Eduardo Rallying the Troops

This article at the Times (of London) Online is very exciting. It is about Eduardo Verastegui, a very popular Mexican actor who starred, most recently, in "Bella". He is co-owner of a production company called Metanoia, and the article is about how he went from being a not-interested Catholic to a very sincere and devout one - while living and working in the not-too-religious environments of the movie meccas of Mexico City and Hollywood.

As an interesting side note, the article notes that he is going to England to speak to a Catholic youth rally with about 1500 teens expected to attend. I don't know if this sort of thing is yet common in England, as it is getting to be here - I suspect not. In itself, this event is exciting because it means that the Church is stirring in England, one of the most thoroughly secular countries in the very secular West. My gut instinct is that many of the youth waking up the Church in England, responding to their shepherds' calls, perhaps traveled to World Youth Days in close neighbor Cologne, Germany, and in closely akin Sydney, Australia. However He's doing it, the Holy Spirit is sure doing something cool.

What daring times to be a Christian!

(Coincidentally, as I was surfing for a good picture for this post, I came across a picture of the little girl in Bella with whom Verastegui had a life-altering collision. Now that I have little nieces, just seeing the girl's picture made me become very emotional.)

Miguel Pro and Christ the King

This past Sunday was designated as Solemnity of Christ the King. Originally promulgated in the 1925 document Quas Primas by Pope Pius XI to occur on the last Sunday of October, the feast is now celebrated each year on the last Sunday of the liturgical year - the Sunday before the beginning of Advent.

Culturally, the feast is meant to fly in the face of all that we hold dear in democratic countries: self-determination, representation, policy by consensus. Pope Pius XI read the signs of the times and could smell the growing determination by world leaders not to be bound by traditional morality. While Communists overthrew Russia and the revolutionary government in Mexico became violently anti-Christian, even Christian Europe witnessed new trends and social programs opposed to good morals. It was clearer and clearer to the Holy Father that an assault against Jesus Christ himself was underway. Placing the feast at the end of the year is perfect. The readings taken from the Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours (especially those from the books of the Maccabees) for the end year all draw our attention to the Lordship of God. The readings do so in a stark way: example after example is given of worldly rulers claiming absolute dominion - even insisting that people violate the laws of God to prove their loyalty. In these cases, the readings dramatically highlight the necessity of martyrdom by those who love God.

One modern example given to the Church on November 23 is that of Blessed Miguel Pro, S.J. The young Jesuit found his studies for the priesthood interrupted by the Mexican Revolution. His seminary was moved to Texas, and after a time there, he finished his studies in Belgium. By then, the persecution of the Catholic Church in Mexico was in full swing. Where the laws were enforced, priests were forbidden to wear special attire, renounce allegiance to the Church, cease performing sacraments, required to marry, and executed for refusal to any of those things. Priests were literally being shot in the street wherever they were found. Bl. Miguel volunteered to return to this environment because he suffered to see his countrymen go without the sacraments, with nobody to preach the Gospel to them, with nobody to remind them that God heard their cries and would not leave them alone forever.

After sneaking back into Mexico, Bl. Miguel evaded the authorities for a few years. Frequently he would slip right under their noses using the same sort of clever disguises that he and his siblings had used in their amateur theatre performaces as children. He even made so bold as to evangelize soldiers and police officers in places where "wanted posters" displayed his picture! By the time the young priest was apprehended in Mexico City, he was personally arranging the food and rent money for hundreds of families dispossessed for adhering to Holy Church, as well as offering Mass illegally numerous times weekly to crowds of people numbering into the hundreds. At last he was betrayed, like Christ, by one of those who benefited from his labors. Arrested with two of his younger brothers on the pretext of an assassination attempt, he refused the opportunity to disavow his priesthood, and was ordered to be shot by a firing squad in front of ambassadors and the press corps of the world's socialist and communist countries and organizations. So it was that, refusing a blindfold, Bl. Miguel stood before his murderers, facing them calmly, and forgave them aloud. Then, as the command to raise rifles was given, he threw wide his arms and shouted out "Viva Cristo Rey!"

Long Live Christ the King!

This pose is the one captured by photographers. Some of them, though socialists, were awed by his bravery, and within days holy cards had been made from the photographs and were circulating illegally. He was forbidden a public funeral, but the government was unable to act against the tens of thousands who showed up to escort the body to its burial site.

The question we have to ask ourselves, whatever our state in life, is whether Christ is king over us.

Do I avoid sin for fear of offending Him? Or do I make excuses?

Do I engage in thankless service in order to please Him? Do I only do the good things I like?

