 | Quick-witted and lighthearted Miguel played similar practical jokes all his life. He also played them in death. President Calles thought executing Padre Pro publicly would demoralize Catholics, but it had the opposite effect. Miguel even promised to joke in heaven. "If I meet any long-faced saints there," he said, "I will cheer them up with a Mexican hat dance!"
-Blessed Miguel Pro |  click to read more | | Blessed Miguel Agustín Pro (January 13, 1891 – November 23, 1927) "¡Viva Cristo Rey!"—Long live Christ the King!—were the last words Pro uttered before he was executed for being a Catholic priest and serving his flock. Born into a prosperous, devout family in Guadalupe de Zacatecas, Mexico, Miguel entered the Jesuits in 1911, but three years later fled to Granada, Spain, because of religious persecution in Mexico. He was ordained in Belgium in 1925. Father Pro immediately returned to Mexico, where he served a Church forced to go "underground." He celebrated the Eucharist clandestinely and ministered the other sacraments to small groups of Catholics. He and his brother Roberto were arrested on trumped-up charges of attempting to assassinate Mexico's president. Roberto was spared, but Miguel was sentenced to face a firing squad on November 23, 1927. His funeral became a public demonstration of faith. Miguel Pro was beatified in 1988. Reflection
When Fr. Miguel Pro was executed in 1927, no one could have predicted that 52 years later the bishop of Rome would visit Mexico, be welcomed by its president, and celebrate open-air Masses before thousands of people. Pope John Paul II made additional trips to Mexico in 1990, 1993, 1999, and 2002. Those who outlawed the Catholic Church in Mexico did not count on the deeply rooted faith of its people, and the willingness of many of them, like Miguel Pro, to die as martyrs. | Friday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 501 Reading 1 RV 10:8-11 I, John, heard a voice from heaven speak to me.
Then the voice spoke to me and said:
"Go, take the scroll that lies open in the hand of the angel
who is standing on the sea and on the land."
So I went up to the angel and told him to give me the small scroll.
He said to me, "Take and swallow it.
It will turn your stomach sour,
but in your mouth it will taste as sweet as honey."
I took the small scroll from the angel's hand and swallowed it.
In my mouth it was like sweet honey,
but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour.
Then someone said to me, "You must prophesy again
about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings." Responsorial Psalm PS 119:14, 24, 72, 103, 111, 131
R. (103a) How sweet to my taste is your promise!
In the way of your decrees I rejoice,
as much as in all riches.
R. How sweet to my taste is your promise!
Yes, your decrees are my delight;
they are my counselors.
R. How sweet to my taste is your promise!
The law of your mouth is to me more precious
than thousands of gold and silver pieces.
R. How sweet to my taste is your promise!
How sweet to my palate are your promises,
sweeter than honey to my mouth!
R. How sweet to my taste is your promise!
Your decrees are my inheritance forever;
the joy of my heart they are.
R. How sweet to my taste is your promise!
I gasp with open mouth
in my yearning for your commands.
R. How sweet to my taste is your promise! Alleluia JN 10:27
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
My sheep hear my voice, says the Lord;
I know them, and they follow me.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel LK 19:45-48 Jesus entered the temple area and proceeded to drive out
those who were selling things, saying to them,
"It is written, My house shall be a house of prayer,
but you have made it a den of thieves."
And every day he was teaching in the temple area.
