40 Days - 40 Ways to Mercy - 4th week of Lent Bear Wrongs Patiently

Mercy Works because Mercy Endures
Glorify the LORD with me, let us together extol his name. I sought the LORD, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. Look to him that you may be radiant with joy, and your faces may not blush with shame. When the poor one called out, the LORD heard, and from all his distress he saved him. - psalm 34: 4-7
"No servant is greater than his master. If they have persecuted me, they will persecute you, also." John 13:16

Because they are still learning the rules of life, children often make mistakes and soon find themselves in trouble with adults. There are times, though, when the parent or teacher or another adult had missed bits of evidence or punished too indiscriminately or harshly. As children, we might have been told to "offer it up" when we pointed out an injustice. This meant that we should endure the wrong bravely and take the hurt to give it to God as a sacrifice to be offered as prayer for a poor soul in purgatory or anyone in need of prayers.

On Holy Thursday evening Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane after the Passover meal, and taken to the Sanhedrin where he was falsely accused. He endured a skewed trial at which witnesses came forward who had been coached or bribed by the accusers. The Pharisees were waiting for an opportunity to silence Jesus once and for all and it came to them in the person of Judas Iscariot, who also wanted Jesus to be silenced. Jesus' fate was sealed before he even stepped into the room. Bearing wrongs patiently is a hallmark of a disciple who knows that he is sharing in the cup from which his Savior drank.

Blessed Miguel Agustin Pro

Blessed Miguel Pro was born into an affluent mining family in Guadalupe, Mexico in 1891.

Miguelito, as his family called him, was mischievous and fond of practical jokes which resulted in him being subject to accidents and illnesses.

He was also known at a young age to be intensely spiritual and loving.

He was very attached to his older sister, who went into the convent, which awakened him to his vocation as a priest.

At the age of 20 he entered a Jesuit novitiate to study for the priesthood.

His studies were cut short in 1914 by the Mexican Revolution.

In the midst of this tumultuous period a wave of anti-Catholicism had broken out and it became illegal to practice the Catholic faith.

Priests and nuns were rounded up and arrested. Some disappeared and were presumed murdered. The seminary was disbanded and Miguel and the other Jesuits were forced to flee to the United States for safety.

After finding refuge in the Jesuit house in Los Gatos, California, and in 1915 he was sent to Spain to continue his studies.

"On the day of my ordination, I merely asked Our Lord to be useful to souls."

He was ordained in Belgium in 1925; however, he had become very ill with a stomach condition and had to undergo several futile surgeries. He would suffer from this condition for the rest of his life.

In 1926, despite his sickness and the danger, he was sent back to Mexico to minister to the people there.

Father Pro became a great master of disguise and spent the remainder of his life in a secret ministry to the Mexican Catholics who helped hide him from the authorities.

At times he appeared as a street sweeper, wealthy businessman, or several other characters. Once he actually went in to a police station to ask directions!

Fr. Pro tended to the poor of Mexico City with both spiritual guidance and temporal help. He even went in disguise to the prison to administer the sacraments to those about to be executed by the government.

In all that he did, he remained filled with the joy of serving Christ, his King.

The authorities were aware of his activities and were frustrated that they were unable to catch him.

They wanted to be rid of Padre Pro and when an attempt to assassinate the President failed the authorities used it as an excuse to arrest Father Miguel and his two brothers, charging them with attempted murder.

Although a young man came forth and confessed to setting the bomb, attesting to the innocence of the Pro brothers, the authorities still brought them to the Detective Inspector's Office in Mexico City.

Eventually Father Miguel's two brothers were released, but he was condemned to be executed without a trial.

President Calles wanted to set an example of Pro for anyone who defied the orders forbidding the practice of religion, so he had an official photographer present to take photos of the execution which were to be distributed to all of the newspapers.

He was executed on November 23, 1927.

Guided before the firing squad, Father Pro stopped and blessed the waiting soldiers. He knelt briefly and prayed, then stood without a blindfold.

He stood bravely with his arms outstretched in imitation of Christ on the cross with a crucifix in one hand and a rosary in the other.

As the commandant was giving the orders Miguel forgave the soldiers. As they pulled the trigger he raised his eyes to heaven and shouted, "Viva, Cristo Rey! (Long live Christ, the King).

Publishing the photos backfired on the President. In defiance of the government 40,000 people lined the streets as his funeral went by, throwing rose petals praying the rosary and singing, and another 20,000 waited in the cemetery where he was buried without a priest present to pray for him.

"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!"
"The Death of Father Pro" Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe

A prayer composed by Father Pro shortly before his death:

Does our life become from day to day more painful, more oppressive, more replete with afflictions? Blessed be He a thousand times who desires it so. If life be harder, love makes it also stronger, and only this love, grounded on suffering, can carry the Cross of my Lord Jesus Christ. Love without egotism, without relying on self, but enkindling in the depth of the heart an ardent thirst to love and suffer for all those around us: a thirst that neither misfortune nor contempt can extinguish... 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 so 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.
Created with images by Esparta - "Frank Miller's Sunset"

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