Siempre Adelante!

One years ago, the church in the USA was facing persecutions. Although persecutions are nothing new for Holy Mother Church, this type of persecution aimed to destroy the legacy of St. Junipero Serra because he oppressed the natives of this state. To do so, many people across CA wanted to remove the statues of St. Serra because it was not fitting that an oppressor should be honored. Many statues were destroyed, while other were taken down at night, and some others remain in private properties. History will always have two faces, and I am not here to argue which side of history is right or whether the removal of statues was correct or not. 

 

However, today, we celebrate the memorial of St. Junipero serra and I wanted to reflect briefly on what happened a year ago considering our current times for those who proclaim the Christian faith. Those who wanted to destroy the legacy of Serra simply could not. As I wrote a year ago, no matter how much people try to bring his statues down, something that they will never be capable of destroying are the fruits he was able to bring about through the seeds he planted while he lived. The seeds he planted have already given fruits and that will never go away. Those fruits are alive more than ever because of our faith! Every time we attend Mass or any celebration of the sacraments, we participate in the mission of St. Serra: to Know, love and serve God. Recently, the Holy Father announced that the last Mission that Serra founded in Ventura would become a minor basilica. What a great joy for the local Church of Los Angeles is this announcement to reminds us that we must get up and keep fighting. 

 

The situation we faced a year ago, and I look back on today, reminds me of the adulterous woman who was going to get stoned. After Jesus tells the scribes and the pharisees that whoever is without sin should throw the first stone, he tells the woman, “Where are they? Has no one condemned you?” Similarly, for us, Jesus tells us today to look up and see where our persecutors are. Where they successful in their mission? No! Today in the Gospel, Jesus tells the paralytic man to rise and walk,  and he tells us the same. We must rise from the persecutions and walk, always keep moving forward because the Lord is waiting for us. St. Serra writes, ““Let us bear every hardship for the love of You and the salvation of souls. In our trials, may we know that we are loved as Your own children. To a willing heart all is sweet, so grant us love and patience, and conform us always to Your will, O God.” So let us keep St. Serra’s words close to our hearts knowing that trails have a different taste when they are endured for the Lord. 

 

St. Serra, Pray for us!