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November 10, 2024 Bulletin & News

By November 15, 2024No Comments
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“You are my inheritance, O Lord.”

-Psalm 16:5

Our refrain today looks back to the Levites, the priestly tribe in Israel. When God brought his people into the Promised Land, every tribe had its own portion of the land to settle on. Except the tribe of Levi.

They moved about, carrying out their priestly services on behalf of the people, and relying on the offerings they received. They did not have an earthly plot of land to hold and hand on. God was to be their inheritance, and his service, their reward.

On Thanksgiving Day, San Pedro will host the relics of six Mexican Martyrs canonized in 2000. These priests, who also belonged to the Knights of Columbus, were martyred between 1926 and 1937, under the oppressively anti-Catholic and anti-clerical regime. Like every martyr, they bear witness to the fact that God truly is our lasting inheritance. To serve God, even to the point of laying down our lives in faithfulness to him and in love for our neighbor, is worth more than any earthly possession or inheritance.

These relics will be displayed at San Pedro for public veneration from 8:00-10:30am on Thanksgiving Day, November, 28th. Our Thanksgiving Day Mass will be celebrated at 9:00am.

St. Maximilian Kolbe will also have special celebrations to honor these Mexican Martyrs on November 22nd and 24th. See page 4 for more details.

History of the Knights of Columbus Priest Martyrs of Mexico

In the early 20th century, the Mexican government began a widespread persecution of Catholics. In 1926, priests, missionaries and members of religious orders were expelled from the country. Ignoring the right to religious freedom, the government under President Plutarco Elías Calles took control of churches, seminaries, convents and schools, thereby beginning the campaign to do away with all of the “fanatics” who professed their Catholic faith. In the face of violence and persecution, more than a million Mexicans migrated to the United States seeking refuge; others spontaneously organized to defend themselves against government oppression, some peacefully and others taking up arms under the banner of “Cristo Rey” (“Christ the King”). This was the beginning of what became known as the Cristiada or Cristero War.

For three years (1926-1929), the Mexican people lived through violent persecution, in which priests and laypeople were ordered to renounce Christ in public. To refuse to do so meant facing not only punishment, but even torture and death. Thousands of Mexican Catholics gave witness to their faith or fought to defend it. In many cases, they paid for it with their lives. Their acts of love and bravery have echoed throughout the decades, and we remember their testimony today.

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