Los Angeles archbishop to lead 'virtual rosary' for US

CNA Staff, Sep 30, 2020 / 14:28 pm

Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles will lead a 'virtual rosary' Oct. 7, the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, to seek Mary's intercession for the United States.

"Our hope is to unite Catholic people from across the country in a moment of prayer for our nation, at a time when there is so much unrest and uncertainty," Gomez said in a Sept. 30 column.

Gomez said Mary offers Catholics maternal care, and Catholics should seek to understand "her way of seeing and her way of living."

"Everything that Mary does points us to her Son - to his commandments, to the mysteries of his life, to giving up our own will to follow him and share in his mission," he wrote.

"As we seek our Blessed Mother's intercession for our nation, I hope that we will also make this a moment to deepen our own commitments to Mary - to dedicate ourselves to her and to let her teach us how to offer our hearts to serve Christ and his beautiful plan of salvation history. Let us live all for Jesus through the heart of Mary!"

Gomez noted that the Franciscan missionaries who evangelized California- including St. Junipero Serra- were deeply devoted to Mary, particularly to Our Lady of Guadalupe, who since 1999 has been formally recognized as Patroness of all America.

"[Our Lady of Guadalupe] was sent by God to the people of Mexico at a time of great uncertainty and political unrest. Plague and earthquakes were devastating the population, and there was violence and racial conflict, and widespread suffering and injustice," Gomez said.

"Into this historical and cultural moment, Our Lady came as a mother bearing a message of hope."

Gomez earlier this year led the bishops of the United States in reconsecrating the nation to Mary.

Reconsecrating the country, the US bishops said in an April 23 announcement, is meant to serve as a reminder to the faithful of Mary's witness to the Gospel, and as a way of asking for Mary's intercession before Christ on behalf of those in need.

The act of consecration to Mary, Archbishop Gomez said at the time, "will give the Church the occasion to pray for Our Lady's continued protection of the vulnerable, healing of the unwell, and wisdom for those who work to cure this terrible virus."