Installation of Father Ian-Vincent Hagan as Pastor of St. Julie Biliart

Most Reverend José H. Gomez
Archbishop of Los Angeles

St. Julie Billiart
Newbury Park, California
December 18, 2022

My brothers and sisters,¹

I’m very happy to be with all of you this morning for the installation of your new pastor, Father Ian-Vincent Hagan.

So we ask the Holy Spirit of God today to enlighten Father Ian-Vincent and to strengthen his heart and inspire his will to proclaim the Gospel and lead souls to Jesus Christ.

We especially ask the intercession today of your parish patron, St. Julie Billiart. As we know, St. Julie overcame tremendous personal hardships and became a great teacher and a courageous figure in the time of the French Revolution.

So we pray today that she will inspire Father Ian to seek holiness and the glory of God, just as she did.

St. Julie used to say all the time: “Oh how good is the good God!”

And I was thinking that is a beautiful meaning of this holy season of Advent — the goodness of God, who appears to us in his kindness and generous love, who comes to be “God with us,” as we hear in our Gospel today.

So my dear brothers and sisters, the more that we reflect on the Scriptures, the more deeply we enter into the mystery of God’s plan of love.

Jesus fulfills this plan, as we heard in the prophecy of Isaiah in today’s first reading: “Therefore, the Lord himself will give you this sign: The virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel!”

So Emmanuel. And, of course, as we know, this name means, “God is with us.”

This is, my dear brothers and sisters, God’s plan for the world. And this is also, as we know, the meaning of Christmas.

Jesus comes down from heaven to share in our humanity and to make it possible for us to share in his divinity. Jesus comes to show us how our ordinary lives — everyday lives — can become a pathway to God.

And in the Gospel today, we are presented with the example of St. Joseph. The Gospel tells us that he was “a righteous man.”

That means that he was a person who loved God, and who tried to serve God’s divine will in everything that he did in his life.

And this is, really when we think about it, this is the model for how we should live. And when we think about it, the first thing that comes to mind is just the fact that St. Joseph was an ordinary man.
 
He was known as the carpenter, as Mary’s husband. When Jesus started his ministry, people referred to him as we know, as the carpenter’s son.

St. Joseph’s whole life was made up of ordinary little everyday things. Working, making a living. Raising Jesus, taking care of his family. Praying. Being a good friend and a good neighbor.

Sounds a lot like our own lives, isn’t it? And that’s exactly the point, my dear brothers and sisters. St. Joseph shows us the way for our own lives.

St. Paul tells us today in that second reading that we are “called to belong to Jesus Christ,” and “called to be holy.”

All of us in the Church are called to this holiness, each one of us in our own way.

No matter who you are, no matter what your condition in life is. Each one of us — you and I are all called to walk in the footprints of Jesus, and to seek the Father’s will in everything that we do, as St. Joseph shows us.

Joseph served God’s plan by simply carrying out his daily responsibilities — and doing everything for the love of God and to serve the people in his life.

So this is the beautiful path that is open to us. We do our part for God’s kingdom, exactly where we are — in our homes and families, in our neighborhoods, churches, and schools. And the kingdom grows through the little things in our daily lives, through little acts of love and gentleness. Through our kindness and compassion, through the sacrifices we make to love one another.

It is a beautiful, beautiful call for our own personally lives. And I think as we come closer to Christmas, it is a beautiful moment to reflect on that.

So it’s very interesting that St. Joseph never speaks in the Gospels. Not a single word. We only see him praying to know God’s will and listening for God’s voice.

As we heard in today’s Gospel: “When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him.”

Again, this is a beautiful lesson for all of us — for you and me. Listening to God, paying attention to exactly what God is asking us to do and then doing it.

So, as we get ready to celebrate the coming of Jesus one week from today, let us especially ask St. Joseph to give us that grace to be “righteous men” and “righteous women,” to seek God’s will in everything we do.

As St. Joseph lived to serve Jesus, let us live that way, too. As St. Joseph loved Mary above all else, let us love Mary Our Blessed Mother, too.

And let us ask her, Mary Our Blessed Mother for her intercession. May she help us to open our hearts so we can really be ready for Christmas, really be ready to receive Jesus.

So I hope that, especially during this coming week, that we continue to open our hearts to the presence of Jesus in our lives. That’s the best way, counting on the intercession of Mary Our Blessed Mother and St. Joseph to celebrate Christmas.

I hope that you all have a wonderful and blessed Christmas.