“Well Deserved Honor”

“Well deserved”

Man from rural parish in Fresno diocese honored by Holy Father with special medal

Pope Benedict XVI has honored a parishioner in the Fresno diocese who, among other activities, broadcasts a weekly pro-life radio program in Spanish.

José Luis Madrigal, a parishioner at St. Jude Thaddeus parish in Livingston, has been presented with the Benemerenti Medal by the Holy Father in recognition of his service to the Church. Benemerenti means “to the well deserved.”
The medal was first established by Pope Gregory XVI in 1832. It is given to recognize Catholics who have demonstrated long and outstanding service to the Church.
Madrigal, reported the Modesto Bee, heads the building project of the Blessed Teresa of Calcutta Catholic Community in Delhi, an unincorporated town in Merced County about 5 miles from Livingston. According to the Fresno diocesan website, the community, a mission of St. Jude Thaddeus parish, was the “first church in the world dedicated to Blessed Mother Teresa (September 5, 1997).”
“Madrigal and his wife, Esperanza, also direct the high school religious education program, and he advises the parish youth group,” the Bee reported.
Madrigal, a member of the Knights of Columbus and Apóstoles de la Palabra (Apostles of the Word), also serves as a lector and a Eucharistic minister, the newspaper said.
“He uses his skills as a professional handyman to maintain the parish,” the Bee reported.
Madrigal has been married for 23 years and has three sons, one of whom, Luis, is a seminarian at the Benedictine-run Mount Angel Seminary in St. Benedict, Oregon, the newspaper reported. Another son, Gerardo, a student at CalState-Stanislaus, “is considering a religious vocation,” said the Bee.
The couple’s other son, Daniel, is a student at Delhi High School, according to the Bee.
From Californiacatholic.com