Remembering Luis


Back in January, on a snowy Friday afternoon, we were praying on Shaker Blvd when a tall, young 30ish looking guy hopped out of his car and gave us two brand new winter coats to give away as part of the Solanus Casey Project. At the time, we barely knew him.  His name was Luis. His generosity brought to mind a St Francis quote:  “Remember that when you leave this earth, you can take with you nothing that you have received--only what you have given away.”


We got to know Luis a bit more in the coming months and soon began to see him everywhere.  Whenever we would go to the Monday evening Traditional Latin Mass at St Ignatius of Antioch, there would be Luis.  We would sporadically go to Eucharistic Adoration at St Rocco on Tuesdays, but when we did, there would be Luis.  When we mentioned to someone that we saw Luis serving a weekday morning Latin Mass at Immaculate Conception, we learned that he would ride his bike from Ohio City to E40 & Superior to serve.  We also learned he was a daily communicant.  He was quite active with Sidewalk Advocates for Life as well and Luis could frequently be found praying on Shaker Blvd and lovingly counseling young moms on the importance of protecting innocent life.  


Humble, yet funny.  Luis had a certain gravitas that seems almost extinct nowadays in his contemporaries.  He exuded holiness without any sort of pretentiousness.  A modern Merry del Val.  He seemed wise beyond his years particularly given his babyface.   And so we were quite surprised to learn that it had only been three years since Luis had experienced a strong reversion back to traditional Catholicism. What a deep, profound conversion.  The lesson, as we approach the feast days of St Monica and St Augustine, is that we must never stop praying for those we love to return home to the Faith.  No one is beyond our Lord’s loving grasp.


In one of Chesterton's stories, he mentions a certain character  and “an unseen hook and an invisible line which is long enough to let him wander to the ends of the world, and still to bring him back with a twitch upon the thread.”  Thank God for that timely “twitch upon the thread” that brought  Luis back to the Faith three years ago.  For last week, tragedy struck and our friend Luis suffered a cerebral hemorrhage due to a large brain tumor.  He was rushed to the hospital.  When a priest administering last rites uttered the words “your sins are forgiven,” the EEG noted a flurry of brain activity before again going flat.


Please pray for Luis and those who loved him.  And marvel at God’s incredible mercy.  There are many more men like Luis out there wandering “to the ends of the world.”  Pray for them.  With a “twitch upon the thread,” God can bring them back to the Faith if they are only open to his call.  We need them.  We need more men like Luis.  Pray, fast and give alms incessantly for your loved ones and God will bring them home.   


“Go away,” the unnamed  bishop said to St Monica, “while you live, the son of these tears of yours shall not perish!” (The Confessions of St. Augustine III, 12)


***********

Coat given away by Luis last January




*Please see the obituary for information on the viewing on Wednesday and Solemn High Requiem Mass on Thursday.


https://www.ripepi.com/obituary/luis-sandoval



*Luis picture above courtesy of John Volkenant



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Cleveland Latin Mass Community Reacts to News

They came for the Beauty, They Stayed to Give Back - The Latin Mass Community Rolls Up Its Sleaves!

Saturday 9/9 at MQP: Answering Chaos with Personal Holiness - Donuts & Updates from the Catacombs II