Most Reverend José H. Gomez
Archbishop of Los Angeles
Queen of Angels Center for Priestly Formation
Torrance, California
August 28, 2023
My dear brothers in Christ,1
We begin this new academic year with joy and hope! And so we pray in this Holy Mass especially that this year will be a time of grace and growth for all of you.
And I was thinking that it is special that we are having his Mass on the Memorial of St. Augustine. As we know, he is one of the Church’s great teachers. A man of towering intellect, a great bishop, and a genius of spiritual life.
So we especially ask for his intercession for all of you.
Then in our Gospel today, as we heard, Jesus has sharp words for certain types of teachers: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You lock the Kingdom of Heaven before men. You do not enter yourselves, nor do you allow entrance to those trying to enter.”
But I think our Lord is challenging us today, all of us who have ministry in the Church. And my dear brothers, I think this Gospel speaks especially to you today in the context of your vocation and formation as future priests.
Because the priest, as you know, is a shepherd, a position that implies humility; the priest has the simple and humble purpose of guiding and protecting the flock entrusted to him by Jesus.
We are not leading others to follow us, or our ideas about God. We are leading them to know Jesus and to follow him. People should hear only his voice when we minister to them.
This is what it means to accompany people. And I think the most beautiful example always is our Lord walking with those disciples on the road to Emmaus. That is the model for every priest.
And this is also the model that Jesus gives us in our desire to be faithful disciples.
As we know, from our reflection on the Gospels, Jesus loves us for who we are. He never leaves us alone or leaves us where we are at.
Jesus is always calling us to go higher, to become the men and women that we are made to be, according to God’s beautiful plan for our lives.
It’s interesting because St. Paul talks about that in our first reading. In fact, this passage that we heard today is a beautiful example of priestly spirituality and pastoral care.
Paul talks as a shepherd as a priest. He prays for his people, he tells them how much God loves them, he reminds them how the Holy Spirit came into their lives with power and changed their lives.
St. Paul says: “You were chosen. You turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God and to await his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus, who delivers us from the coming wrath.”
So my dear brothers, this is the beautiful mission that you have — to call men and women from idols to serve the living and true God.
It’s a beautiful vocation. And this is, of course, what every human heart is longing for.
So I hope that you always remember the beautiful example of St. Augustine. As we know, in his earthly life, St. Augustine was looking for the truth about life. He was looking for God. He was looking for all the right things but then he went about looking in all the wrong places.
But as we also know, one day while he was reading the Scriptures, he heard God speaking to him. God touched his heart and he went on to become one of the most important saints in history.
And later, when he was writing his life story, as probably we know, St. Augustine gave us this beautiful little prayer. He wrote: “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.”2
So my dear brothers, let us ask St. Augustine to intercede for us as we begin this school year.
And let us ask our Blessed Mother Mary, to help us to lead every restless heart to find rest in the heart of her Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.
Again, you are in my prayers in a special way and I hope that this year will be a time where you grow in your own spiritual life — keeping in mind the beautiful example of St. Augustine, and making sure our mission is to bring people to Jesus.
1. Readings (Memorial of Saint Augustine, Bishop and Doctor of the Church): 1 Thess 1:1–5, 8–10; Ps. 149:1–6, 9; Matt. 23:13–22.