Mass for Rededication of the Altar at Our Lady of the Assumption 2022

Most Reverend José H. Gomez
Archbishop of Los Angeles

Our Lady of the Assumption
Ventura, California
September 3, 2022

My brothers and sisters in Christ,¹

I’m very happy to be with all of you today to rededicate the altar, and bless the baptismal font. It’s a day of great joy for all of you and I’m happy that we can do it this evening. It’s a little warm out there, isn’t it? The heat is not bad, beautiful — so I think it’s going to be a long, long homily so watch out. That’s not true, so don’t worry.

The altar and the baptismal font are the heart and soul of every church, because through these sacred channels, the mystery of God’s love is poured out for us.

In the font of baptism, we are made children of God; and on the altar, Jesus himself comes to nourish his children, the whole family of God, with his Body and Blood.

So, we praise God today and we thank him for his goodness and the beautiful gift of our Catholic faith.

And our readings this evening, take us deeper into the journey of discipleship.

In the first reading, from the Book of Wisdom, we learn — again — that we could not find that path, that road to happiness and heaven, without Jesus.

As we heard: “When things are in heaven, who can search them out? Or who ever knew your counsel, except you had given wisdom and sent your holy spirit from on high? And thus were the paths of those on earth made straight.”

It’s a beautiful passage from the Book of Wisdom! And it is true: We could not find our way to God, if he did not send his only begotten Son and his Holy Spirit. If he did not show us the way, there’s no way we could find it ourselves. Without him, we would be lost.

And then in our Gospel today, Jesus wants to take us by the hand, and lead us further down that path of discipleship.

We’re sure his words today in the Gospel are challenging:

“Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. Anyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple.”

Jesus is using very strong language in the entire passage. I think he really wants to grab our attention and to help us to think about what it means to be a Catholic, what it means to follow him.

Think about it: he’s telling us that we must live, as he lived. And we recall what we know about his own life.

So to follow Jesus means to try to imitate him, to try to live as he lived, to love as he loved. And that means we need to have only one priority, and that is to seek the will of God.

So my brothers and sisters, our lives are not our own; our lives don’t belong to us. We have been bought with a price. When Jesus asks us to carry our own cross, he is reminding us of his cross.

He carried his own cross for you and for me. Jesus suffered and died, so that we might find the path of life. And he showed us, by carrying his cross, what it means to live and to love. The cross is what life and love looks like. It’s so profound, so amazing — the extraordinary love of Jesus for each one of us!

Just think about it for a moment.

And now, he calls us to love as he loved. He calls us to carry our own cross — for him, and for others.

Following Jesus, carrying our own cross, means living for God and our neighbors; it means making a decision to not live for ourselves; it means giving up all our concerns for our own comforts, our own self-interest.

And that helps us understand — and I think that’s the point that Jesus especially wants to make — helps us to understand that we all are brothers and sisters in Christ.

But also, my dear brothers and sisters, that love means to change society, to break down the walls, to overturn every injustice. The love that Jesus commands, the carrying of our cross, means working for a world in which we regard all men and women as our beloved brothers and sisters in the Lord.

It sounds very challenging but it’s beautiful when we really think that what we are doing is following the beautiful example of our Lord Jesus Christ.

So as we consecrate this altar today, let us dedicate ourselves once more to the Eucharist and to being followers of Jesus Christ, true apostles. We need to the sacrifice that he suffered on this altar, we need to make the Eucharist, the center and root of our lives.

We need to make everything we do an act of worship, an extension of the Mass. So the Mass is not just something we attend Sundays or once in a while — it should be the center and root of our Christian lives.

So this altar is more than just a table at the front of the Church. On this altar, every day, Jesus will come to renew his divine sacrifice — the same sacrifice he made on the altar of his Cross on Calvary.

So with the eyes of faith, we have to remember that every time the Eucharist is celebrated on this altar, the sacrifice of our redemption is carried out again. Jesus is offering himself again for you and for me. It’s beautiful.

That’s why the altar is so beautiful because it reminds us of the love of Jesus for each one of us.

So, today let us thank God for his love and for his presence in our lives, and for the renovation of the baptismal font and of the altar. And ask for the grace to be generous in our commitment to be faithful and become missionary disciples.

Let us ask our Blessed Mother Mary, Our Lady of the Assumption, to help us. May she help us to take up our own cross and to follow her Son, our Lord Jesus Christ and to be his faithful disciples.