Peter To-Rot
About 100 years ago, Pope St. Pius X asked a group of Cardinals:
“What is the thing we most need, today, to save society?”
“Build Catholic schools,” said one. “No.”
“More churches,” said another. “Still no.”
“Speed up the recruiting of priests,” said a third. “No, no,” said the Pope,
“The MOST necessary thing of all…is to form a group of lay-people who will be virtuous, enlightened, resolute, and truly apostolic.”
St. Pius X realized the most important thing to do is to form “shock troops”, a kind of special forces - to prepare Lay People to have a deep friendship with Jesus in prayer, who know their faith, and who will lead their family and friends to Jesus just by living friendship with others. Pius X also said: “If there were one million families praying the Rosary every day, the entire world would be saved.”
As Laity we must never ask again:
“What is the Bishop or the priest doing about this or that?” The Bishop and the Priest are in the words of the Second Vatican Council are primarily “ordained to the sacred ministry” that is to the ministry of the Liturgy and Sacraments. Their role is primarily inside the Church.
The role of the laity is to transform everything outside the Church. To bring the light and power of Christ into their homes, families, professions and into the whole of secular society.
“The laity, by their very vocation, seek the kingdom of God by engaging in secular affairs and by ordering them according to the plan of God. They live in the world, that is, in each and in all of the secular professions and occupations. They live in the ordinary circumstances of family and social life, from which the very web of their existence is woven. They are called there by God that by exercising their proper function and led by the spirit of the Gospel they may work for the sanctification of the world from within as a leaven. (Lumen Gentium 31).
Blessed Peter To-Rot
His feast we celebrate July 7, was born in Papua New Guinea, just north of Australia during the Pontificate of Pius X.
His parents were some of the region’s first converts to Catholicism. The parish priest thought Peter should become a priest, but his father, in hindsight, providentially encouraged Peter to become a catechist. By the time he was 21 he was a skilled teacher of the faith. At 24 he married Paula and they had three children.
In his Beatification Homily for Peter To-Rot John Paul II said: Inspired by his faith in Christ, he was a devoted husband, a loving father and a dedicated catechist known for his kindness, gentleness and compassion. Daily Mass and Holy Communion, and frequent visits to our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, sustained him, gave him wisdom to counsel the disheartened, and courage to persevere until death. In order to be an effective evangelizer, Peter To Rot studied hard and sought advice from wise and holy "big men". Most of all he prayed – for himself, for his family, for his people, for the Church. His witness to the Gospel inspired others, in very difficult situations, because he lived his Christian life so purely and joyfully. Without being aware of it, he was preparing throughout his life for his greatest offering: by dying daily to himself, he walked with his Lord on the road which leads to Calvary (Cf. Mt. 10: 38-39).
In 1942, the Japanese military attacked and occupied his island.
After a quiet start, repression grew violent. The Japanese banned all Christian worship, public and private, and decided to reintroduce polygamy among the people. All the priests were imprisoned in a concentration camp.
The only person left “in the field” was Peter and he immediately took up his responsibility: he baptized, visited the sick and the dying, assisted at marriages, and protected and guarded the Holy Eucharist. He knew the risks, but he was utterly convinced of the need “to give primacy to the things of God.”
In that Homily John Paul II continues: “During times of persecution the faith of individuals and communities is "tested by fire" (1Pt. 1: 7). But Christ tells us that there is no reason to be afraid. Those persecuted for their faith will be more eloquent than ever: "it is not you who will be speaking; the Spirit of your Father will be speaking in you" (Mt. 10: 20). So it was for Blessed Peter To Rot. When the village of Rakunai was occupied during the Second World War by the Japanese military and after the heroic missionary priests were imprisoned, he assumed responsibility for the spiritual life of the villagers. Not only did he continue to instruct the faithful and visit the sick, he also baptized, assisted at marriages and led people in prayer.
When the Japanese legalized and encouraged polygamy, Blessed Peter knew it to be against Christian principles and firmly denounced this practice. Because the Spirit of God dwelt in him, he fearlessly proclaimed the truth about the sanctity of marriage. He refused to take the "easy way" (Cf. ibid. 7: 13) of moral compromise. "I have to fulfil my duty as a Church witness to Jesus Christ", he explained. Fear of suffering and death did not deter him. During his final imprisonment Peter To Rot was serene, even joyful. He told people that he was ready to die for the faith and for his people.
His catechist’s crucifix
On the day of his death, Blessed Peter asked his wife to bring him his catechist’s crucifix. It accompanied him to the end. Condemned without trial, he suffered his martyrdom calmly. Following in the footsteps of his Master, the "Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (Jn.1: 29), he too was "led like a lamb to the slaughter" (Cf. Is. 53: 7). And yet this "grain of wheat" which fell silently into the earth (Cf. Jn. 12: 24) has produced a harvest of blessings for the Church in Papua New Guinea!