Being a deacon and the witness of the martyrs

This morning I awakened remembering a dream in which I reaffirmed my commitment as a deacon. It was very fitting since today is the feast of Saint Stephen, according to the tradition, the first deacon and the first martyr.

I will be preaching today at Mass in at least one village and so I spent a lot of time praying and meditating on the scriptures. (The homily in Spanish can be read here.)

What strikes me today is how much I feel the diaconate is connected to martyrdom. We deacons prepare the bread and wine, lift up the chalice with the Blood of Christ at the end of the Eucharistic prayer, and are ministers of the Eucharist, especially the Blood of Christ.

For me this year has been marked by Central American martyrs.

In January, Padre German, my pastor, and I made a pilgrimage to Santiago Atitlán, where we prayed in the room where Blessed Stanley Rother, Padre Aplas’, was killed and in the church where we celebrated the Eucharist – Padre presided and I served as a deacon. (An account here.) Padre Aplas’s commitment as a missionary from the US and his desire to stay with the people remind me of the importance of accompanying the people – not just for a short visit, but to share their lives, their joys and sorrows, and to let oneself be vulnerable. 

In October. Padre German and I went to Rome for the canonization of Monseñor Óscar Romero. As I was preparing for my diaconal ordination, I visited his tomb about two weeks before my ordination and dedicated my ordination to him. (My account of that visit is here.)

A month before his martyrdom, Monseñor Romero wrote this in his notebook:

“My disposition should be to give my life for God, however it should end. The grace of God will enable us to live through the unknown circumstances. He aided the martyrs and, if it should be necessary that I die as they did, I will feel him very close to me at the moment of breathing my last breath. But more important than the moment of death is to give him all my life and live for him and for my own mission.”

I will share these words in today’s homily – since we are all called to be martyrs, witnesses.

After coming back from the canonization and a short visit to Iowa, I went to the beatification of two Franciscans in Guatemala, an Italian missionary priest, Fray Tulio Maruzzo, and Luis Obdulio Arroyo, a lay Franciscan, catechist and helper in the parish. Another missionary martyr. But I was impressed by the simplicity and the commitment of Blessed Luis Obdulio, who helped in the parish and drove the sick to the hospital in the parish vehicle. (My reflection after the beatification Mass is here.)

This month, on December 8, nineteen martyrs of Algeria were beatified. When I first read the story of the Trappists monks of Tibhurine, I was touched by their commitment to be with the people in the midst of violence. The testament of Père Christian de Chergé, written before his death, is one of the most moving letters I’ve written, displaying his love and his willingness to embrace the person who might kill him in the future.  (You can download and read it from this site. Also, here’s a short reflection on their witness.)

The witness of these martyrs sustains me and give me courage hope in the midst of difficulties.

I have no desire to be a martyr, especially now that I have permanent residency here in Guatemala and want to enjoy that for many more years.

But the third century document Didascalia of the Apostles (chapter  XVI, iii, 13) notes:

“And know what the ministry is, according as our Lord and Savior said in the Gospel: Whoso among you desires to be chief, let him be your servant: even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life as a ransom for many. So ought you the deacons also to do, if it falls to you to lay down your life for your brethren in the ministry which is due to them.” 

But laying own my life means dying every day – becoming more available for the poor, becoming more flexible, putting aside my desires to be in control or undisturbed.

So, today, I pray to Saint Stephen. May God make me a better deacon, a better servant, to be of service to God, to the church, and, most of all to people in need.

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The image of Saint Stephen is from the works of Ade Bethune whose drawings were often published in The Catholic Worker.  Saint Catherine University has a collection of here works.

Blessed martyrs of Izabal, Guatemala

A middle-aged priest and a young lay catechist were beatified Saturday in Morales, Izabal, Guatemala. They were both members of the Franciscan family – Fray Tulio Maruzzo was a friar of the Order of Friars Minor and Luis Obdulio Arroyo was a member of the Secular Franciscans, often referred to as the Third Order.

They were killed, after being brutally beaten, on July 1, 1981, in Los Amates, Quiriguá, in the midst of the fierce repression that Guatemala experienced for decades.

They were as the words behind the altar read “ disciples, missionaries, martyrs.”

In 1960 Fray Tulio left his native Italy to serve the Guatemalan people, where he served in several parishes in Izabal, in the northeast part of the country. Fray Tulio worked with the catechists, the base communities, and the delegates of the word, who led Sunday celebrations when the priest could not come. He introduced Cursillos into his parish. He also could not ignore the injustice and spoke out for the poor. His intent was to help the campesinos legalize the land they cultivated. But the powers, especially the large land-owners, threatened him and eventually killed him.  

Luis Obdulio Arroyo was 31 years old when he was martyred with Fray Tulio. He was a humble man, eager to serve. As Cardinal Becciu said in his homily:

Witnesses remember him as a man who, without making a lot of noise, knew how to find concrete responses to the problems of the community putting his time and his abilities at the disposition [of the community]. He was always available to transport in his car someone who was injured or a woman about to give birth, even at night. He offered himself to do small electrical or mechanical repairs; but his specialty was to serve as chauffeur of the Franciscans and of sisters when they had to go to the most distant villages of Quiriguá.

Even when Fray Tulio was receiving threats, Luis Obdulio continued to serve at the side of his pastor. He said, “It would be very cowardly to abandon him and I will not do that.”

Under the influence of the Franciscans in the parish, Luis Obdulio became a member of the Third Order of Saint Francis and participated in the Cursillos de la Cristiandad, a movement of spiritual renewal. He also served as a catechist. He was returning with Fray Tulio from working with the Cursillos when they were stopped, beaten, and killed.

I was struck by Luis Obdulio, the first native Guatemalan beatified, one of the few lay persons beatified in Latin America. He may also be the first blessed who is shown wearing blue jeans in the official image, at the side of Fray Tulio in his habit.

When I read in the church in Morales that he used to take people to the hospital in the parish car, I was stopped in my tracks and found myself near tears. Our parish just obtained a car, with the help of our sister parish, St. Thomas Aquinas church in Ames, Iowa. Though we’ve only had it for about two weeks, it has already served to make three trips. And our driver is a campesino with a heart of gold, given to service.

I see Blessed Luis Obdulio as one of the holy people of God whom we so often miss, the quiet and humble persons who serve God and their neighbors without fanfare. I pray that he may guide our ministry here in our parish in Honduras and inspire many to holiness.

I also see Blessed Luis as but one of hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children killed in Latin America, many of them witnesses to the faith – catechists, delegates of the Word, human rights workers, women religious, and priests – whom we need to remember as witnesses to the Reign of God, a Reign of justice, love, and peace.

The Mass was simple, yet beautiful, with thousands present. The Rite of Beatification and the Mass were in Spanish (with the decree read first in Latin) but there were prayers in Italian, Q'eqchi', and in the language of the Garifuna. A group of the Garifuna brought the gifts to the altar during the Offertory. 

It was a truly celebration of life in the face of death.

I was also moved by the presentation and incensing of the relics of the two martyrs - Fray Tulio's habit and stole and Luis Odbulio's shirt - simple signs of lives lived in simplicity, service, and holy love.

I feel renewed in my mission. I pray that our parish, our diocese, and the church may live the signs of the Reign of God that I saw on a banner on the road into Morales: 

PEACE, LOVE, JUSTICE, FREEDOM