Southern California houses of worship filled with congregants on Sunday who reflected on a horrifying week, seeking spiritual solace amid the region’s deadly wildfires. Clergy offered messages of unity and comfort while also putting out the word for aid for the myriad houses of faith that fell to the flames.

“This is what church means,” said Bishop Matthew Elshoff at a gathering of Catholics, including parishioners of the Pacific Palisades’ destroyed Corpus Christi Church. “This is what church means in our lives.”

A major theme in readings, sermons and actions across faiths was community, helping other human beings as one family.

It is through that community that many