The Mexican Martyrs

By Bob Lord and Penny Lord

Who are the Mexican people and why do we love them so very much? How did we, two kids born in New York, come to know the Mexican people? I believe it started with God sending our family to Southern California. But it wasn't until we went on our individual Cursillos that we really met any Mexicans. Although it was an English-speaking retreat, most of the retreatants were Mexican-Americans. On that weekend, when I got the Lord's message to find Him in the people around me, I balked: How could I find Him in a personal way from brothers and sisters who spoke predominantly Spanish, most of whom also came from the poorest barrios (Mexican ghettos)? And so, God was preparing us for this time and this walk with our Mexican cousins from the South; but because of my bull-headedness, I had to wait to know them and ultimately love them.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Journeys of Faith
• Release date: Apr 1, 2011
• ISBN: 9781458116369

Bob Lord

Bob and Penny Lord renowned Catholic Authors and hosts on EWTN. They are best known for their media on Miracles of the Eucharist and Many Faces of Mary. They have been dubbed experts on the Catholic Saints. They produced over 200 television programs for EWTN global television network and wrote over 25 books and hundreds of ebooks.

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The Mexican Martrys

Bob and Penny Lord

Published by Bob and Penny Lord at Smashwords

Copyright 2010 Bob and Penny Lord

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The Mexican Martyrs

I believe the best way to describe the Mexican Martyrs, the Martyrs of Poland and Ireland is with the spanish word for Martyr which is mártir. When you pronounce mártir in spanish you hear the word tear. The Catholic Church in Mexico has been bought with blood and tears.

The Mexican people we know and love

Who are the Mexican people and why do we love them so very much? How did we, two kids born in New York, come to know the Mexican people? I believe it started with God sending our family to Southern California. But it wasn't until we went on our individual Cursillos that we really met any Mexicans. Although it was an English-speaking retreat, most of the retreatants were Mexican-Americans. On that weekend, when I got the Lord's message to find Him in the people around me, I balked: How could I find Him in a personal way from brothers and sisters who spoke predominantly Spanish, most of whom also came from the poorest barrios (Mexican ghettos)? And so, God was preparing us for this time and this walk with our Mexican cousins from the South; but because of my bull-headedness, I had to wait to know them and ultimately love them.

In 1983, a beautiful Mexican Priest asked to join our Pilgrimage, with his Mexican-American pilgrims. When we began our Pilgrimage, Bob and I agreed to switch back and forth from the pilgrims on the English-speaking bus to those on the Spanish-speaking bus. We felt it would be difficult for one of us to remain full time with the Mexican-Americans who spoke little and understood less English. After the first day, I asked to remain with the bus of Mexican-Americans.

We were supposed to be leading this Pilgrimage; I was assigned to teach them. Instead, without the help of a common language or background (cultural or economic), with no great education in the Catholic Faith, they were teaching me. Whenever I became upset with the bus driver, who was determined to get us lost and separated from Bob and the other bus, they would start singing the most beautiful hymns of praise and worship. Suddenly a peace would enter the bus. Without understanding what was going on, they would come up to me and console me, telling me with their eyes, they loved me and most importantly, Jesus and Mary loved me. What they may have lacked in worldly knowledge, they excelled in Spiritually infused wisdom. They listened with the gut and responded with the heart.

On this Pilgrimage an English-speaking young blonde-haired boy, with blue eyes, opted to remain on the Spanish-speaking bus, and became a Mexican. [That boy is our grandson.] He and the maroon-haired, brown-eyed, olive-skinned youth on our bus became inseparable. The other pilgrims lovingly called them the Sweet Peas. They sang together. They laughed together. They learned from each other. They became family. And one of this group, Luz Elena truly became our grandson's spiritual sister.

What is a Mexican and what makes them capable of Martyrdom? One of the things that so endeared us to Luz Elena was the love, she had for our Lord and His Mother. She, so like her Mexican brothers and sisters, has a very simple faith. When we first got to know her on Pilgrimage, we found ourselves drawn to this young girl who adored her Lord so deeply. She would get lost in contemplation as she knelt at the different Shrines, as if she was far off in another land, in another time. She would apologize when she realized the rest of the pilgrims had walked ahead and I was waiting for her. As I watched her day after day, I discovered a part of what makes up these people we now love.

How was a young girl, now living in California, able to remain faithful to her heritage and her Church? From the time Luz Elena was a little girl, her grandmother brought her to Mass daily. Her life revolved around Church. They would go to Church several times a day. She prayed the Rosary with the ladies and the other children, and recited the Angelus at twelve noon. On different Feast Days, she and the other children dressed up as their ancestors before them, at times giving honor to their Lord and other times to their Heavenly Mother. They wore white dresses and carried baskets of flowers, and dressed as Indians when they were commemorating our Lady's coming to Juan Diego. They can't tell you now how these customs began. They just observed. They just obeyed. And you won't find a happier people. Luz has never felt the necessity to explain why she believes. She does and that's it! And that's Mexican.

The Mexican people have always fought to maintain their strong cultural roots. But, as with other immigrants who come to our beautiful United States, in an effort to become Americans, many sacrifice all the treasures they brought to this nation of the great melting pot of the world. They cast aside their language and their heritage. They become Americans! But not Luz Elena's family. The first day she was going to come to work for our Ministry, her parents refused to give her their blessing. Being the strong-willed Mexican we will talk about, she told them she could kneel at their feet for as long as it took, but she would not leave for work, without their blessing. [This is a beautiful tradition of the Mexican people that many maintain till today.]