Today Archbishop José H. Gomez provided a video message update to the people of faith in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles on the continued postponement of the celebration of public Mass and sacraments during the challenging times of the COVID-19 pandemic. The video is available in English at https://lacatholics.org/2020/05/23/covid-19-update/ and Spanish at https://lacatholics.org/2020/05/23/actualizacion-covid-19/.
“As we are saying every day, the buildings are closed but our parishes are open. We have the celebration of Mass for all of you through the internet in many parishes of the Archdiocese and we are trying to be present to all of you sacramentally in that virtual world in which we are able to celebrate Mass. We hope that that reality is going to change soon,” said Archbishop Gomez in the video message.
“I think it’s clear to all of us that it might be possible in the coming future to be able to open physically the churches and receive parishioners to come. It’s not going to be the same in the beginning because there is the reality of the social distance and also making sure that the churches are sanitized, and people are protected when they come to church,” said the Archbishop. “And I insist that that’s the most important thing — that we protect one another. We know that God is with us but at the same time we have to be careful and make sure that we protect each other in this challenging time.”
“So, let us keep praying. Let us keep working together. I really hopeful that things are going to change really soon. I need your support and your prayers because, obviously, we need to come to that moment where we can safely open our churches to continue the celebration of the Sacraments that are so essential for us,” concluded the Archbishop.
Archbishop Gomez also reflected on this same matter in his weekly column to the faithful available at https://angelusnews.com/voices/love-alone-casts-out-fear/ (in English) andhttps://angelusnews.com/archbishops-esp/solo-el-amor-echa-fuera-el-temor/ (in Spanish).