Angelus News | February 23, 2024 | Vol. 9 No. 4

NEW WORLD OF FAITH
ARCHBISHOP JOSÉ H. GOMEZ
Becoming ‘another Christ’
On Feb. 10 at the Cathedral of Our
Lady of the Angels, Archbishop José
H. Gomez celebrated the 22nd Annual
Black History Mass sponsored by
the African American Catholic Center
for Evangelization. The following is
adapted from his homily.
Black Catholic history is American
history. It is American
Catholic history. And it is also
a chapter in God’s beautiful plan for
salvation history.
It is the story of men and women
walking together with Jesus Christ in
holiness, love, and service, building
his kingdom in America.
And this history has created a strong
community of faith, not only here in
Los Angeles but all across the country
— men and women who are keepers
of the flame, carrying out the mission
of evangelization in our parishes and
homes, in our schools and in our
communities.
And in this work, we are surrounded
by a great cloud of witnesses who
have gone before us, holy men and
women like the Venerables Henriette
Delille and Augstus Tolton, the Servants
of God Julia Greeley and Thea
Bowman, and so many more.
We still have work to do to break
down the barriers of prejudice, in our
society, and also in the Church.
But throughout history, holiness has
always been God’s response to injustice.
So we pray to grow in holiness as
we follow ever more faithfully in the
footsteps of Jesus Christ.
We ask the intercession of those
holy men and women who have gone
before us. We ask that they help us
to proclaim the beautiful truth that
every man and woman is a child of
God, made in his image, no matter
what the color of their skin or the
place where they were born.
And Jesus gives us a powerful picture
of that truth in the tender Gospel
story of his healing of the leper.
This leper knows that he needs
Jesus. He knows that only Jesus can
set him free from his illness. He trusts
in Our Lord’s healing mercy.
In those days, we know, lepers
were forced to live at the margins of
society, shunned as “unclean” and
forbidden to come in contact with
others. But this leper refused to let
these social barriers prevent him from
meeting Jesus.
He comes to Jesus, kneels down,
and begs him with a simple prayer:
“If you wish, you can make me
clean.”
Jesus is touched by the man’s faith,
he is “moved with pity.”
And even though the law of his time
forbids Jesus from coming near this
man, Jesus not only allows the leper
to approach him, he stretches out his
hand and touches the man.
He answers the leper’s prayer with
such a tender reply: “I do will it,” he
says. “Be made clean.”
Nothing can separate us from the
love of Jesus!
Jesus came into this world so that
every person might seek him and find
healing and salvation. He came to
make all of us brothers and sisters in
the family of God.
This is our work now. This is the
mission of every member of the
Church.
St. Paul tells us, “Be imitators of me,
as I am of Christ.”
There is no better definition of what
it means to be a Christian! We are
called to live by Our Lord’s words
and example, to be imitators of
Christ.
The saints say that each one of us
must become an alter Christus, another
Christ.
We see this in the lives of so many of
the Black Catholics who went before
us.
Each of them was an alter Christus,
imitating Jesus, spreading the love of
God, sharing his mercy, speaking to
the hearts of their neighbors in need.
They called the Servant of God
Julia Greeley “Denver’s Angel of
Charity.”
She was an emancipated slave
who used her freedom to serve
others, wheeling a little red wagon
all around the city, bringing food,
clothing, firewood, and more to the
poor. Often she would work at night
or in secret, leaving her gifts of charity
on people’s doorsteps.
Mother Mary Lange, another
Servant of God, started schools for
African Americans and immigrants.
She took care of orphans and cared
for the dying and terminally ill.
You and I are called to walk in their
footsteps, as they walked in the footsteps
of Jesus.
We are called to be peacemakers
and healers in our world, as Jesus
was. We are called to spread his tender
love, to reach across every barrier,
to break down the walls of hostility
that divide us and keep us apart from
others.
So let us honor the proud legacy of
our Black Catholic ancestors by continuing
their work of building Christ’s
kingdom in America.
May holy Mary, our Blessed Mother
go with us, and may she help each
of us to become more and more an
imitator of her Son, and “another
Christ.”
February 23, 2024 • ANGELUS • 3