Religious Education Congress Closing Mass 2021

Most Reverend José H. Gomez 
Archbishop of Los Angeles 

(Pre-Recorded)
February 21, 2021

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,¹

We have come to the conclusion of this historic Congress, in this extraordinary time in our world.

And I hope that this has been a time of spiritual growth for all of you, a time for reflecting on our mission and calling in the Church, which is to proclaim the beautiful promises of God. 

And what a blessing, what a privilege to have our Holy Father Pope Francis speak to us! Let’s pray for him in a special way today and give thanks to God for his inspiring words about his ministry in the Church.

So now in this closing Eucharist, we gather all our inspirations and resolutions from this week and bring them to God’s altar. 

Also, as we know, this week we entered into the holy season of Lent. And our first reading takes us back to the very beginnings of the family of God. 

As we hear this reading, it’s important for us to remember that this is our family. You and I, we can trace our faith-lines back to Noah and his family. The Church has her beginnings in that ancient ark.

That great flood that happened so many centuries ago had a divine “meaning” that nobody at the time could see. Not even Noah and his family could understand what God was doing. To them it looked like a total disaster. The whole world was devastated.

My brothers and sisters, we have to remember that we are teachers in the Church. It is our job to keep these stories alive in the hearts of our people. And it’s our job to draw out from these stories their meaning for the Church in this moment. 

And of course, in the past year our world has been devastated, our people have been broken and brought low — emotionally, spiritually, economically — by the coronavirus pandemic. 

As teachers in the Church, our duty in this moment is to proclaim the truth of the Bible — God’s promise, his providence, his great plan of love. 

From the first page to the last, the Bible reveals that God’s plan for creation is a plan of love, that God is working out his purposes in history and in the soul of every person. 

As we heard in the first reading, God made a covenant with Noah and with “every living creature” and with all “the earth.” God’s covenant is a promise of love. And God’s covenant, as we heard, is forever, “for all ages to come.”  

So God has made a covenant with each one of us in the Church. Baptism is God’s personal covenant with each of us. And his promise of love — to me, to you, to everyone who has been baptized — this promise of love is forever.

Our people need to hear this beautiful truth. We are the ones who must proclaim it to them. 

Don’t forget what Pope Francis told us in his special message just for this Congress, he said to us: “We need to proclaim and remember that we have God’s promise — and that God always keeps his promises!”

In our Gospel today, Jesus comes proclaiming God’s promise of salvation. As we heard, he said: “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the Gospel!” 

My brothers and sisters, we are still living in this “time of fulfillment.” We are living in the great stream of salvation history, this plan of love that stretches back to the Bible’s first pages. 

Do you know that one of the most popular “podcasts” in this country — not just Catholic podcasts, but all podcasts — is called “The Bible in a Year”? It’s just a Catholic priest walking people through the Bible, telling the story of salvation history in 365 episodes.²

Now why you think that is so popular? In my opinion, it’s because people are hungry for the truth. With all the disruption, all the unrest and uncertainty in the world and in our lives, people are looking for a true story, they’re looking for answers. They want to know God’s purposes, they want to know if there is a “plan” and how they “fit in.” 

So, that’s our mission, my dear brothers and sisters. We need to bring our people the truth about salvation history, the “true story” about God’s love and his plan for our lives. 

And in this challenging moment, I want to suggest that we look to St. Joseph and the Virgin Mary to help us in our mission. 

As we know, Pope Francis has declared this the Year of St. Joseph and also the Year of the Family. 

And when we reflect on Joseph and Mary, we see that answering God’s call it meant their whole lives were turned upside down. 

They experienced fear and anxiety, uncertainty and danger. Their Child was born in poverty and hardship. They faced political violence — King Herod tried to kill their newborn Son; and then, Mary was forced to watch her Son die on the Cross.

So how did they do it, what was their secret? 

The Scriptures tell us that Joseph and Mary prayed and listened for God’s voice, they opened their hearts to God’s word. They tried in everything — to know God’s will and to do it.  

Joseph is silent in the Gospels, not a single word of his survives. 

We hear only of his deeds: “Joseph … did as the angel of the Lord commanded him.” 

Not many of Mary’s words are handed down to us, either. But as we know, she said at the Annunciation: “Let it be done to me according to your word.³

My dear brothers and sisters, Mary and Joseph give us a beautiful example for our ministries in this moment.  

They trusted in God’s promise of love, they trusted in his plan for their lives. They accepted the hard realities in their lives with the obedience of faith. They trusted that in all things God works for the good of those who love him.⁴

So in this moment in the Church, this is what God is asking of all of us — as ministers, catechists, teachers. He is asking that same obedience of faith. He is asking us to seek God’s will and not our own. To do everything for the love of Jesus and the salvation of souls. 

Jesus Christ is still the Lord of history and he is still the Lord of every heart! 

So let us proclaim — with power and joy — the promise of his covenant, the promise of his compassion and love, which is for all ages!

I entrust you all and your families to the tender and Immaculate Heart of Mary, our Blessed Mother. May she help us always to know the love and mercy of her Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

1. Readings (First Sunday of Lent): Gen. 9:8-15; Ps. 25:4-9; 1 Pet. 3:18-22; Mark 1:12-15.

2.  https://angelusnews.com/arts-culture/catholic-bible-in-a-year-podcast-tops-the-charts/;  https://media.ascensionpress.com/category/ascension-podcasts/bibleinayear/.

3. Matt. 1:24; Luke 1:38.

4. Rom. 16:26.