Officer Luis M. Huesca was laid to rest with full honors after a bilingual funeral Mass celebrated by Cardinal Cupich at St. Rita of Cascia Shrine Chapel, 7740 S. Western Ave., on April 29.

Huesca was killed outside his home in Gage Park in the early hours of April 21 in an apparent carjacking just days before his 31st birthday.

Alernating between Spanish and English in his homily, Father Matt Foley, pastor of St. Gall Parish in Gage Park, said Huesca had a servant’s heart. 

“He finished the race. He kept the faith. He fought the good fight and he gave the ultimate sacrifice,” said Foley, whose parish is just blocks from where Huesca was killed.

In his home neighborhood of Gage Park, Huesca “fought evil for us,” Foley said.

Foley addressed Huesca’s family directly.

“You not only lost your son, you lost a young man who chose to live with you for six years. He moved into our neighborhood to not only protect you, but to protect us. It is a tremendous loss not only for you but for us,” Foley said. “He carried a rosary and he walked with Jesus fighting the enemy and living to tell the truth.”

On the night Huesca was killed, Foley was awakened by police sirens and lights and helicopters responding to the shooting.

St. Gall Parish worked with the police on their investigation by providing video from security cameras.

“People were just coming together to do whatever they could do other than pray,” Foley said in an interview the day after Huesca was killed. “It was beautiful.”

Earlier in the day, Foley put the word out to parishioners that the parish  would be praying for Huesca at the regular 7 p.m. Mass that evening. Many people and police officers in uniform attended.

Following the Mass, the congregation processed to the front of Huesca’s home with the Blessed Sacrament to bless the spot where he was killed.

Foley did that when he served in Little Village whenever someone died by gun violence, he said.

“We’ve had some violence here with people getting shot, and when an officer was killed it was just a natural thing,” he said. The parish blessed the spot where Officer Andrés Vásquez Lasso was killed last year, he said.

Cardinal Cupich and Auxiliary Bishop Robert Lombardo, vicar of Vicariate III, visited Huesca’s family on April 21, as did Father Dan Brandt, director of the Chaplain Ministry for the Chicago Police Department.

Brandt was among the priests who joined Cardinal Cupich for Mass and presided over a St. Jude Service at the Blake-Lamb Funeral Home in Oak Lawn the night before.

Brandt recalled meeting Huesca  at his graduation from the police academy and last year at the funeral Mass for Vásquez Lasso.

 “He was just a sweetheart,” Brandt said of Huesca.

“At a time like this, officers can feel defeated, especially those who are closest to the victim and when justice hasn’t been served,” Brandt said. “But, it’s also a moment of pride, because it’s one of those reminders that this is more than just a career. This is a vocation.”

Police officers need the support of the people of Chicago, he said, because they are frequently reminded of the dangers of the job. When Brandt celebrates Blue Masses around the archdiocese, he asks for people to pray for police officers and all first responders.

“I basically beg the people who are present, I say, ‘A simple thank you goes such a long way,’” Brandt said. “It’s very much appreciated by these guys and gals.”