Denver Catholic

5 DENVER CATHOLIC | OCTOBER 22-NOVEMBER 11, 2016 Cover Story FREE ESTIMATES • INSURANCE CLAIMS • EXPERT REPAIR WORK • SEAMLESS ALUMINUM GUTTERS • LICENSED AND INSURED • SPECIAL SENIOR CITIZEN DISCOUNTS A Name You Can Trust & Afford For Over 35 Years 2221 Gray Street Edgewater, CO 80214 www.millsroofingcompany.com 303-232-0324 You are invited to join us for the ALL SOULS DAY BREAKFAST Commemorating those who have died Queen of Peace Catholic Church 13120 E Kentucky Ave., Aurora CO 80012 $35 per person Wednesday, November 2, 2016 * Mass at 6:30 a.m. Breakfast from 7:15 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. Guest Speaker: Sisters of Life For more information and to register, visit www.dmsci.org or call 303-357-2540 HOLY CROSS CHURCH invites you to join us for two very special family evenings ACTS OF MERCY MISSION Thursday, Nov. 10 and Friday, Nov. 11 at 7:00 pm Thursday, Nov. 10 and Friday, Nov. 11 at 7:00 pm Type Thank You's Announcements Here For more information about bringing Frank Runyeon to your church, school, or theater, contact: RUNYEON PRODUCTIONS, INC. P.O. Box 531 Newbury Park, CA 91319 800-984-8472 www.frankrunyeon.com Type Name of Your Church Type Date Here Thursday, Nov. 10 and Friday, Nov. 11 at 7:00 pm HOLY CROSS - 9371 Wigham St., Thornton 80229 FOR INFORMATION CALL 303-289-2258 TV Actor FRANK RUNYEON in LUKE: Stories of Mercy and john: Signs of Mercy FIGHT FOR THE FAITH Despite being just a boy, Jose joined the Cristeros, a movement trying to defend religious liberty in the country. He carried out simple tasks, such as helping with the logistics for those who were fighting the battle for the faith. During one clash between the Cristero troops and the federal forces, Jose saved one of the leaders of his army, the Cris- tero leader Guizar Morfin. Morfin's horse was killed and he was in danger of being captured. Jose, seeing his predicament, quickly got oƒ his horse and handed him to his general: "My general," he said, "take my horse and save yourself. You are more needed by this cause than I am."† General Guizar Morfin managed to escape, but the federal troops captured Jose, taking him to the town of Cotija, beating and rebuking him along the way. "We're going to see how much of a man you really are," they told him. During his imprisonment, he wrote a letter to his mother: "Do not be worried about my death, as this would make me suƒer … Be courageous and send me your blessing, together with the bless- ing of my father." Picazo, his godfather, didn't want to kill the boy and oƒered him various pro- posals so as to save his life. He oƒered to register him in a prestigious military school or send him to the United States, but the boy refused these temptations since in order to get them, he would have to deny his faith. They also asked his family for a ransom of 5,000 pesos, but Jose also rejected this oƒer, saying that his faith was "not for sale." On Feb. 10, 1928, they transferred Jose to a building close to where he was being held and told his family that he would be shot. One of his aunts man- aged to bring him Communion. "I am sentenced to death. At 8:30 p.m., the moment that I have desired so, so much will arrive. I thank you for all the kindnesses you've shown me, you and Magdalena," he wrote to his aunt. The soldiers tortured him by cutting the bottoms of his feet with a knife and forcing him to walk barefoot to his last resting place, the cemetery of Sahuayo. "I didn't hear laments; I only heard the resigned voice of Jose. I saw the footprints of blood from the soles of his feet at the gate called Arregui that is on the street that leads to the cemetery; at the inn they also tortured him. … They brought him to the cemetery where first he was stabbed and then they gave him the final blow in the head," a witness of the martyrdom testified. Once at the cemetery, Jose was stabbed by the soldiers. With each strike, he shouted, "Long live Christ the King! Long live Our Lady of Guada- lupe!" Then a military leader shot him twice in the head, put his lifeless body in a small grave and covered him with dirt. It was 11:30 p.m. on Feb. 10, 1928. "Blessed Jose Sanchez del Rio should inspire us all, especially you young people," Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins said during the homily of his beatification in 2005 in Guadalajara, "to be capable of giving witness to Christ in our daily lives." «• Jose Luis: My faith is not for sale The 14-year- old martyr Jose San- chez del Rio was canonized Oct. 16.

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