Luis Uriel de Dios

TMCE7004 The Moral Dimension of the Christian Life

Summer 2020

Choose an exemplar of the Christian moral life. Write at least 1500 words on how
this person exemplifies the kind of life Jesus Christ has called Christians to live. Be sure to
both describe their life and actions, as well as demonstrate that their life is exemplary
insofar as it reflects and extends the portrait of what a good Christian life is. You will need
to research your subject, as well as draw on the texts and concepts introduced in the course
to make this argument.

One could make the argument that all saints are models of Christian life as each of them
has lived a life of total dedication to their vocation. These vocations come to life when the saints
recognize and respond to God’s unique call. Throughout their lives these people experienced
many good and bad situations. These bad experiences, whether personal or communal, need to
be judged through the lenses of Catholic moral convictions. These convictions are born in the
recognition of the greatness of God. Saints and many others have directed their convictions
towards the fight against unjust and oppressive systems. In this essay I would like to talk about
Saint Rafael Guizar and Valencia, a Mexican bishop who was born on April 28, 1878. During his
life, he experienced a time of transformation and unrest in Mexico. His was a time when the
church was being persecuted by the government. Within this reality he lived a life that made him
an exemplar of how to respond to injustice and persecution. I believe that Rafael is a portrait of a
good Christian life.

From the first years of his ecclesiastical ministry, Rafael had an open affiliation to the
ideology of Catholic social doctrine encouraged by Leo XIII. Bishop Rafael Guizar participated
and encouraged the III Congreso Agrícola Mexicano (Mexican Agricultural Congress). This
congress tried to follow some of the teachings in the encyclical Graves de Communi (1901):
“one lives only for his personal advantage in a community; he lives for the common good as
well, so that, when others cannot contribute their share for the general good, those who can do so
are obliged to make up the deficiency.”1San Rafael Guizar recognized the need to promote the
participation of the community in decision-making within religious and social reality.

In a social context characterized by injustice and exploitation, the actions of social

Catholicism impacted large contingents of poor and discontented farmers. Saint Rafael Guizar is
one of the many people who followed the teachings of the Rerum Novarum and used it as a tool
to battle the unchristian context at that point of history. Saint Rafael promoted the creation of
social programs that help those in need. He acknowledged that the teachings of this encyclical
had to be transmitted to all the members of the community. By doing this the community can
participate in the “new” way of thinking that is more focused on the participation of the

1 Leo XIII. “Graves De Communi Re .” Graves De Communi Re (January 18, 1901) | LEO XIII,
18 Jan. 1901, www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_l-
xiii_enc_18011901_graves-de-communi-re.html.
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TMCE7004 The Moral Dimension of the Christian Life
Summer 2020

community as a whole. According to the historian of the diocese of Papantla (Mexico) “the saint
established study circles to spread the social doctrine of the Church, founded parochial schools
for the poor and exhorted the rich to pay fair wages to workers and to give good prices to
farmers"2 Rerum Novarum states that the Christian needs to save unfortunate working people
from the cruelty of men of greed, who use human beings as mere instruments for money-
making.”3 This was certainly one of the convictions of Saint Rafael. Through the oral tradition,
many people know that Saint Rafael Guizar always demanded decent treatment, fair wages, and
the inclusion of all people. This fighting was performed during the exercise of his vocation
during his pastoral visits to the parishes of the diocese that he oversaw.

It is pertinent to analyze in depth why Rafael Guizar y Valencia represents a model of

Christian moral life. Those who lived close to him said that he dedicated an hour a day to prayer.
By doing this, He cultivated a vertical relationship with God that definitely eased the horizontal
relationship (with people). Fullan says that “The practices of spiritual life are aimed at deepening
our relationship with the divine, raising our sensitivity to the numinous in the universe and
especially in others, and cultivating ethical lives of devotion to service and the cause of justice in
the world.”4 spending time with God in prayer is the eye opener that people need to know what is
what God wants people to do. Sometimes, God is the one who has the answers to respond
correctly to the sufferings of the community. This time of prayer could be the moment when we
people prepare their soul to receive the graces from God. In other words, this contemplation
leads to an action.

