Raul J. Mondragon

† JMJ RAÚL J. MONDRAGÓN’S EULOGY Mercedes Nunes January 15, 2015 Holy Redeemer Catholic Church, North Bend, Oregon “I desire to grant unimaginable graces to those souls who trust in My mercy…” (A quote from Jesus speaking to St. Faustina) In 1935, Jesus appeared to St. Maria Faustina Kowalska in Poland. At that time, the Lord revealed a powerful prayer that He wanted everyone to say- The Divine Mercy- and he promised extraordinary graces to those who would recite it. In December of 1962 a woman, although knowing nothing of the Divine Mercy vision, was giving birth to her child and was experiencing serious complications during her delivery. Immediately, the woman began resigning herself to God’s holy will. She fervently began to pray to God, pleading for His Mercy. After safely delivering her baby girl, the woman was so grateful for God’s Mercy upon them that she named her child Mercedes a name which in Spanish means Mercy. The woman’s name is Natividad (or Nattie). Natividad is Raύl Mondragon’s wife and Mercedes is the 7th child of their 8 children (or 8 blessings as Nattie likes to say). In December of 2014, days before Raύl died, Mercedes was blessed to be with her father and prayed the Divine Mercy Chaplet for his soul trusting in Jesus’ unimaginable graces. I am Mercedes and for dad’s eulogy, I would like to testify to God’s divine mercy in the last days of my father’s life. It was December 5, 2014 and Dad was doing poorly at his home in Baycrest so he was rushed to the hospital. After trying to help him for a few days, the general consensus among the doctors was that before proceeding any further that I really needed to look at Dad’s “quality of life.” I believe that what they were telling me was that rather than seeking to prolong the life of my father, I should first consider why? After all, he could not see, he could not walk, his left side was paralyzed, he could not swallow, and he could no longer get up to go to the bathroom by himself, i.e. dad needed total care. The culture of death was beginning to swarm around him for he appeared to some to no longer have any “quality of life.”On the contrary, from the teachings of our Lord, the Church assures us that all life has quality. What I came to discover was that some of these medical professionals were blind. Oh, perhaps not literally, but spiritually. For, Raúl was able to think clearly (most of the time) and he could hear very well. In fact, Raúl understood everything that was happening around him. It was not dad who was complaining about his quality of life but rather those who were treating him. Since dad was having difficulty swallowing and unable to take in enough nourishment, he agreed to have the GPEG placed into his stomach. The GPEG was placed in on December 19th and from this day onward it became obvious to me that Raúl was being transformed by these unimaginable graces from the Divine Mercy. That night and the next few nights that followed, I heard dad chanting a litany of prayers and speaking in his childhood native tongue of Spanish. “Perdanome, Perdoname” (Forgive me, Forgive me) “Perdoname, Perdoname” (Forgive me, Forgive me) and then afterwards he would begin a new litany of prayers “Diosito mio, te amo!” (My God I love you!), “Diosito mio, te amo!” (My God, I love you!). Dad would then ask for intercessory prayer from the communion of saints, faith filled people that he had known from his childhood and who were now deceased. “Serafina Sordia por favor, auydame, ora para mi “ (Sara Sordia, please help me, pray for me!).”Maria Luisa, Por favor, auydame! ora para mi! “ (Maria Louisa, help me! Pray for me!) Dad also was pleading to a name that was not familiar to me so I asked dad’s sister, Aunt Esther, about a Louie Reynoso. Esther confirmed that Louie was one of dad’s good childhood friends. A few days later, she called to tell me that she discovered that Louie had just died a few days ago! (Louie died on December 17, 2014). At the Divine Mercy vision of 1935 our Lord said to St. Faustina: “Encourage souls to say the Chaplet which I have given you. ….. Whoever will recite it will receive great mercy at the hour of death….When they say this chaplet in the presence of the dying, I will stand between My Father and the dying person, not as the just judge but as the Merciful Savior….I desire to grant unimaginable graces to those souls who trust in My mercy….” Just a few minutes after midnight, on Christmas morning, December 25th, dad was resting in his bed and as I approached him, he said to me, “Estoy Jesus” (I am Jesus). Now, I thought to myself, no, I must not have heard this right and again he stated, “Estoy Jesus” (I am Jesus). Upon reflection, I came to understand that I was looking at Jesus in my father. My father had been responding to Jesus’ Divine Mercy so much so, that there was room in his heart for Jesus to be born anew. Jesus was born this morn and he found a home in Raúl who was powerless and vulnerable just like the Christ child on Christmas morn in Bethlehem During Christmas day, dad seemed to be drawn into a deeper sleep and when he would wake up he was extremely thirsty and tired. I asked him if he was dying today, and he said no, and that Jesus said not now and (for him) to go back. Throughout all these days of illness, dad could not stop proclaiming his love for his dear wife, Natividad, of 60 years of marriage (1955). Raúl and Natividad loved each other very much but were separated for a time in their married life for which Raúl regretted. On Christmas day, however, Raúl acknowledged his sins and sought reconciliation with those he had offended and in turn, he received their pardon. Oh, what miracles occurred on that Christmas day! Imagine, had we succumbed to the pressures and intimidations of the culture of death dad may not have had these precious moments to reconcile with his loved ones, and his God, the author of life. Raúl was becoming purified and holy before my very eyes. In the midst of sorrow, I felt a great joy and pride for Raúl because he was responding to the unimaginable graces that Jesus, the Divine Mercy had promised for his soul. Although there was sorrow on Christmas day for us, greater was our joy for dad because he was becoming like Christ! The next day, December 26th, I was preparing to leave for the airport since dad had assured me that he would not die on Christmas or the next day. As I approached dad, he said to me, “my mom is coming to pick me up tomorrow and to take me home” (which would be December 27th). On December 27th, the nurse at Baycrest called me at home to tell me that it looked like dad was dying. So, the nurse placed the phone up to dad’s ear, and I spoke my last words to dad. “Dad, if it is time for you to go now, you must run dad, RUN to Jesus because he is waiting for you along with his Blessed Mother Mary. If you should hear another voice dad that says something different, don’t listen to it and run, run straight to Jesus and Mary”….the nurse assured me that dad heard me. At about 11:40 pm, on December 27th, dad died. Indeed, his mother had come to take him home as he had said after all; Raúl received the unimaginable graces promised him from Jesus for the souls that trust in his Divine Mercy.

Tributes

Raul J. Mondragon

June 3, 1931 - December 27, 2014