Archbishop José H. Gomez.
By Archbishop José H. Gomez | New World of Faith
The week before Christmas I had the rare privilege to share an amazing story with the world: how the Lord had worked a miracle in the life of one of our new priests.
I ordained Father Juan Gutierrez just two years ago, and he serves now as associate pastor at St. John the Baptist Church in Baldwin Park.
In 2017, when he was a seminarian at our St. John’s Seminary, he suffered a serious leg injury while playing basketball with some other seminarians.
Facing a painful surgery, Father Juan prayed to Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, asking for his intercession. And he was healed.
His healing was a miracle. His doctors could not explain it. There are MRIs documenting what his leg looked like before his prayer and after his prayer.
Of course, “miracle” is a word that gets overused in our culture and is not well understood.
But the scriptures tell us that Jesus worked miracles on earth: he gave eyesight to a blind man, made a lame man walk, and raised a young girl from the dead, to recall just a few.
And we believe that Jesus continues to work miracles from heaven, often through the intercession of the saints who are close to him in glory there.
We don’t pray to the saints, but we do ask the saints to pray for us. We believe that Jesus hears our prayers, but we also believe that he hears the prayers that the saints make for us.
We believe this because it’s true. The Book of Revelation gives us a glimpse of heaven and shows us the prayers of the saints burning like incense in golden bowls before the throne of God.
Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati (1901-1925).
Father Gutierrez notified officials in the Vatican that he had received a great favor through the intercessory prayers of Frassati.
The Vatican investigated his claim, interviewed the doctors, studied the medical evidence, and concluded that indeed, his healing was a miracle.
Pope Francis has now decided that, on account of this miracle, he will declare Frassati a saint in August 2025, during the Jubilee of Youth.
I encourage you to read all about the details in this issue of Angelus and watch our full press conference on our website.
Our God is a God of miracles. This story reminds us of that.
The Lord is still working in your life and mine. He created us, he loves us, and he will see us through. He hears our prayers and he goes with us in the journey of our life. And we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses, by the saints and angels in heaven, including our guardian angels, who watch over and guide us.
At our press conference, Gutierrez said something I found moving: “To be part of this miracle has been like being on a roller coaster. … But at the end of the day, I am left with a heart filled with gratitude and awe at what God does in our lives.”
We have been truly blessed here in Los Angeles that God has raised up for us so many saints, just to name a few: Venerable Alfonso Gallegos, a priest and bishop; Venerable Maria Luisa Josefa of the Blessed Sacrament; Blessed María Inés Teresa Arias; and the great missionary St. Junípero Serra, founder of the church in Los Angeles.
Father Juan Manuel Gutierrez, associate pastor at St. John the Baptist Church in Baldwin Park, Calif., speaks at a Dec. 16, 2024, press conference at his parish to share his experiences of being healed from a serious sports injury after seeking the intercession of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati. (OSV News photo/Isabel Cacho, courtesy Archdiocese of Los Angeles)
We have also been blessed with visits from many saints from across the universal church, from St. Frances Xavier Cabrini to St. Pope John Paul II, St. Mother Teresa, and St. Dulce Lopes Pontes, known as “Irmã Dulce.”
Los Angeles is truly a city of the angels and also a city of saints. Now, we have a new saint who is watching over us from heaven.
And Blessed Pier Frassati truly is a saint for our times, a model for all of us, but especially for our young people.
He was a young man who loved life and enjoyed it to the full. He was a good friend to others, a good son, and a good brother. And he was a man of deep prayer who taught us to find Jesus in the holy Eucharist and in the face of the poor.
Some of his last words were these: “I will wait for them all in heaven.” And I am confident that through his prayers, our Lord will lead many to follow him there.
Pray for me, and I will pray for you.
And let us ask our Blessed Mother Mary to help us to live in this new year, the Jubilee of Hope, with a greater sense of wonder at all God’s gifts and blessings.
Most Reverend José H. Gomez is the Archbishop of Los Angeles, the nation’s largest Catholic community. He served as President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops from 2019-2022.
You can follow Archbishop Gomez daily via Facebook, X, and Instagram.
[Image — Hundreds follow Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati’s coffin through the streets of Turin the day of his funeral, Sunday, July 5, 1925.