Do I rearrange my affairs to accord more completely with His desires?

Do I fear the opinion of other people, even strangers, more than I fear provoking God?

Am I willing to part with anything - ANYTHING - material possessions, habits, relationships - the moment it begans to interfere with my relationship with Jesus Christ?

In calling myself a Christian, "One of Christ's" I am implicitly answering the above questions. Do I answer them the same way in acting like Christ?


If Jesus Christ is not the Lord of my Life, the King of my Heart, then He is just a nice prop in my life that I take out sometimes, maybe once a week or so, to make me feel better about myself. We have cause to concern about this situation because Our Lord, the King of the Universe, himself said, Not every one who says to me, `Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, `Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, `I never knew you; depart from me, you evildoers,' (Mt 7:21-23).

Again, it is fitting that the feast of Christ the King comes at the end of the year, because when all is said and done, Jesus Christ is Lord. On the Last Day, He will have the last word.

What I Saw in Mexico

My vacation in Southern Mexico from St. John Vianney Day (August 4) until Assumption Day (August 15) with my friend, Fr. Bob Lacey, was immensely fun and generally pretty relaxing. Going with Fr. Lacey was great for a variety of reasons including his perceptive insight. Here are a few things that we saw in Mexico.

1. People there are very young. Wikipedia reports that the average age there is 25, whereas the average age of an American is about 40. There are lots of children everywhere. The youthfulness there is beautiful.

2. There is construction work going on all over Mexico. People are working and building, and unemployment is very low (3.2%, give or take). It was more expensive to be in Mexico than it had been on previous visits, which means that their economy is not as weak compared to ours as it used to be. The vibrancy and energy there is beautiful.

3. Despite ongoing trends of secularization, religion is not dead in Mexico. Our Lady of Guadalupe is everywhere. She dangles from rearview mirrors, reposes in bus station shrines, and has special places of honor in most homes. Whereas in Montreal, St. Joseph's Oratory seemed bereft of local visitors, the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe was swarming with Mexican pilgrims. Crucifixes are also prominent in the country. Generally, and especially in churches, their crucifixes are not for sissies or the faint of heart. Our Lord is depicted as suffering upon the Cross, writhing with wounds and soaked in blood. Each is like a still-frame shot of Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ. They very much want to remember, meditate upon, and soak up our Lord's suffering. Tellingly, a priest indicated that prayer groups have been springing up everywhere in the wake of the decision of the capital city's legislature to legalize abortion within city limits. The devotion there is beautiful.

4. In my experiences, things have been getting steadily more efficient in Mexico. Even with the efficiency, there is still a real warmth and humanity in Mexico, even while waiting in line at government offices. There is also a sense that not everything has to happen right now. This awareness helps them to be patient - incredibly patient, I suspect. Every single time I've been to Mexico, I've been invited for dinner to the home of a total- or near-total stranger. The family that had me over for dinner also drove me to the airport the next day. Their hospitality is astounding. The humanity there is beautiful.

5. As Fr. Lacey and I prepared to leave the Cathedral of Mexico City, several bishops, numerous priests, and dozens of seminarians processed in. Taking their seats in the choir, they chanted first vespers for the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Everything stopped. The tourists, idle wanderers, ushers - everyone stopped and listened as those well-trained voices chanted those ancient prayers in that most ancient and lavish cathedral in the Americas. All the noise and hubbub of Mexico City's thirty million residents was drowned out by sung prayers ascending to heaven. Time simply fell away as businesswomen, father-and-son tour pilgrimages, and scruffy and awestruck tourists stood captivated for forty five minutes. The beauty there is beautiful.

Our countries are divided from each other by a lot of "political concerns" (that really means "by politicians"). But there is an immense amount of beauty and good in their country and in ours. Beauty is the manifestation of goodness to our senses. It is what makes the good not only known as desirable, but felt as desirable. Beauty is what attracts us to goodness, and ultimately to God, the Ultimate Good (if we do not take a wrong turn). Dostoyevsky once wrote that "Beauty will save the world." We should pray that by whatever means, God draws our two countries closer together in a way that draws each closer to Himself.

Tulum

The beach is beautiful here, and the people friendly and relaxed. The heat makes everything slow down and chill paradoxical way. Muy humano, you say in Spanish. It's a very humane life. My traveling companion, Fr. Bob Lacey, has been able to offer Mass each day. It is a real joy to serve a priest at a private Mass - priest, sacrifice, and congregant. It is a real beautiful joy to do so at a place like this.

Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe que se queda en mi corazón, ruego por nosotros.