Angelus News | January 10, 2020 | Vol. 5 No. 1

OneLife LA 2019.
VICTOR ALEMÁN
LA’s family reunion
Why the goal of this year’s OneLife event is to expand
respect for life beyond just one day
BY TOM HOFFARTH / ANGELUS
Five years into the OneLife LA
movement that Archbishop José
H. Gomez envisioned would
celebrate the beauty and dignity of
every human life, a family story is
taking shape.
Some may measure the continued
success by the increasing number of
participants. What started out with
15,000 in its first year has far more than
doubled, whether it’s those involved in
the youth rally, walking in unity with
the crowd from La Placita Church
through downtown LA, congregating
at the festival in the LA State Historic
Park to hear guest speakers, or praying
during the Requiem Mass for the
Unborn at the Cathedral of Our Lady
of the Angels.
But from the perspective of Kathleen
Buckley Domingo, senior director of
the Office of Life, Justice and Peace
for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, the
most significant steps have more to do
with the feeling of family bonding, and
hearing the stories from participants
who have been inspired to help pay
forward a positive message of service
and hope.
“We would love OneLife to continue
each year to have more and more people
attending,” said Domingo as she
prepared for the sixth annual event on
Saturday, Jan. 18. “But anecdotally, I
think the success is measured more by
hearing throughout the year — in April
or July or November — about how
OneLife got someone to take action
and become involved in something
bigger.
“The goal is always to get people to
recognize our mission and do it all
year-round, a groundswell of action in
the community that loves, cherishes,
and respects every single person, and
doing it as part of one extended family.
We want this to feel as if it’s our own
family reunion, and a time to tell our
family stories.”
As such, this year’s unifying theme,
“One Mission, One Family,” is as
much setting a tangible goal to reach
out for as it is a reflection of how far
this event has come.
Domingo said that a theme implemented
several years ago, “Made
For Greater,” resonated so well with
the participants, “One Mission, One
Family” takes that idea to the next
level, focused on a united purpose of
“bringing the love of Christ into the
community to those who are in need or
suffering,” she said.
As part of the expansion of the annual
gathering, the first OneLife LA Service
Award will be given out.
Jess Echeverry, who overcame a
young life of abuse, homelessness, and
suicide attempts before finding the
Catholic Church, will be honored as
the first recipient for the work she and
her husband, Charlie, do with their
nonprofit organization near the Loyola
Marymount University campus in
Westchester called SOFESA, which
22 • ANGELUS • January 10, 2020