Archbishop José Gomez: What is Lent?

Archbishop Gomez: Family is the first seminary

The following comes from the CNA:

Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles said this week that Catholics need to encourage vocations to the priesthood especially in their home life.

“In this Year of Faith, we need to refocus ourselves, especially in our families, on helping men to hear this beautiful and noble calling from Jesus...the family is always the 'first seminary,'” he wrote in his Nov. 16 column for The Tidings.

The archbishop's reflections were marked by the U.S. bishops' annual fall assembly last week and by his own pastoral letter of last month, “Witness to the New World of Faith.”

Since the family is the “domestic Church,” Archbishop Gomez said that is where children first learn about the Holy Family and Christ's commandment of love. Children learn from their parents the habit of going to Mass and confession regularly.

“Ordinary family life teaches them that their faith should make a difference in how they live.”

Archbishop Gomez encouraged his parishioners to use daily family prayer to pray for priests and seminarians, thus teaching their children the beauty and value of the ordained priesthood.

He also called for practical measures of appreciation for priests, suggesting inviting priests over to spend time with one's family and thanking them after Mass for the gift of the Eucharist.

In turn, he urged priests to be good examples who will encourage young men to follow in their footsteps.

“The greatest thing a priest can do is to simply live his vocation with enthusiasm. The example of happy priests, who have strong friendships with their brother priests and good relationships with their parishioners – this is immensely inspiring and attractive.”

Archbishop Gomez also reflected on the noise of modern culture, which he said can keep young people from hearing God's call to a religious or priestly vocation.

“We need to help our children develop habits of prayer and meditation. And this begins by simply getting them to be comfortable without distractions, so they can listen to the silent voice of God in their hearts.”

“So maybe in this Year of Faith, we can ask our children to make some time each day to turn off their smart phones and their electronic games and devices. To just be quiet with God.”

The archbishop concluded by promoting Eucharistic adoration and by looking forward to the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday.

“Through our Blessed Mother Mary, let’s remember to give thanks for our priests – who bring us the most beautiful thanksgiving of all, the holy Eucharist.”

Archbishop Gomez on 'For Greater Glory'

Archbishop Gomez of Los Angeles has written a nice review of the movie For Greater Glory.  The following comes from the Carmelite Sisters of Los Angeles:

The anti-Catholic persecutions in Mexico in the 1920s and 1930s are long forgotten, it seems.

The reality is hard to believe. Just a generation ago, not far from our borders, thousands of men, women and even children, were imprisoned, exiled, tortured and murdered. All for the "crime" of believing in Jesus Christ and wanting to live by their faith in him.

So I welcome the new film, "For Greater Glory." It tells the dramatic story of this unknown war against religion and our Church's heroic resistance. It's a strong film with a timely message. It reminds us that our religious liberties are won by blood and we can never take them for granted.

That such repression could happen in a nation so deeply Catholic as Mexico should make everybody stop and think. Mexico was the original cradle of Christianity in the New World. It was the missionary base from which most of North and South America, and parts of Asia, were first evangelized.

Yet following the revolution in 1917, the new atheist-socialist regime vowed to free the people from all "fanaticism and prejudices."

Churches, seminaries and convents were seized, desecrated and many were destroyed. Public displays of piety and devotion were outlawed. Catholic schools and newspapers were shut down; Catholic political parties and labor unions banned. Priests were tortured and killed, many of them shot while celebrating Mass.

The dictator, Plutarco Elías Calles, used to boast about the numbers of priests he had executed. His hatred of organized religion ran deep. He really believed his reign of terror could exterminate the Church and wipe the memory of Christ from Mexico within a single generation.

He was wrong. In the forge of his persecution, saints were made.

It became a time of international Catholic solidarity. American Catholics opened their doors to refugees fleeing the violence. My predecessor, Archbishop John Cantwell, welcomed many here to Los Angeles — including Venerable Maria Luisa Josefa de la Peña and Blessed María Inés Teresa Arias.

We need to ask for the strength to be Cristeros. By their dying, they show us what we should be living for.

Ordinary Catholics became Cristeros, courageous defenders of Jesus Christ. Many felt compelled to take up arms to defend their rights in what became known as the Cristeros War. Others chose nonviolent means to bear witness to Christ.

"I die, but God does not die," Blessed Anacleto González Flores said before his execution. His words were prophetic.

Martyrs are not defined by their dying but by what they choose to live for. And the Cristeros' blood became the seed for the Church of future generations in Mexico.

Today, we need to know their names and we need to know their stories.

We need to know about the beautiful young catechist, Venerable María de la Luz Camacho. When the army came to burn her church down, she stood in front of the door and blocked their way. They shot her dead. But the church was somehow spared.

We need to know about all the heroic priests who risked their lives to celebrate Mass and hear confessions. Growing up, we had prayer cards made from a grainy photograph of one of these priests, Blessed Miguel Pro. He is standing before a firing squad without a blindfold, his arms stretched wide like Jesus on the cross as he cries out his last words: ¡Viva Cristo Rey! ("Long live Christ the King!")

We need to learn from the examples of all the Cristeros who have been canonized and beatified by the Church. And today especially, we need to pray for their intercession.

As it always has been, today our Catholic religion is under attack in places all over the world. In Mexico and America, we don't face suffering and death for practicing our faith. But we do confront "softer" forms of secularist bullying. And our societies are growing more aggressively secularized.

Already, sadly, we've accepted the "rules" and restrictions of our secular society. We keep our faith to ourselves. We're cautious about "imposing" our beliefs on others — especially when it comes to politics. In recent months, our government has started demanding even more — trying to coerce our consciences, so that we deny our religious identity and values.

We need to ask for the strength to be Cristeros. By their dying, they show us what we should be living for.

So, let's make that our prayer this week. That like the Cristeros, we might be always ready to love and sacrifice to stand up for Jesus and his Church.

And may Our Lady of Guadalupe — Mother of Mexico and the Americas, and the bright star of the New Evangelization, pray for us.