By Francisco Valdez
Many faithful from the archdiocesan community gathered at St. Peter Catholic Church in San Francisco’s Mission District on Tuesday, Dec. 9, the feast day of St. Juan Diego. Catholic families primarily from three predominantly Hispanic communities that form the mission parish cluster — St. Peter, St. Anthony and St. Charles — packed St. Peter Church for a Mass offered for immigrants, followed by a Holy Hour.
“We must be proud where we come from and not be scared of migrating to foreign lands,” said Father Moisés Agudo, pastor of the mission parishes. “We must recognize that most immigrants are not doing anything bad in society. In fact, they are making contributions to society in many ways. We are simply living and serving with our regular lives where we migrate. We are uplifting our human dignity by doing so.”
The Holy Hour was part of a statewide day of prayer in solidarity with immigrants organized by the California Catholic Conference.
Concelebrating the Mass were Msgrs. John Rodriguez and Jose Rodriguez as well as Father Dayvis López from St. Peter and Father Ulysses L. D’Aquila, retired priest in residence from St. James. It was an inspirational evening of worship and reverent prayer offered for immigrants and honoring St. Juan Diego and Our Lady of Guadalupe. Sisters from the Missionaries of Charity attended the Mass and sang. Many families were united in prayer and felt hope singing and praising the Lord and revering Our Lady of Guadalupe. There was truly a sense of peace during Mass and during the holy hour. The words of Our Lady of Guadalupe rang true: “…Nothing should frighten or grieve you. Let your heart not be disturbed.…Am I not here, who is your Mother? Are you not under my protection?”
The archdiocese has been very active with events centered on Our Lady of Guadalupe following Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone’s recent pilgrimage to Mexico, where he offered Mass at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe and was given a full-size replica of the miraculous tilma.
Last week, faithful from across the archdiocese completed a novena to Our Lady of Guadalupe, which included nine parishes as pilgrimage sites, and culminated in a procession from All Souls parish to the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption as part of the annual Cruzada Guadalupana on Dec. 6.
The archdiocese is also looking forward to the 500th anniversary of Our Lady of Guadalupe in 2031. Archbishop Cordileone and the Benedict XVI Institute for Sacred Music and Divine Worship have launched “Project Guadalupe 2031,” a project meant to answer Pope Francis’s call to honor Our Lady of Guadalupe. This initiative includes the promotion of a home enthronement of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which calls on Catholic families to display an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe and consecrate their homes to the Virgin Mary. More information can be found at https://www.projectguadalupe.org/home-enthronement