When I was a little kid, I said to my pastor I want to be like San Rafael Guizar, and he
said to me, that is fantastic, but do you know who is the ultimate exemplar? Obviously, he was
talking about Jesus. Saint Rafael Guizar became a follower and worshipper of Churist. This
shaped his acting, praying and interacting with people. The decision to “reach out for others,” is
embedded in the embracing of the call to be a follower of Jesus christ. The life of Jesus, his
Gospel has become a pedagogy that helped Saint Rafael to know what he needed to do. Jordan in
his interpretations of Aquinas says “everything said about Christ carries a lesson. Thomas had
already stressed the need for a moral example: “we are provoked to virtue by both words and
examples” (lib.4 cap.54 n.7). In the Summa, the principle is expressed more succinctly and more
particularly in a traditional motto: Omnis Christi actio, nostra est instructio. Christ’s every

2 This statement was said during a talk given by Father Miguel Reyes Mendoza, during my time
in seminary.
3 Catholic Church. Pope. Rerum novarum. Rome: Lara, 1968. #42
4 Curran, Charles E., and Fullam, Lisa, editor. Ethics and Spirituality. New York: Paulist Press,
2014. p. 260
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TMCE7004 The Moral Dimension of the Christian Life
Summer 2020

action is our instruction. “5 As a Chirstian, Saint Rafael based his missionary work on the one
performed by Jesus.
During his canonization Pope Benedict says:

“As an example of one who has left all to "follow Jesus". This Saint was faithful to the divine
Word, "living and active", that penetrates the depth of the spirit (cf. Heb 4: 12). Imitating the
poor Christ, he renounced his goods and never accepted the gifts of the powerful, or rather, he
gave them back immediately. This is why he received "a hundred fold" and could thus help the
poor, even amid endless "persecutions" (cf. Mk 10: 30). His charity, lived to a heroic degree,
earned him the name, "Bishop of the poor". 6

In my opinion, Saint Rafael Guizar was not an exemplar all the time. He needed to
undertake a process of spiritual and personal growth. As we have studied, people cannot separate
faith and reason. They are strongly connected and play an important role to embody Christian
life. Homes proposes that “Those who are morally mature experience a deep attraction for the
good, are drawn to it, and fall in Love with it; but those who are slothful experience what the
biblical writers called "a hardening of the heart," a developing indifference to the good.7the
process of growing enabled Saint Rafael to be a passionate fighter for his Diocesis as a people of
God and demand a better life for them.

During the time of the religious persecution by the state ruled by Plutarco Elias Calles,
many priests, seminarians, religious men and women, joined the warlike conflict, these members
of the church decided to fight with bloodshed and death. This reality was not approved by San
Rafael, on the contrary, He opposed a clerical strike. He agreed that the law was unjust and could
not be obeyed, but he insisted that the priests must remain in the churches; if they were ejected,
others should replace them, thus peacefully defying the government until public opinion forced it
to back down.8 Rafael Guizar is convinced that the way to peace is not through bloodshed, but
through dialogue and the preaching of the gospel that preaches love. In my opinion, one of the
important tasks of San Rafael is the mission. This mission was aimed at preaching the gospel and
promoting the doctrine of Christian social justice. This mission also promoted the creation of
better interpersonal relationships between the members of the communities. This way of acting

5 Jordan, Mark D. "Seeing Gospel Stories." In Teaching Bodies: Moral Formation in the Summa
of Thomas Aquinas, 32-48. New York: Fordham University Press, 2017. Accessed July 26, 2020.
doi:10.2307/j.ctt1g2kn06.7.
6 Benedict XVI. “Canonization of Four Servants of God.” Canonization of four Servants of
God , October 16, 2006. http://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-
xvi/en/homilies/2006/documents/hf_ben-xvi_hom_20061015_canonizzazioni.html.
7 The Formation of Conscience Kenneth R. Homes p 167
8 Bailey, David C. !Viva Cristo Rey! The Cristero Rebellion and the Church-State Conflict in
Mexico. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1974. p. 77
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TMCE7004 The Moral Dimension of the Christian Life
Summer 2020

by Saint Rafael resonates with the teachings of Hogan, she says “Interpersonal relationships are
codetermined by our public relationships, and vice versa. To be in the right relationship, then,
means that human life, dignity, and flourishing are promoted in both spheres. Indeed, flourishing
in one sphere is made quite difficult without support from the other.9

It would be a mistake to view the pastoral work of Rafael Guízar and Valencia as only
historically significant. Although much of his writings have been lost, we have sufficient
materials to examine his reflections and doctrinal approaches, articulated in their entirety with
the postulates of Catholic social teaching. It can be concluded that Rafael Guízar and Valencia
developed a high capacity for social influence in specific political situations, a task that made it
possible to carry out his pastoral project. His beatification constituted the affirmation that Saint
Rafael’s praxis in the fields of culture, politics and social organization were motivated by
Christian thinking. Rafael Guízar and Valencia dedicated most of his 37 years of ministerial
practice to face anticlerical actions, always within the coordinates of the Church's social doctrine
and with defined political purposes.

"Dios colme a usted de bendiciones y lo llene de su santo amor"

9 Hogan, Linda, and A. E. Orobator. Feminist Catholic Theological Ethics : Conversations in

the World Church. Catholic Theological Ethics in the World Church. Maryknoll, New York:
ORBIS, 2014. https://search-ebscohost-com.proxy.bc.edu/login.aspx?
direct=true&AuthType=ip,shib&db=nlebk&AN=1901183&site=ehost-live.