José Antonio Medina

Rome, November 8, 2005. The life of Jose Antonio Medina reflects a key aspect of the Regnum Christi vocation: extending Christ’s kingdom by helping its members be holy in the state and condition of life to which God has called them through personal and organized prayer and service.

This testimony of his life confirms that we can live an authentic Christianity when we personally experience Christ, who has invited us to get to know him, to love him, and to transmit him to others.

José Antonio Medina was born in Guadalajara, Mexico, on June 28, 1969. He was a joyful person, resolute in fulfilling his aspirations. He studied architecture and liked to play sports. In particular, he was an excellent swimmer. However, initially his spiritual life consisted of little more than attending Mass with his family on Sundays. As to the rest, he carried out a healthy life, lived in accordance with the principles of a good Catholic.

José Antonio’s life changed dramatically when for the first time he attended the Holy Week missions with Youth for the Third Millennium. God has his ways. Initially, José Antonio signed up because one of his friends was going, and he thought he would be able to spend some time with her. It was during these missions that his interior conversion began, leading him to develop a close friendship with Jesus. Following this experience, he became a member of the Regnum Christi Movement, and from the outset he dedicated himself to living his prayer and apostolic commitments with absolute fidelity.

Wishing to do more for Christ, he decided to give a year of his life as a Coworker; he served in the General Directorate of the Legion of Christ and the Regnum Christi Movement in Rome, and after completing his year of service, he decided to keep working as an architect at the service of the Legion and the Movement in their Rome headquarters.

Not long after, at the beginning of the year 2000, he was diagnosed with lung cancer. Amid confusion and fear, but under the light of the Holy Spirit, he made the necessary decisions. He underwent surgery in Mexico to remove the infected part of his lung during the summer. In December of that same year, his first follow-up operation showed that the cancer had disappeared.

In the meantime, José Antonio continued working in Rome as much as his health would

	Saying goodbye to two friends in the airport. He is going to see the doctors to find out if his cancer has returned. Even this difficult moment in his life does not keep him from smiling.

allow. He never lacked the closeness of his companions and friends, among them a Regnum Christi member from Venezuela who worked with him in Rome and who afterwards, along with other friends and family members, cared for him with great dedication and charity. José Antonio wrote a letter to one of them in February of 2001 in which he said that he did not see his illness with resignation, but rather with hope because “the infinite goodness of God surpasses any human expectation you can have.”

A month later, in January of 2001, while planning a trip to Fatima to thank the Blessed Virgin for her intercession, he began to feel ill, and he went in for a medical examination. The doctor confirmed his suspicion that the cancer had returned. José Antonio did not lose faith. He made his trip to Fatima in spite of the new developments. There, he felt in prayer that the Blessed Mother was accompanying him in his suffering. He always kept this certainty with him, and it helped him to keep fighting, insofar as he could, until the last day of his life.

During Holy Week of 2001, he began his fight against cancer. Thus began four years of often painful treatments in which he always placed all of his confidence and his life into the hands of God, the Blessed Mother, and the doctors.

In January of 2005, his breathing capacity was suddenly reduced to 6%, marking the beginning of another stage—the hardest of all—along the path of his suffering and sanctification. He spent the greater part of the next four months in the hospital, with his condition continually growing more delicate. In May, he left the hospital permanently so as to continue palliative care in his home. Throughout this period, his illness advanced noticeably.

During his sickness, he always benefited from daily Communion and the company of the Legionaries of Christ and members of Regnum Christi from all over the world, including: Mexico, Venezuela, Italy, United States, Spain, Germany, Ireland, Chile, Brazil, and Argentina. Children from the Mano Amiga schools in several cities in Mexico prayed for him daily and sent him letters and spiritual bouquets, which filled him with great joy and increased his hope even more, allowing him to feel very grateful to God.

Through his sufferings, José Antonio also wished to accompany in spirit Pope John Paul II, for whose person and teaching he professed an unconditional love.

On the night of August 16th, his mother gave him the cross of Saint Benedict, traditionally associated with prayer for a good death. Later, after receiving Communion and praying the Rosary, he said: “How good God is! It is not by chance that this crucifix has come to my hands. This is the greatest sign I have received in these months. Blessed and praised be God! I think the hour has arrived, and what a blessing it is! What more could I ask for?”

On the morning of August 17th, José Antonio was found kneeling at

	With his mom, thanking the Mano Amiga students for their prayers.

the foot of his bed, having given his life over to the Lord. How did he get onto his knees? Nobody knows because for over a month he had not been able to move by himself. This was how José Antonio wanted to meet Christ: on his knees.