Angelus News | February 9, 2024 | Vol. 9 No

alienable rights or not. Our democracy is designed to protect
the rights of all people, and in this case, the unborn.”
Elshoff also encouraged the faithful to keep advocating for
life “from the womb to the tomb” even when laws don’t.
“Let’s not be discouraged that we seem to take two steps
forward and one step back,” he said. “Rather our goal is to
listen, to respond, to follow God’s call, and to embrace this
vision with our whole being, with Jesus at the center.”
The Requiem Mass also included a witness reflection by
Jess Echeverry — a Catholic speaker and family advocate
who experienced healing and discovered Christ and the
Church after undergoing an abortion 32 years ago as a
young homeless woman.
Echeverry — who is now married with five children and
started a nonprofit ministry called Sofesa to help homeless
and low-income families — said research shows that 1 in 5
women seeking an abortion is homeless, and urged attendees
to show empathy for those who’ve had an abortion.
“My brothers and sisters, if we want to end abortion,
which we all should, we need to open our hearts and our
minds to the truths of the traumas and the life experiences
of the women who are walking into the abortion businesses,”
she said. “We need to recognize their dignity, seek out
their story and relationship, and accompany them into
God’s love and mercy.”
Echeverry’s remarks were followed by a ceremony of light,
in which Mass participants carried 120 tall, white candles
up to the sanctuary and placed them side-by-side on the
altar, representing the lives that were lost to abortion that
day in the greater Los Angeles area. As in years past, the
candles will be placed in the windows of the cathedral colonnade
for the coming week, visible from the 101 freeway
below. Those who attended Saturday’s Requiem Mass said
they did so to stand up for life, and to pass faith traditions
onto their children.
Karina Salas, of St. Hedwig Church in Los Alamitos, has
attended OneLife LA with her family every year since its
inception. She said she was particularly touched by this
year’s personal testimonies.
“It’s always good to put faces to stories and know that real
people are impacted by the awful reality of what abortion
is,” she said. “It’s not just something that you can just brush
away, a one-and-done thing. It follows you your entire life
and it impacts everyone, it impacts generations.”
Minh Hoang, of Annunciation Byzantine Church in Anaheim,
said he attended the Requiem Mass and OneLife
LA to be a witness to the pro-life position. He said he was
inspired by the sense of community that he found being
among thousands of like-minded Catholics.
“To see so many college students gives me a lot of joy,”
said Hoang, 21.
Attending the Requiem Mass and placing candles in the
cathedral colonnade has become a tradition for the Angeles
family, of St. Edward Church in Corona.
Reirich Angeles said it allows him and his wife, Maggie,
to pass down the faith to their four children.
“I’m happy to see that they participate in Mass, that they
are engaged in their Catholic faith, and that they are intrigued
and that they ask questions,” he said.
Watching the crowd disperse, Carrera said she plans to attend
next year’s Requiem Mass and OneLife LA event even
though she’s moved from Cudahy to San Bernardino.
“It’s important that we stay united in prayer for an end to
abortion,” she said, “and that we don’t lose faith that one
day it will end.”
Theresa Cisneros is a freelance journalist with 24 years of
experience in the news industry. She is a fourth-generation
Southern California resident and lives in Orange County
with her husband and four children.
The Mass was presided over by Archbishop José
H. Gomez, along with LA’s five active auxiliary
bishops, Cardinal Roger Mahony, and Bishop
Joseph Brennan of Fresno. | VICTOR ALEMÁN
18 • ANGELUS • February 9, 2024