16th Annual Los Angeles Catholic Prayer Breakfast 2021

Most Reverend José H. Gomez
Archbishop of Los Angeles

Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels
September 21, 2021

My brothers and sisters in Christ, ¹

I’m very happy to be with all of you this morning and I am grateful to all of you for your faith and dedication, as we pray for our Church and our city.

As you know, we have begun a Jubilee Year in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles to mark the founding of Mission San Gabriel Arcángel by St. Junípero Serra and the Tongva people, 250 years ago, on September 8, 1771.

So, this morning we want to ask especially God to open our hearts to receive the graces and blessings that he wants to bestow upon us during this Jubilee.

And I was thinking that it is fitting that today we remember the calling of St. Matthew, because the story of St. Matthew is “our story,” it is the story of every Christian soul.

We notice in our Gospel passage, that Jesus finds St. Matthew while he is at work; he is sitting at the customs post, collecting the taxes. The Gospel tells us: “He said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he got up and followed him.”

Now, I think it is important for us to remember that in human terms, there was nothing exceptional about any of Our Lord’s first disciples. Matthew was a tax collector. Peter and Andrew were fishermen. The people in the crowds that followed him, were normal men and women with families, people who worked for a living.

And Jesus loves them all, and he comes to save them all. And Jesus tells us today: “I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.” My brothers and sisters, that means you, and that means me. He calls every one of us out of love.

And he says to each of us, just as he said to St. Matthew: “Follow me.”

And following him does not mean we need to leave everything behind, as St. Matthew or St. Junípero Serra and the missionaries did. Some of us are called in a special ways — to be priests, to be consecrated religious, to serve him in a missionary land.

But most of you are called to follow Jesus right where you are. In the practice of your professions, in your vocations as parents and spouses, in the ordinary duties you carry out in your families, and as citizens and neighbors. Wherever we are.

All of us share in the beautiful mission of the Church, the beautiful mission of proclaiming Jesus Christ, and his love and salvation, “to the ends of earth,” as we heard in today’s responsorial Psalm.

So, I think we need to reflect today that each one of us has a role that God wants us to play in the history of salvation. St. Paul says today: “But grace was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.”

Again, that means that Jesus is talking about each one of us. And gives each one of us gifts and talents, graces and opportunities, and he gives these gifts to us so that we will use them to bring others to know him and to love him.

So in carrying out our task as missionary disciples, that does not require that we give big sermons or make grand, heroic gestures. We follow Jesus in ordinary ways, through simple acts of faithfulness that we repeat over and over again in our daily life.

St. Paul talks today about living with humility and gentleness, with patience and love. That’s a good synthesis of what we are supposed to do! It’s a beautiful way to live. Not easy always, but always beautiful and rewarding — humility, gentleness, patience, and love.

So kindness is still the greatest sermon we can deliver. So my brothers and sisters, let us pray every day for the grace to treat the people in our lives with dignity and respect — always looking for ways to let them know that they are loved by our Lord Jesus Christ.

Finally, let us remember that following Jesus means that we are walking with Jesus. He is by our side and that means we are never alone, and we should never be doubtful or afraid.

And may our Blessed Mother Mary, the Queen of the Angels, help us to walk in the footsteps of her Son, and to love him and tell others about him. In our homes, in our parishes and ministries, in our schools, and in our society.

1. Readings (Feast of St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist): Eph. 4:1-7, 11-13; Ps. 19:2-5; Matt. 9:9-13.