LOS ANGELES (CNS) - The Midnight Mission will again hold its Easter Celebration today after it was canceled for two years because of restrictions imposed to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
Sixth Street in front of the mission will be closed to accommodate nearly 2,000 homeless and near-homeless individuals and families who will receive a traditional holiday meal and hygiene items, according to Georgia Berkovich, the mission's director of public affairs.
The Midnight Mission expects to serve 2,000 pounds of herb chicken, 1,000 pounds of each of honey-glazed spiral ham and garlic mashed potatoes and 700 pounds of steamed vegetables topped by 45 gallons of gravy, Berkovich said.
COVID-19 vaccinations will be available. Underdog Community Project will provide free veterinary services and other needed pet care.
TMM will also host an Easter Village where children will be able to meet the Easter Bunny, played by comedian and TMM alumnus Logan Hobson, and receive baskets full of candy and other treats.
The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in downtown Los Angeles will be able to seat its full capacity of 3,000 for Easter Masses after being limited to 130 people in 2021 and being closed in 2020.
The Rev. David Gallardo, the cathedral's pastor, will celebrate Easter Sunday Mass, the Mass of the Resurrection of Our Lord, in English at 10 a.m. Archbishop José H. Gomez will celebrate the Mass in Spanish at 12:30 p.m.
The Masses will be streamed at olacathedral.org/live, www.facebook.com/lacatholics and lacatholics.org/holyweek.
KABC-TV Channel 7 will broadcast the Easter Sunday Mass in English at 10 a.m. and in Spanish at 12:30 p.m. on the Localish Network, over the air on digital Channel 7.2 and via cable on Spectrum Channels 1246 or 703, Frontier Channel 467, Cox Cable 1133 and Mediacom Channel 520.
Guadalupe Radio will transmit the Spanish-language Easter Mass at 12:30 p.m. at guadaluperadio.com and El Sembrador will rebroadcast the Spanish- language Mass at 5 p.m. at elsembradorministries.com.
The Feast of the Resurrection is the oldest and most important Christian celebration. Christians believe Jesus, the long-awaited Messiah prophesied in the Hebrew Scriptures, offered his life and his death for the forgiveness of sins. But God raised him up, showing his power over sin and death and revealing Jesus as his beloved Son.
In his column published Sunday on Angelus, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles' multimedia news platform, Gomez wrote, ``This is my Easter prayer: that we will arise from the struggles and miseries of this world and unite our lives with the risen Lord!
``When we reflect on our times, which are so disturbed with war and divisions, we know that there is only one way to find peace in our families, in our society, in our world, and that is through our faith in Jesus Christ, our personal commitment to follow his teaching and example.''