Storm forecast causes changes to Easter plans in LA County

Image: midnightmission/Instagram

LOS ANGELES – A storm forecast for Sunday has forced changes or cancellation of some planned outdoor events in Los Angeles County to mark Easter, including The Midnight Mission shifting its celebration indoors.

The celebration customarily draws about 2,000 people but could draw less Sunday because of the rain, Georgia Berkovich, The Midnight Mission’s director of public affairs said.

Homeless and near-homeless individuals and families will be served a traditional Easter meal and receive hygiene items.

Guests will be able to meet the Easter Bunny, portrayed by comedian and The Midnight Mission alum Logan Hobson and receive candy.

Mark Mackay and his band will entertain for the eighth year, performing what it bills as “guitar-driven American music.”

There will also be a performance by Ase Ashe Drummers From The Heart.

“Of the many services The Midnight provides to our unique community, one of the most important is the sense of family we offer to those who often feel lost and forgotten during the holidays and other days of celebration,”
Berkovich said.

Indoor Easter sunrise service will held at the Forest Lawn cemeteries in Covina Hills, Glendale, Hollywood Hills and Long Beach from 6-7:30 a.m.

Forest Lawn-Glendale will be conducting its 100th anniversary service, with bilingual services in English and Spanish.

The service will be followed by a family Easter celebration, including a performance by the Bob Baker Marionettes, an Easter egg hunt, opportunities to take pictures with the Easter Bunny photos, arts and crafts, a petting zoo and unveilings of Forest Lawn’s monumental Crucifixion and Resurrection paintings.

A pop-up exhibition, “100 Years of Easter at Forest Lawn,” opens Sunday at the Forest Lawn Museum at Forest Lawn-Glendale, featuring paintings, photographs and items from its archives to tell the story of a celebration that grew from a few hundred people in 1924 to more than 30,000 attendees.

The exhibit will be on display through July 28.

Easter Sunday Mass at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels

Easter Sunday Mass, the Mass of the Resurrection of Our Lord, will be celebrated at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in English at 10 a.m. by Msgr. Antonio Cacciapuoti, the cathedral’s pastor, and in Spanish at 12:30 p.m. by Archbishop José H. Gomez.

The Masses will be livestreamed on Facebook, YouTube and over the air on digital Channel 7.2 and on cable on Channels 703 and 1246 on Spectrum, Channel 467 on Frontier, Channel 1133 on Cox and Channel 520 on Mediacom.

During the Mass, after renewing their baptismal promises, all faithful will receive 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.

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.

The National Weather Service said the storm on Sunday could produce strong winds, hail, heavy downpours
and a remote risk of a tornado.

“These thunderstorms on Sunday could produce small hail, gusty winds, frequent lightning and possibly even a small tornado or waterspout,” the NWS said.

A winter storm warning will be in effect through 11 p.m. Sunday for the San Gabriel Mountains and the Golden State (5) and Antelope Valley (14) freeway corridors, with forecasters warning that “travel could be very
difficult to impossible.” (CNS)