This memory came up as yesterday was their 18th anniversary, and it just seems special to begin with today as Hallel called them from France to wish them a blessed anniversary. "She spoke about how at 18 years we are maturing and growing out of the teenage years of marriage." Hallel is so wise and cute at the same time!
He is my champion for life and for family! "The world needs lights" and open to LIFE as the Church in her wisdom asks of us!
Family Soul Story - Choose Life!: Our marriage stories - "The world needs LIGHTS!"
The Gospel today reminds us that we cannot know the plans of our Lord for this world but must be ready at all times for we know not what is around the corner or what the next day will hold.
He answered,
“See that you not be deceived,
for many will come in my name, saying,
‘I am he,’ and ‘The time has come.’
Do not follow them! Luke 21
My parents with the setting sun... they both passed away in the last year just 7 months apart after celebrating 70 years of marriage.
“See that you not be deceived,
for many will come in my name, saying,
‘I am he,’ and ‘The time has come.’
Do not follow them! Luke 21
They were a voice of Faith and Truth for me and our family! Although they were tested by some close to them. They did not falter in always being ready for Jesus, yet living and sharing their Faith with our huge family through prayer and for dad "preaching." Dad was told that he tended to "preach." "Yes! I am a deacon and I am called to preach." "We cannot know the time of His coming, and we are called to never abandon His Church."
Family Soul Story - Choose Life!: The amazing story of the 13 becoming Catholic!
Dazzling setting sun with Our Lady. I was so blessed to have Deacon Robert here with me for the last 6 months of his life with hospice to help us meet every need that came along. Once again we were challenged to go off hospice and do some extra measures to make his life last a bit longer. We could not do that! Dad was more than ready and we opted to choose a "natural death." No regrets now knowing that he and mother are praying more perfectly from heaven for their huge beloved family!
"They will live with Christ in heaven,
who lived on earth according to the words
and ways of Christ." - St Nicetas of Remesiana
"I believe, O Lord, but strengthen my faith…
Heart of Jesus, I love Thee; but increase my love.
Heart of Jesus, I trust in Thee;
but give greater vigor to my confidence.
Heart of Jesus, I give my heart to Thee; but enclose it
in Thee that it may never be separated from Thee.
Heart of Jesus, I am all Thine; but take care of
my promise so that I may be able to put it in practice
even unto the complete sacrifice of my life."
Bl Miguel Agustin Pro
Jesuit priest, Martyr
Mexico ~ 1891-1927
Feast Day – November 23
Image above: Triumph of Christianity ~ Gustave Dore
"We ought to speak, shout out against injustices,
with confidence and without fear.
We proclaim the principles of the Church, the reign of love,
without forgetting that it is also a reign of justice."
Bl Miguel Pro
Click here: Fr Miguel Agustin Pro, martyr - YouTube
Click here: Padre Pro, A Modern Martyr | Catholicism.org
Click here: Padre Pro, A Modern Martyr | Catholicism.org
Bl Miguel Pro, pray for us!
MORE on Bl Miguel Pro...
In the 1920s the churches in Mexico were closed and priests went into hiding. Fr Pro spent the rest of his life in a secret ministry to the sturdy Mexican Catholics. In addition to fulfilling their spiritual needs, he also carried out the works of mercy by assisting the poor in Mexico City with their temporal needs. He adopted many interesting disguises in carrying out his secret ministry. He would come in the middle of the night dressed as a beggar to baptize infants, bless marriages and celebrate Mass. He would appear in jail dressed as a police officer to bring Holy Viaticum to condemned Catholics. When going to fashionable neighborhoods to procure for the poor, he would show up at the doorstep dressed as a fashionable businessman with a fresh flower on his lapel. His many exploits could rival those of the most daring spies. In all that he did, however, Fr. Pro remained obedient to his superiors and was filled with the joy of serving Christ, his King.
Falsely accused in the bombing attempt on a former Mexican president, Miguel became a wanted man. Betrayed to the police, he was sentenced to death without the benefit of any legal process.
At the time of the killing, Mexico was under the rule of the fiercely anti-clerical and anti-Catholic President Plutarco Elías Calles who had begun what writer Graham Greene called the "fiercest persecution of religion anywhere since the reign of Elizabeth."
On the day of his execution, as Fr. Pro walked from his cell to the courtyard and the firing squad, he blessed the soldiers, knelt and briefly prayed quietly. Declining a blindfold, he faced his executioners with a crucifix in one hand and a rosary in the other and held his arms out in imitation of the crucified Christ and shouted out, "May God have mercy on you! May God bless you! Lord, Thou knowest that I am innocent! With all my heart I forgive my enemies!" Before the firing squad were ordered to shoot, Pro raised his arms in imitation of Christ and shouted the defiant cry of the Cristeros, "Viva Cristo Rey!" -"Long live Christ the King!" When the initial shots of the firing squad failed to kill him, a soldier shot him point blank.
Calles had the execution meticulously photographed, and the newspapers throughout the country carried them on the front page the following day. Presumably, Calles thought that the sight of the pictures would frighten the Cristero rebels who were fighting against his troops, particularly in the state of Jalisco. However, they had the opposite effect. The Cristeros became more animated and fought with renewed enthusiasm, many of them carrying the newspaper photo of Pro before the firing squad.
Miguel Pro's last request prior to execution was to be allowed to kneel and pray.
Pro himself refused a blindfold. A Crucifix in the right hand, a rosary in the other.
He blessed and forgave the firing squad.
November 24, 1927, at the front of the Jesuit church of the Holy Family, a multitude accompanied the remains of Father Pro. Father Mendez Medina cried out, "Make way for the martyrs of Christ the King!" Although Calles had forbidden any public demonstration, the people acted in open defiance. Never had the city seen such an enormous turnout for a funeral. As the martyrs' caskets left the house, a great and unanimous cry soared from the hearts and mouths of thousands:.. "¡Viva Cristo Rey!" Thousands thronged the streets and balconies, throwing flowers, praying the rosary and singing. It was a triumph - a glorious witness to the heroism of martyrs for Christ the King.
Danielle Rose
You raise me up - Josh Groban
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