Calvary Cemetery
Los Angeles, California
November 2, 2020
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,1
This year, as we know, we celebrate this beautiful feast of hope in a time of heavy sorrow. And tonight we remember all those whose lives have been lost in these long, dark months of the coronavirus pandemic.
We pray for their souls, that God may grant them rest and let his light shine upon them. We pray tonight for their families and loved ones. May God comfort them and grant them peace.
Seguimos viviendo, bajo la sombra de la pandemia del coronavirus.
Y esta noche recordamos a todos aquellos cuyas vidas se han perdido durante estos largos y sombríos meses.
Oramos por sus almas, para que Dios les conceda el descanso eterno y para que luzca para ellos su luz perpetua. Oramos esta noche por sus familias y seres queridos, para que Dios los consuele y les conceda la paz.
But tonight, my dear brothers and sisters, even in all this sadness and distress — we know that our Redeemer lives!2
Our Lord tells us tonight in the Gospel:
I am the resurrection and the life;
whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live,
and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.
He is the Author of Life, not of death. Our is not God of the dead, but of the living! In the beginning, he created us for life and life abundant!3
Jesus Christ offered up his life on the cross for you and me and for every person.
Esta noche, San Pablo dice en la segunda lectura: “Sabemos que Cristo, una vez resucitado de entre los muertos, ya no morirá nunca. La muerte ya no tiene dominio sobre él”.
Y como Jesús murió y resucitó mis queridos hermanos y hermanas, ¡nuestros cuerpos no se quedarán en el sepulcro! Ésta es nuestra esperanza. Y nuestra esperanza nunca nos defraudará. ¡Su amor es más fuerte que la muerte!4
And in this moment, I think that the Church has a special duty to bear witness to this hope that has been entrusted to us.
Right now, in this time of sorrow, in this time when people are fearful and when many people are in the grips of despair, we need to reach out, we need to speak to their sorrow.
En este tiempo de oscuridad, ¡necesitamos traer la luz! En este tiempo de muerte y de aflicción la Iglesia está llamada a anunciar la vida y la alegría eternas, porque sabemos, queridos hermanos y hermanas, ¡que nuestro Redentor vive! Es necesario que le llevemos esta buena noticia a todos en nuestro mundo.
Let us walk with confidence in this promise, with joy! Our eyes fixed on Jesus, on heaven. And let us invite our brothers and sisters to walk with us. That they might know the love of Jesus, who gave his life that we might live!5
And let us ask Mary our Blessed Mother to keep us close in her Immaculate Heart. May she pray for us “now, and at the hour of our death.” And may she lead us to know Jesus and the joy of his Resurrection!
Le pedimos a María, nuestra Madre Santísima, que ella nos guarde en su Corazón Inmaculado. Que nos acerque a Jesus y a la alegría de su resurrección y que ore por nosotros “ahora y en la hora de nuestra muerte”.
1. Readings: Isa. 25:6a, 7-9; Ps. 63; Rom. 6:3-9; John 11:17-27.
2. Job 19:25.
3. Matt. 22:32; Acts 3:15; John 10:10.
4. Rom 5, 5; Cant 8, 6; 1 Cor 15, 26.
5. Gal. 2:20.