Jose Sanchez del Rio

Here is a real Humble Hero! Relying solely on the grace of God, Blessed Jose gave witness to Christ until the end. This Humble Hero received the martyr’s crown.

Jose Sanchez del Rio was a young Cristero soldier. Jose was horrified to witness personally the persecution of local priests and the desecration of churches in his home town of Sahuayo, Michoacan. When the Cristero War broke out in 1926, his older brothers took up arms and joined the movement, but his mother would not allow Jose to take part. The Cristero general, Prudencio Mendoza, also refused his enlistment. But in the end, Mendoza finally relented and allowed Jose to become the flag bearer of the troop. Jose was known to be one of the youngest members of the Cristero movement. He was nicknamed “Tarcisius” by the Cristeros after the early Christian boy martyr who gave his life to protect the Eucharist from desecration. During heavy fighting on January 25, 1928, Mendoza’s horse was shot out from under him. In an act of great heroism and sacrifice, Jose gave his own horse to the general so that the battle could go on. He then sought cover and fired at the enemy until he ran out of ammunition. Government troops captured the boy and imprisoned him in the sacristy of the local church. Forced to watch the execution of a fellow Cristero, Jose could not be made to break his resolve not to reveal any intelligence. The following is from an alleged eye-witness account of Jose’s gruesome martyrdom on February 10, 1928: “Consequently, they cut the bottom of his feet and obliged him to walk around the town toward the cemetery. They also at times cut him with a machete until he was bleeding from several wounds. He cried and moaned with pain, but he did not give in. At times they stopped him and said, ‘If you shout, ‘Death to Christ the King,’ we will spare your life.’ Jose would only shout, ‘I will never give in. Viva Cristo Rey!’ When they reached the place of execution, they stabbed him numerous times with bayonets. He only shouted louder, ‘Viva Cristo Rey!’” The government commander was so furious that he pulled out his pistol and shot Jose in the head. He was declared a martyr and was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI on November 20, 2005.

–Rueben Quezada, For Greater Glory—The Official Companion to the Epic Film (West Covina, CA: Saint Joseph Communications, in association with Ignatius Press, 2012) 60-61.

St. Vincent de Paul, Solidarity, and Subsidiarity

… We also ought to have this same spirit and imitate Christ’s actions, that is, we must take care of the poor, console them, help them, support their cause. Since Christ willed to be born poor, he chose for himself disciples who were poor. He made himself the servant of the poor and shared their poverty. He went so far as to say that he would consider every deed which either helps or harms the poor as done for or against himself. Since God surely loves the poor, he also loves those who love the poor. -Saint Vincent de Paul

All who follow Christ are called to love the poor to care for the needy. And we humans, each being one composite unity of body and soul, have needs that are both spiritual and temporal (temporal, meaning of time and of the body while here on earth). Hence, the Church has formulated the spiritual and corporal works of mercy. It is important that we—Catholics, Christians, Members of the Mystical Body of Christ, followers of Christ—love the needy and provide assistance to them. It’s not the job of the government; it’s our job. That’s what the Church teaches: subsidiarity, try to solve the problems and meet the needs of human persons at the most basic level possible. We need brothers helping brothers—not Big Brother lording it over the helpless. “Entitlements” and government handouts have to stop. Honest, diligent work is precisely one of those activities that are in accord with the dignity of the human person. We should not be paying tribute to the government so that the government can give more handouts and make more and more people dependent upon “Big Brother” or “Uncle Sam.” The more people become dependent upon the State, the more the State has a hold on them and the more the State will be able to take away the rights of persons. The dignity and rights of each and every human person comes from God, the Creator of all, and not from the State. We pay our tribute (that is, worship) to God alone. Our trust is in God alone. Just look at the dollar bill, and hurry—before these secularists print out new bills that leave out the divine reference.