More than Martyr: The Queen of Martyrs!

Have you ever thought of the Holy Virgin Mother Mary as a martyr? At least one Doctor of the Church has:"Truly, O Blessed Mother, ... we rightly call you more than martyr, since the effect of compassion in you has gone beyond the endurance of physical suffering" (Saint Bernard, Liturgy of the Hours, Vol. 3, page 1402; Sept 15: Our Lady of Sorrows). And in the Responsory of that same holy day: "Happy is she, who without dying has won the martyrs crown."

That's what it means to be King!

Of his own free will Jesus ran to meet those sufferings that were foretold in the Scriptures concerning him. He had forewarned his disciples about them several times; he had rebuked Peter for being reluctant to accept the announcement of his passion, and he had made it clear that it was by means of his suffering that the world's salvation was to be accomplished. This was why he stepped forward and presented himself to those who came in search of him, saying: I am the one you are looking for. For the same reason he made no reply when he was accused, and refused to hide when he could have done so, although in the past he had slipped away on more than one occasion when they had tried to apprehend him. (From a treatise On the Incarnation of the Lord by Theodoret of Cyr, bishop)

Then Jesus, knowing all that was to befall him, came forward and said to them, "Whom do you seek?" They answered him, "Jesus of Nazareth." Jesus said to them, "I am he." ... When Jesus said to them, "I am he," they drew back and fell to the ground. Again, he asked them, "Whom do you seek?" And they said, "Jesus of Nazareth." Jesus answered, "I told you that I am he; so, if you seek me, let these men go." (John 18:4-8)

We know also from the Gospel according to St John that the Good Shepherd is the Gate of the Sheep. The Shepherd, as the Gate, stands in front of the sheep in the place of the Gate and guards the sheep with his very life.

Friends of the King

What an amazing friendship between Jonathan and David. (See today's readings--especially the second reading--in today's Liturgy of the Hours.) Jonathan is the prince, the heir to the throne of Saul his father, yet he would rather have God's anointed, that is, David, be king; Jonathan is happy to be second in the kingdom in deference to his friend David, who is in fact the one whom God chose to be king, and the royal ancestor of the Anointed One of God, that is, Jesus the Christ. This reminds me of Boromir promising King Elessar (that is, Aragorn): "I would have followed you my Captain, my Brother, my King!" And St John the Baptist: "Jesus must increase, and I must decrease." May each one of us have this relationship, this friendship, with Jesus the Christ: our God, our true Friend, and our Divine King. Viva Cristo Rey!

The Cornerstone of Civilization

In his book, Bradley J. Birzer quotes Pope Saint John Paul II--I dare call him John Paul the Great--on the inalienable dignity of the human person:

For the Christian humanist, the Incarnation proves the intrinsic worth of each human person, despite the fallenness that each human person has inherited because of Adam's sin. Thus, persons are never to be used as means to a "higher" end. Rather, each life possesses a unique dignity. As Pope John Paul II has explained, "the concept of the person as the unique and unrepeatable center of freedom and responsibility, whose inalienable dignity must be recognized ..., has proven to be the cornerstone of any genuinely human civilization. [Birzer,JRR Tolkien's Sanctifying Myth: Understanding Middle-earth (Wilmington, DE: ISI Books, 2009)134]

Saint Pope John Paul II is eminently qualified to make this statement. For he faced the two giant tyrannical ideologues of the 20th century, both of which put their particular ideologies before the intrinsic value and unique dignity of each and every human person: National Socialism and Communism, and he defeated them.

What makes a Humble Hero?

The reading from today's Liturgy of the Hours Evening Prayer could be considered as St Paul's version of what makes a Humble Hero, that is, a saint. It's certainly true that God is in charge and we can do nothing good without God's help, that is, without his grace.

God has chosen the weak of this world to shame the strong. He has chosen the world's lowborn and despised, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who were something; so that no flesh may glory in His sight. (I Corinthians 1:27-28)

J.R.R. Tolkien must have read and meditated upon St Paul. For, in Tolkien's legendarium, it is the weak, small, virtually unknown little Hobbits who save Middle-earth from slavery to the evil Sauron. And, in "the real world," it is the Divine Child of Bethlehem and his holy Virgin Mother who save us lowly ones from evil and Hell.

The Great Itinerant Pope

With all the popular hype about good Pope Francis, it would be easy to become distracted from and forgetful of the holiness, zeal, and apostolic courage of Blessed Pope John Paul II, who will one day be known around the world as "John Paul the Great". In fact, the 2014 ORDO hails Blessed John Paul II for his "exceptional apostolic zeal". Here, in full, is the precis:

Karol Jozef Wojtyla was born in 1920 in Wadowice, Poland. As archbishop of Poland, he took part in the Second Vatican Council. On October 16, 1978, he was elected Pope and took the name John Paul II. His exceptional apostolic zeal, particularly for families, young people, and the sick, led him to make numerous pastoral visits throughout the world. He left as a heritage to the Church a rich Magisterium and the promulgation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the revised Code of Canon Law for the Latin Church and Eastern Churches, and the third typical edition of the Roman Missal. Pope John Paul II departed peacefully in the Lord on 2 April 2005. Pope Benedict XVI beatified him on 1 May 2011. (Emphasis mine.)

In the United States of America, the optional memorial of Blessed John Paul II is on October 22. Let us never forget this great Pope and the teachings he promulgated. For John Paul did not promulgate his own thought; the teachings he promulgated (for instance, the Catechism of the Catholic Church) are the teachings of the one, holy, Catholic, and apostolic Church founded by Jesus the Christ, the Son of God made man for our salvation.

Praised be Jesus Christ, now and forever !

Saint Christopher Magellanes

I was very glad to learn about the Cristero martyrs Fr Miguel Augustin Pro and Jose Sanchez del Rio, and today--thanks to the Sacred Liturgy of the Church--I was delighted to discover even more Cristero martyrs: St. Christopher Magellanes and Companions. Each martyr imitates Jesus to the fullest extent by giving his life for Christ and praying for his persecutors.

Almighty and eternal God, who made the Priest Saint Christopher Magallanes and his companions faithful to Christ the King even to the point of martyrdom, grant us, through their intercession, that, persevering in confession of the true faith, we may always hold fast to the commandments of your love. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.

Viva Cristo Rey! Long live Christ the King and the Holy Virgin of Guadalupe!