated. And we can learn so much by knowing his life and his example in the pages of the Gospels.

So that’s a good, simple, practical resolution that we can make. Reading a little bit of the Gospels as often as we can, and especially on Sundays when we go to Mass. Listening and even reading that passage of the Gospel can help us to really grow in the knowledge and imitation of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

And then, the Eucharist. Just as Jesus changes the bread and wine into his Body and Blood in the Eucharist, through the Eucharist he wants to change us into himself.

As Pope Francis said just a few days ago: “The Eucharist is the presence of Jesus. It is deeply transforming. Jesus comes and it must transform you. If you are the same at the end of the Mass as you were at the beginning,” Pope Francis said, “something is wrong.”

So my dear brothers and sisters, you are made for the glory of heaven, a glory that begins here on earth.

Jesus made you out of love, and died for you out of love. And now Jesus wants to walk with you, to be your friend — to be your best friend — your companion, in the journey of your life.

And he tells you today in the Gospel: “Rise, and do not be afraid!” Listen to him. Never be afraid to follow Jesus! Wherever he calls you! Never be afraid to give your life to him. He will lead you to happiness and to heaven.

Isn’t that what we all want? Happiness and heaven.

So today, let us especially reflect on the beauty of our vocation to be faithful disciples of Our Lord Jesus Christ and knowing that he is our best friend that is walking with us every single day.

So finally, let us turn tonight to Holy Mary, our Blessed Mother. May she help us to listen to her Son and to become more and more transfigured in his image and likeness. And may she help us to transform our world into a City of Saints!

1. Readings (Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord): Dan. 7:9–10, 13–14; Ps. 97:1–2, 5–6, 9; 2 Pet. 1:16–19; Matt. 17:1–9.