The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people, meanwhile,
were seeking to put him to death,
but they could find no way to accomplish their purpose
because all the people were hanging on his words. | Meditation: Psalm 119:14, 24, 72, 103, 111, 131 Saint Clement I, Pope and Martyr (Optional Memorial) Your decrees are my delight. (Psalm 119:24) Most people don't like being told what to do. Especially as we grow up, rules seem less necessary and even a little stuffy. Try this simple test: what is your first reaction when you think of the Ten Commandments? Don't they remind you of things you had to memorize when you were a child rather than a set of life-giving guidelines that you keep close to your heart every day? So why is today's psalmist so excited about rules? When it comes to God's decrees, says the psalmist, nothing could be better. They are more precious than gold and silver, sweeter than honey. He goes so far as to yearn for God's commands, as if to say, "More! Give me more!" Here's something to notice, however. The psalmist has a lot of different words for the Law: decrees, promises, precepts, word. It's not just a matter of commandments that we have to follow. It's a way of life that brings fulfillment and peace. This makes sense if we consider the books known as "the Law" in the Jewish Scriptures. These first five books of the Bible include not just rules, but also history, drama, spiritual lessons, and a host of colorful characters. Taken together, these books tell the story of God's redemptive work among his chosen people. This story, this sweep of salvation history, is what the psalmist is so enthusiastic about! Even if we narrow our view to the Ten Commandments, we find cause for rejoicing. Pick any commandment. What would be the long-term results of disregarding it? Pain, brokenness, separation from others and from God. Contrast this with the benefits of following that commandment. A healthy relationship with God, a stable family life, relationships of trust with friends and neighbors, a balanced life. God's decrees really are sweeter than honey! Take some time today to think about one of the commandments that you have been obeying pretty consistently. Maybe you are respectful toward your parents. Perhaps you set apart the Sabbath for rest and worship. Now think about all the good fruit that has been borne in your life because of your obedience to this one law. Doesn't this thought fill you with delight? "Father, thank you for showing me the way to life." Revelation 10:8-11
Luke 19:45-48 | 2 cents :
"Take and swallow it. It will turn your stomach sour, but in your mouth it will taste as sweet as honey." Everything can't be sweet, but the Word of God is. Those who take up their cross, like a saint, will be led to the slaughter. They say Jesus embraced the cross. During the Mexican government sponsored terrorism, the banning of Catholics less than a hundred years ago, they killed about 4,000 priests and thousands and thousands of lay people, shot, hung, and crucified.. Brutal assassinations, cold blooded. There are secret societies that still want the closing of Catholics, many who are dubbing themselves as architects of the world. Truth be told, the bible said that Jesus was the stone that the architects rejected. Mark12:10 "Have you never read this Scripture: 'The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone." It is true to this day. These masons, these builders, these men spanning a couple hundred years claiming centuries more, say they are the reason for everything...not God. In turn, this dubs themselves as the god, this is why Catholics can not be of these societies that promise loyalty to them above even your own religion. It is travesty and sacrilege. It is the fall from Heaven, to think yourselves above all...and the cornerstone of all faith. So we are given the true law from above, and Jesus embodies it all. In Him, are the Manna, The Commandments, and the Staff, the shepherd feeding and leading the lambs with His Sacred and most precious heart. | Let us pray: "How sweet to my taste is your promise! Your decrees are my inheritance forever; the joy of my heart they are." These Psalms embody quite a large book of Psalms. It is a time of reveling in the law of God. It is a time to love the law of our Lord. It is always the right time to taste them and love them and keep them. If we are free, we are free to love, and this is precious. Freely loving God. What a gift. And show Him love by loving the law of old...His law, for He Himself has embodied. Adore. Adore Him. Feed of Him. You will be guided to steps of eternity. | In the Holy Gospel, we see Jesus in the only time of what seems to be anger. ""It is written, My house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves." But does a father have to be angry to whip out the animals? No. Does a dad have to be angry to whip his kids? No. A paddling is for a reason. I got many paddles through school, that's how I got to the other side! LOL. When I was in 2nd grade I was taking knives to school. Principal's office, paddle time. When I was in 4th grade I was disrupting the quiet time at lunch, another paddling. When I was in the 5th grade, I punched a kid in the face for telling on me. I was paddled by the coach. I never hated the principal. I actually really admire the coach. Paddlings are good coaches for some. Not all. Some take it as a joke. The law is not a joke. If you learn and are corrected, there is a conversion. I still got a couple paddlings in High School. I loved the paddlers. They did not do it with anger. They helped me sit up straight! LOL. By the time I got out, I was an honors student, heading straight to a University. And the lessons go on. Spiritual bumps hurt much worse. Spiritual corrections, are heart breaking moments. Eye opening moments. If only we'd not veer off from God's law! WOW, it would be heaven, for reals. All I teach kids is to be obedient and grateful. But that too has to be taught, sometimes the hard way, and on their own. Is it fair? It is in a free world. There are people in this world that love Jesus so much, they'd die for Him. In Mexico, thousands died for Jesus. They wouldn't turn their back on each other. They'd never tell. A priest wouldn't expose what was said in confession and was shot. In Australia right now the government wants to imprison priests for not exposing confessions. True love knows how to keep a promise. They may goof up, but they won't break the promise.
