05/01/2026
Bishop Alberto Rojas celebrated the annual Child Abuse Awareness and Victims Mass on April 8 at Our Lady of the Rosary Cathedral. This Mass is celebrated every year in recognition of April being National Child Abuse Prevention Month.
Bishop Rojas offered this homily at the Mass:
Dear sisters and brothers, as we are in the beginning of this beautiful time of Easter where we celebrate the triumph of the risen Lord over death and sin, over darkness and evil, we come together with tender hearts and compassion to continue being aware of the deep wounds some sisters and brothers carry due to abuse. We offer this Mass for all of them and as we have been doing it for years this Mass calls us to remember, to pray, to stand with them in truth and above all to proclaim hope and new life in the risen Jesus.
In the beginning of [today’s] reading of the Acts of the Apostles, we heard how it was described a man who was crippled from birth, sitting by the gate, they called beautiful and asking for alms. Peter looks at him and says, ‘I have neither silver nor gold, but what I do have, I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ, rise and walk.’ And the reading says that immediately, strength came to his legs and he is raised up and stands and begins to walk. He even leaps for joy. As we can see this was not only a physical healing it was also a restoration of his human dignity. The man who had been overlooked by many, perhaps even pitied, not truly seen, is now healed and lifted up. What Peter did before the miracle took place was very important, these are little details that Jesus did many times. Peter saw the crippled man and ‘looked intently at him,’ that’s what the reading says, with compassion. And then he acknowledged his human dignity and then he acknowledged also his humility, his poverty, and only what he had he could offer. It wasn’t gold or silver but he says ‘what I have I give you.’ And what is that he had? The Lord Jesus in his heart. The power of the risen Lord was also with Peter and that is why he was able to do this miracle and heal and cure this crippled man.
For victims of abuse one of the deepest wounds is precisely this, not being seen and not being believed, not being listened to, not being protected. Silence, denial and neglect can deepen even more than the original damage.
Today, for us sisters and brothers, as people of faith, we must first do what Peter did, we must look with honesty and compassion, with humility. We must see, we must listen and believe. And in the name of Jesus who is always there for us to offer new life, we must always try to be instruments of healing, protection, justice, restoration and new life.
In the Gospel of Luke, we heard of another kind of woundedness. The quiet despair of people’s hearts broken by the loss of a dear one and confused. The disciples are walking away from Jerusalem, the Gospel says, they’re going home. But they are going home away from hope with a very strong sense of defeat, saying to themselves, ‘well we had hope that he would be the one to free us, the one to save us, but now all these things happened and it seems like this is the end.’
Their sorrow reflects the experience of many people who feel abandoned, betrayed, neglected and forgotten and yet the risen Jesus draws near to them even though they do not recognize Him at first, He walks with them, He listens to their pain, He allows them to express their grief and frustration. Then, very compassionately and gently, He opens up the Gospel and says the scriptures for them to understand, helping them to see that suffering and death is not the end of the story.
For those who have been abused the journey can feel like that road, long, confusing, blurred and filled with questions and very few answers, where was God in all this? Why did this happen? Can there be any healing? Am I responsible for this? Now the Resurrection does not erase the wounds of Good Friday. The risen Christ still bears his scars, but those scars are no longer signs of defeat. Those scars are signs of love, that has overcome violence, darkness and death.
So, it’s important to notice the sense of hospitality of these two disciples on the road to Emmaus as they invited Jesus to enter into their home...
Dear friends, this is the meaning of the Resurrection for us today, that no wound is beyond God’s reach, beyond God’s compassion and mercy. No darkness is final, no life is beyond redemption, the risen Christ meets people precisely in their brokenness. Not to dismiss it, but to transform it. We must be clear, resurrection hope does not excuse injustice, it calls us to confront it. It calls the Church to accountability, to safeguarding to ensure every child and vulnerable person is protected and safe. It calls each of us people to be vigilant, to be compassionate, to be courageous and to be co-responsible to honor the human dignity of every sister and brother around us as children of God that we are.
If there are any survivors among us here today, please know that we love you. Please know that your story and your pain matter, you are not invisible in the eyes of God. The risen Jesus walks with you, even when He may not seem clear. And all of us as people of faith in fidelity to Him must walk with you, too, not ahead of you but beside you.
Dear friends, all of us as people of faith are called to be co-responsible for the wellbeing of other brothers and sisters around us. People of new life, people of the Resurrection of the risen Lord. Like Peter, may we lift up those who have been cast down. Like the disciples, may our hearts burn within us as Christ speaks the truth and healing into our lives. And like the early Church may we become a community where the wounded find not judgment but welcome, hospitality and support. Not silence but compassion, not harm but protection and love.