Religious Education Congress Youth Day 2022

Most Reverend José H. Gomez
Archbishop of Los Angeles

Anaheim, California
March 17, 2022

My brothers and sisters in Christ,¹

As I was saying, it’s great to be with all of you for Youth Day 2022. And it is especially great, as I was saying, to be in person together. So good to be in the same place, sharing our faith together.

First of all, as we pray today, let us keep in our hearts, the people of Ukraine. There are so many families, so young people, right now, who are suffering in this terrible war. Let’s keep them close to our hearts. May God protect and strengthen all of them and deliver them from the evil of this war.

And as we all know, we are in the season of Lent. And Lent is this time that the Church gives us to think about our lives, to reflect on our journey with Jesus. So it is a time for asking ourselves this Lenten season: How are we doing? Are we living the way Jesus wants us to live? What are we doing well? What can we be doing better?

And today, to help us on these questions, Jesus tells us this dramatic story today about Lazarus and the rich man.

The rich man in the story has everything going on for him. He’s got fine clothes and his table is overflowing with good food and good things to drink. He lives in a big house.   

And then poor Lazarus, he has nothing. He is so poor, so hungry, he lives on the streets outside the rich man’s house. And all he wants is some scraps of food from the rich man’s table. But the rich man never gives him anything.

Then, they both die. The rich man goes to the netherworld, to hell, and Lazarus goes to heaven.

So I think Jesus today is challenging our expectations about what brings us true happiness, about what gives meaning to our lives.

And then in the first reading of today’s Mass, the prophet Jeremiah also has strong words, that we just heard today.

He tells us: “Cursed is the one who trusts in human beings, who seeks his strength in flesh, whose heart turns away from the Lord.”

And my dear brothers and sisters, that was the  rich man’s problem. He trusted in himself, in all the “stuff” that he had, his possessions, his power. And this attitude turned his heart away from God, and away from the people around him, specifically as we just heard today from Lazarus, the poor man.

That’s the issue. At the end of the day, what foundation do we build our lives on? Do we trust in God? Or are we just relying on our own strength, on the things we have, or in the things that we can buy?

The prophet tells us the truth, he says: “Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose hope is in the Lord.”

Blessed, as you probably know, is a word that means happy. So that’s the secret of life! If we want to be happy we want to live the way Jesus teaches us, to trust God!

And of course, that’s the theme for Youth Day this year — “Let God Take the Wheel!” I got it here, okay? And it’s green — St. Patrick’s Day!

So that’s the secret of life. If we want to be happy, we need to trust in God. We need to let God be in charge of our life.

And I was reflecting on how this is exactly how the saints lived!

This is how our Blessed Mother Mary lived. When the angel came to her, and asked her to change her whole life, to be the mother of Jesus, what did she say? “Let it be done to me, according to your word.”

So Mary let go of her will, to do God’s will. Mary said “yes” to God’s plan for her life. So this is the beautiful way that God is calling us to live.

So here is, in a simple way, what it is.

First of all, we need to remember that God loves each one of us personally. He loves you. He has a plan for your life. And he sent Jesus into the world to show you this plan, to show you and me — all of us — how to live.

Jesus came down from heaven — because he loves us. He loves you.

He shared in all our human experiences. Jesus knows what it means to be a child, to grow up in a family, that’s what he did, to get an education, to have a job. Jesus had friends and loved ones. He knew joy and disappointment, sorrow and pain. We see this all in the pages of the Gospels. So Jesus was just like us in every way, except in sin.

So don’t you think that we need to trust him? He knows the way!

So today, let us especially ask for the grace to let him show us the path. The beautiful way of finding happiness and love in our lives just like he did.

And then, in a practical way, that’s what I wanted to share with you today in a special way, is that this Lent, this time — today’s Youth Day — is a call that we all are receiving to get to know Jesus.

So it is a time to open our hearts and to renew our desire to know Jesus as a friend, as the friend who is walking with us — with each one of us in our journey through life.

So the first resolution should be is to remember that Jesus is here with us — really here with us. In your joys, in your sadness, when things are hard and challenging — and in the great times when you have happiness and joy.

So how can we be more aware of the presence of Jesus in our lives?

Two practical things that I want to recommend to you because they were really helpful when I was your age.

First, reading the Gospels. And then, the Eucharist — the Holy Mass.

So, you try to read a little passage of the Gospel every day. It takes five minutes and you have it in your iPhone for sure. You can get it. If you don’t know how to — I can give you some advice on that. Cause I have it.

Just a couple of minutes every day, reading a passage of the Gospel so we get to know the life of Jesus better and we see — when we mediate on that — hey, I can do much better. And we feel the presence of Jesus every single moment of our lives.

Then the second thing is make sure that you go to Mass every Sunday and receive Holy Communion. And if you can, try to do it during the week too.

And I started for different reasons in my life, in my family — I decided to try to go to daily Mass because I saw my dad going to daily Mass, which was a surprise for me. That changed my life.

Because in going to Mass, reading the Gospel — then we understand that Jesus is the one who wants to meet us personally in the reality of our daily lives.

So I can assure you that you try to do these simple two things then you find Jesus more and more guiding your lives and he will become your best friend.

As you probably know, one of my favorite saints is José Sánchez del Río, “Joselito.” He was 13 years old and martyred during the persecution of the Church in Mexico.

And I was talking to some of you before today — earlier today — we have a beautiful chapel dedicated to him in our Cathedral. He used to say, José Sánchez del Río, “Joselito”: “Always follow the smallest wish of God.”²

So my dear brothers and sisters, this is the secret of life for all of us — to live as God wishes us to live.

So let us continue to reflect on the beautiful plan of God for our lives. And especially let us keep praying for peace in the world and for peace in our hearts.

And let’s ask Holy Mary Our Blessed Mother to help us to grow in our friendship with her Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ.