{"id":310,"date":"2013-01-26T23:06:00","date_gmt":"2013-01-26T23:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2013\/01\/perseverance-in-the-mission.html"},"modified":"2016-03-25T19:47:35","modified_gmt":"2016-03-26T00:47:35","slug":"perseverance-in-the-mission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2013\/01\/perseverance-in-the-mission.html","title":{"rendered":"Perseverance in the Mission"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

Last week I met a priest who lost 1000 parishioners in one day in a massacre in 1982.<\/p>\n

Last week I met a priest who was put in a cage while a lieutenant in front of him radioed the colonel to ask for orders to shoot him. \u00a0Since the colonel was out to lunch the lieutenant reluctantly let the priest go, ordering him to stop again at the checkpoint on his return downstream (the priest visited his communities by boat).<\/p>\n

Last week I met a religious brother who spent three and a half years in a refugee camp organizing people and giving them hope until he accompanied them back to their homeland.<\/p>\n

Last week I met a priest who learned at least three Maya languages and worked to translate the New Testament into one of these unwritten languages, Jacotec. He humbly claims to be the first catholic priest ever to celebrate mass in a Maya language back in the 1960s.<\/p>\n

These men had fellow priests and friends tortured and murdered. These men were threatened constantly yet they did not flee to the safety of their native country, the USA.<\/p>\n

Hundreds of their catechists, church workers, church teachers and medics were murdered. \u00a0In total, 200,000 civilians were executed in Guatemala between 1960 and 1996 (another 50,000 disappeared), most of them descendants of the Mayas, most of them Catholic, and almost all of them killed by their own government. \u00a0One and a half million people were displaced and 676 massacres occurred.<\/p>\n

How did these priests persevere in the midst of such difficulty?<\/p>\n

They persevered because they longed to participate in the mission of Jesus Christ, a mission we just heard proclaimed in today\u00b4s Gospel reading: to bring glad tidings to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives, recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.<\/p>\n

These men believed in the power of the Prince of Peace in a country plagued by war. \u00a0They believed in the power of Christ to liberate captives and the oppressed. \u00a0They believed in Christ\u2019s ability to bring glad tidings to the poor and to bring about a society acceptable to the Lord.<\/p>\n

They taught their parishioners how to read and write.<\/p>\n

They taught their parishioners how to farm better.<\/p>\n

They taught their parishioners how to keep healthy.<\/p>\n

And above all and most importantly, they showed their parishioners the love and compassion of Christ in the midst of their pain and suffering.<\/p>\n

These brave men challenged sinful structures of society that though lawful, did not respect the dignity of the human person, in particular the poor and oppressed.<\/p>\n

Certain parallels may be drawn to our present struggle in our country where millions have been massacred legally and under government supervision and approval for the past forty years. \u00a0We need prophetic voices to rise up above the politics and political correctness to call society to conversion, repentance and reconciliation.<\/p>\n

Cardinal Bernadin, previous archbishop of Chicago, asked that if the value of human life is not upheld, how can any other human value or right be upheld? \u00a0He said, \u201cthe more one reverences human life at all stages, the more one becomes committed to preserving the life of the unborn, for this is human life at its earliest and most vulnerable stage.\u201d<\/p>\n

We need men and women who recognize their unique role in the body of Christ as the church continues the make present today the mission of Christ on earth. \u00a0We need men and women who will stand up for the dignity of human life.<\/p>\n

Our desire as Christians must be to stand in solidarity with the whole church to bring glad tidings to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives, recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.<\/p>\n

Archbishop Romero, the slain archbishop of San Salvador, once said it was difficult to be a \u201cman of the magisterium\u201d because it is not easy to be always consistent in our proclamation of the Gospel. \u00a0He firmly believed he had to accept and live out the wholeness of the teachings of the Church and her bishops.<\/p>\n

Romero would challenge us today to be men and women of the Church, to be faithful and loyal to the teachings of Christ and his church, be it by showing compassion and mercy towards the poor, condemning abortion, calling for immigration reform and, as the bishops very recently stated, call for gun control in order to build a culture of life and to confront the culture of violence.<\/p>\n

This challenge is an invitation for us to live out the Paschal mystery of the death and resurrection of Christ into which we have all been baptized. \u00a0To die to ourselves so that Christ may shine brightly through us.<\/p>\n

Though these four men serving in Guatemala persevered by the grace of God and survived, they have also given their lives by dying to themselves so that others may have life. \u00a0That is our calling, may God give us the grace to desire it and live it.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Sunday Mass at Santiago Atitlan with Tzutuhil Mayas<\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Lake Atitlan, Guatemala (also pictured at top of post)<\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
San Lucas Toliman, Guatemala<\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
La Antigua Guatemala<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Pictures are mine, all rights reserved.<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 Last week I met a priest who lost 1000 parishioners in one day in a massacre in 1982. Last week I met a priest who was put in a cage while a lieutenant in front of him radioed the colonel to ask for orders to shoot him. \u00a0Since the colonel was out to lunch […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2533,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-310","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nPerseverance in the Mission<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"  Last week I met a priest who lost 1000 parishioners in one day in a massacre in 1982. Last week I met a priest who was put in a cage while a\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2013\/01\/perseverance-in-the-mission.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Perseverance in the Mission\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"  Last week I met a priest who lost 1000 parishioners in one day in a massacre in 1982. Last week I met a priest who was put in a cage while a\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2013\/01\/perseverance-in-the-mission.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Labyrinthine Mind\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-01-26T23:06:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-03-26T00:47:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/files\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-CuAzZnCLt4g\/UQSkSEfpaTI\/AAAAAAAAB08\/MhAL-mBtI6M\/s320\/DSC05399.JPG\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Father Pablo Migone\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Father Pablo Migone\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2013\/01\/perseverance-in-the-mission.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2013\/01\/perseverance-in-the-mission.html\",\"name\":\"Perseverance in the Mission\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-01-26T23:06:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-03-26T00:47:35+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#\/schema\/person\/35ce8464416a4368561caf8ed8c2ba1b\"},\"description\":\"  Last week I met a priest who lost 1000 parishioners in one day in a massacre in 1982. Last week I met a priest who was put in a cage while a\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2013\/01\/perseverance-in-the-mission.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2013\/01\/perseverance-in-the-mission.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2013\/01\/perseverance-in-the-mission.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Perseverance in the Mission\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/\",\"name\":\"Labyrinthine Mind\",\"description\":\"Seeking God in the labyrinth\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#\/schema\/person\/35ce8464416a4368561caf8ed8c2ba1b\",\"name\":\"Father Pablo Migone\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/305296c2dd82f71369f8808eb07ace26?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/305296c2dd82f71369f8808eb07ace26?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Father Pablo Migone\"},\"description\":\"Born in Lima, Peru and raised in Augusta, Georgia, Father Pablo Migone was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 2009 after studying at the Pontifical North American College and earning a Masters in Dogmatic Theology at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Rome, Italy. He currently serves as Vicar for Mission Advancement of the Diocese of Savannah, Georgia and Pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish and Corpus Christi Parish in the Savannah, Georgia area. The views expressed in this blog are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of his bishop or the Diocese of Savannah.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/author\/pmigone\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Perseverance in the Mission","description":"  Last week I met a priest who lost 1000 parishioners in one day in a massacre in 1982. Last week I met a priest who was put in a cage while a","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2013\/01\/perseverance-in-the-mission.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Perseverance in the Mission","og_description":"  Last week I met a priest who lost 1000 parishioners in one day in a massacre in 1982. Last week I met a priest who was put in a cage while a","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2013\/01\/perseverance-in-the-mission.html","og_site_name":"Labyrinthine Mind","article_published_time":"2013-01-26T23:06:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-03-26T00:47:35+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/files\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-CuAzZnCLt4g\/UQSkSEfpaTI\/AAAAAAAAB08\/MhAL-mBtI6M\/s320\/DSC05399.JPG"}],"author":"Father Pablo Migone","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Father Pablo Migone","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2013\/01\/perseverance-in-the-mission.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2013\/01\/perseverance-in-the-mission.html","name":"Perseverance in the Mission","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#website"},"datePublished":"2013-01-26T23:06:00+00:00","dateModified":"2016-03-26T00:47:35+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#\/schema\/person\/35ce8464416a4368561caf8ed8c2ba1b"},"description":"  Last week I met a priest who lost 1000 parishioners in one day in a massacre in 1982. Last week I met a priest who was put in a cage while a","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2013\/01\/perseverance-in-the-mission.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2013\/01\/perseverance-in-the-mission.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2013\/01\/perseverance-in-the-mission.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Perseverance in the Mission"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/","name":"Labyrinthine Mind","description":"Seeking God in the labyrinth","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#\/schema\/person\/35ce8464416a4368561caf8ed8c2ba1b","name":"Father Pablo Migone","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/305296c2dd82f71369f8808eb07ace26?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/305296c2dd82f71369f8808eb07ace26?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Father Pablo Migone"},"description":"Born in Lima, Peru and raised in Augusta, Georgia, Father Pablo Migone was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 2009 after studying at the Pontifical North American College and earning a Masters in Dogmatic Theology at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Rome, Italy. He currently serves as Vicar for Mission Advancement of the Diocese of Savannah, Georgia and Pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish and Corpus Christi Parish in the Savannah, Georgia area. The views expressed in this blog are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of his bishop or the Diocese of Savannah.","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/author\/pmigone"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2533"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=310"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}