LOS ANGELES — A year after the threat of rain forced changes or cancellation of some planned outdoor Easter events in Los Angeles County, a sunrise Mass and service on beaches were again scheduled for Sunday.
Our Lady of Guadalupe Church celebrated a "Sunrise Mass on the Beach" on the sand at 11th Street, south of the Hermosa Beach Pier, at 6 a.m. The Mass was broadcast on FM 100.9.
A sunrise service was also held on the beach north of the Manhattan Beach Pier at 6:30 a.m., conducted by the Manhattan Beach Community Church, which is affiliated with the United Church of Christ.
The Easter Sunrise Service at Green Hills Memorial Park in Rancho Palos Verdes began at 6 a.m. and was livestreamed at greenhillsla.com/easter- sunrise-service-2025-with-green-hills-livestream/.
The Midnight Mission again held an Easter Celebration and Street Fair after shifting its celebration indoors in 2024. Approximately 2,000 homeless and near-homeless individuals and families were served a traditional Easter meal and received hygiene items.
The Mission expected to serve 2,500 pounds of barbecue chicken, 1,000 pounds of honey glazed spiral ham, 1,000 pounds of garlic mashed potatoes and 700 pounds of seasonal vegetables topped by 45 gallons of gravy, according to Georgia Berkovich, its chief communications officer.
Singer-songwriter Mark Mackay entertained for the ninth year, performing what he bills as "guitar-driven American music," while the actor Mr. T was invited to "spread cheer and goodwill," Berkovich said.
"What a wonderful day, the sun is shining, it's beautiful. We've got 2,000 people getting an Easter dinner that they wouldn't have had," Midnight Mission President and CEO David Prentice said Sunday. "... I am so thrilled with the volunteers. Special thanks to the staff who put all this together this morning. They've been here since before the sun came up getting ready to do this event."
Indoor Easter sunrise services began at 6 a.m. at the Forest Lawn memorial parks in Covina Hills, Glendale, Hollywood Hills and Long Beach and the Pierce Brothers Valley Oaks Memorial Park in Westlake Village.
Easter Sunday Mass, the Mass of the Resurrection of Our Lord, was celebrated at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in English at 10 a.m. by Monsignor Antonio Cacciapuoti, the cathedral's pastor, and in Spanish at 12:30 p.m. by Archbishop José H. Gomez.
The Masses were livestreamed on www.facebook.com/lacatholics and youtube.com/olacathedral. After renewing their baptismal promises, all faithful received a blessing with Easter holy water as a reminder that, in and through Christ, they have died and been born again through the waters of baptism, church officials said.
The feast of the Resurrection of Christ is the oldest and most important Christian celebration. Christians believe that by rising from the dead, Jesus demonstrated his power over sin and death, manifesting his divinity as the Son of God.
According to the Christian Scriptures, Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah who offered his life for the sins of the world as was prophesied in the Hebrew Scriptures.
"On Easter Sunday, we celebrate his glorious resurrection and proclaim, as Christians have done for nearly 2,000 years, he is risen," President Donald Trump said in his Easter message.
"Through the pain and sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, we saw God's boundless love and devotion to all humanity, and in that moment of his resurrection, history was forever changed with the promise of everlasting life."
