Immaculate Heary of Mary Church - Los Angeles

"Faith without love is an empty ritual."

"Love without faith can easily diminish. And indeed, the only way that others will see that we are authentic Christians is by our love for one another, for the charity we show to others."


To Live Humbly with God

Fr Rodel Balagtas

The Prophetic Voice
"So how does a person deal with this tough milieu? One needs to have a thick skin, an inner strength, a stoic and overconfident self, and a clear vision of one’s goals. One needs to be content and peaceful with one’s accomplishments and identity."Read more...


New Archbishop of Los Angeles, Most Reverend Jose Gomez at Blessed Sacrament Church
New Archbishop of Los Angeles, Most Reverend Jose Gomez at Blessed Sacrament Church

Latest from IHMC

Embracing your Cross

We often speak of the “crosses” we must carry in life. These can range from loss of a job to a serious or terminal illness to unhealthy relationships, and so on. The cross has become the wide-ranging metaphor for the trials, ills, and discomforts that are part and parcel of every human life. While we all understand this use of the word “cross,” it does a disservice to what the Jesus of the Gospels means by it. For him, a “cross” is not something that fate, bad luck, or unfortunate circumstances foists upon one. It is, instead,something one chooses, something one embraces.

For Jesus, carrying the cross in discipleship was the rejection of earthly possessions or status, it was the sundering of bonds of kinship or friendship. It was, above all, the necessary kind of self-sacrificing, self-surrendering choice one had to make in order to be a true disciple. When life hands us a “cross,” we pray to the Lord to give us strength to bear it. If we are to be true disciples, we must also pray for the strength to reach out and willingly accept a cross as well. To bear up, with God’s grace, under the burdens that are not of our own choosing does take a strong faith. But to walk willingly under the weight of the cost of discipleship shows an even stronger desire to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ.

How is compliance with child prevention efforts verified?

While background checks and fingerprinting of all those who work with children in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles are important, they are used in conjunction with abuse awareness and prevention training programs to help ensure that we create the safest possible parish and school environments for our children. An archdiocesan background-tracking information system, Volunteer and Personnel Information Network (VPIN), tracks assignment histories and compliance by employees and volunteers of fingerprinting, background checks and mandatory VIRTUS sexual abuse prevention training. VPIN allows parishes and schools to adapt features of the system to fit their local needs and it assists the archdiocese to complete its audit reports.

For particular help, you may call Assistance Ministry at 213 637 7650 or Melissa Ager at 323.660.0034