In a weirded out retreat I did a few years ago, "School of the cross", they gathered us at the beginning, pumping up all the men, in spanish yelling in the gym "who here is a macho!!??" And they kept yelling it over and over until we were all pretty much obliged to yell "we are!!" And then the guy pumping up everyone yells scornfully "you imbeciles! You are not machos (mexican for male mules), You are MEN!". Boy that deflated our egos. And it went on from there. I got cussed at for me getting mad at them cussing! LOL. Alas, the whippings...to whip out the macho in me. The animals. Yes, they need to be whipped out. Your animal passions, your pride, most live off "feelings" emotions. That's animalistic, if that is the only way you live. No. We are spiritual beings in this body. We are called to live out what is inside, sanctity, holiness, righteousness.
Right now, there are valiant souls fighting for our religious rights in government. It seems to be an ongoing perpetual fight throughout all governments. People want to govern without God. Our laws without Him, are of death, look at all the dictators that preach socialism, look at what it costs...human life. Yet, we live in a world that wants you to hush. Shhhh. Don't say anything or you'll be called "religious" a bad word nowadays in social circles.
So some shy away and say "I'm not religious (negating Christ), I'm just spiritual". Even devils are spiritual. That's hogwash. Either you are Christian or you are not. Either you love God with all your heart, mind, and soul, or you do not. If you do not, then, there's hell to pay. Is it right? Is it fair? No, it's not fair to us to claim there is goodness yet not live God's goodness. We cheat ourselves. That's why Jesus flipped the tables. CHEATERS! " My house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves." Thieves take what is not theirs and claim as theirs, amen? That's the whole story of mankind from the fall of Adam and Eve. People wanting to claim what is God's and say it is theirs. Your family isn't yours. Your money isn't yours. Not even your life is yours. We all came from somewhere without even asking or knowing. We came from God. Forget time. Time has started when the message enters your soul, in your temple, your body, and that is Jesus. Once He enters, everything else must go out. You'd better whip yourself instead of others doing it for you. During the Cristero Movement, Saint Padre José María Robles Hurtado (born 1888) was arrested on June 25, 1927, for saying a prayer in a home. He was sentenced to be hanged on an oak tree. The next day, before dawn, he was led to the tree. In a final display of compassion for his executioners, he offered them a small votive candle that he had in his pocket to help light the path to the tree where he was to be hanged. Upon arriving there, he forgave the men for what they were about to do. He took the noose into his own hands, saying "Don't dirty your hands" to the man who brought it, kissed it, and placed it around his own neck. All these men died forgiving their killers. All these men were Jesus. The great persecution was against Jesus. The architects rejected. So how is Mexico today? Isn't it still filled with violence and evil?
I was raised in Mexico, the first few years of my life. I recall it as if it were Heaven. Life in the U.S. is a fast paced rat race for gold and fame. It is disgusting if that's all you live for. I often dream about moving away, and if crud came down, I'd love to go back to Mexico, where people's faith is in their DNA. LOL. But it is in all of our DNA, God wrote His commandments in our heart. In our soul.
I can't move or lift a finger without God saying so. He is the reason for everything. I write to you, not only with my hands but with my heart.
We are pilgrims on this road.
I write to encourage you in the spirit of the Cristero Movement as I progress in the Cursillo movement. We live a life for life and grace. Not death and destruction; The wages of sin.
Take heart.
We have been given a promise. And this one is beyond imagination, if you'll only believe and follow the WAY | | |
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