LOS ANGELES (CNS) - The stay-at-home order issued by Gov. Gavin Newsom in an attempt to stop the spread of the coronavirus means many traditional events in Los Angeles County celebrating Easter will not be held today.
With churches closed, various Masses and services celebrating Jesus' resurrection will be streamed and broadcast.
The English-language Easter Sunday Mass, the Mass of the Resurrection of Our Lord, celebrated by Archbishop Jose H. Gomez at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in downtown Los Angeles will be broadcast at 10 a.m. on KCOP- TV Channel 13 and KABC-TV Channel 7's digital Channel 7.2 and be streamed on CBSN Los Angeles and CBSLA.com.
The Mass will also be broadcast on KHJ-AM (930) and The Catholic Channel on SiriusXM.
Gomez will also celebrate the Spanish-language Easter Sunday Mass. It will be telecast at 7 a.m. on KFTR-TV Channel 46 and Channel 7.2 and broadcast on Guadalupe Radio and El Sembrador.
Both Masses will also be streamed live on the LA Catholics Facebook page, www.facebook.com/lacatholics.
A listing of livestreams of Masses from parishes in the archdiocese is available at lacatholics.org/mass-for-the-homebound.
“We celebrate Easter this year at home, but we know that our God is with us,” Gomez said. “Even in times like this, when we see trouble in the world, and we are afraid for the future Jesus rises to tell us that his love is stronger than death.
“Christ is risen and we will rise with him. This is the promise of Easter. Nothing can separate us from the love of God, not persecution, famine, pestilence or plague. And not this pandemic.”
All Los Angeles County Parks and Recreation facilities and open space locations will be closed today along with parks in Los Angeles and other cities in the county to prevent gatherings that could spread the coronavirus.
Park rangers and Los Angeles Police Department officers will be at the parks to ensure the orders are followed, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said.
“I know that your heart breaks like so many of the things that we have had to do,” Garcetti said.
“This is such a fun moment for our kids. This is such a great tradition that many families have, but we can't afford to have one cluster of just even a few people together spread this disease to more people and kill them.”
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