Antonio was absolutely in awe of what he was reading about the life of Marin Luther.

Now he knew why he felt so strange when Filomena, his grandmother, had told him about the indulgences she had bought from that lady that needed money.

Martin Luther wrote his 95 theses as a protest to these indulgences and that was already in 1517. Amazing. Just because Rome had a pressing issue for money needed for the construction of Saint Peter’s Basilica, they sent priests to different cities in Europe preaching about hell, the pains of purgatory, (specially for little children who had died without being baptized) and on the comfort of heaven. Wouldn’t it be worth paying some good money to give this comfort to the souls in purgatory?
Luther was not impressed but enraged, and he nailed his 95 theses on the door of of the Castle Church.

The Protestant Reformation had begun!

Antonio was exited! He felt as a cat that had stolen a fish from the kitchen. He knew that as a Catholic he had learned that God teaches the need for works. Through the apostle James, God tells: “Faith without works is dead,” through Paul: “I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions,” and Jesus himself says: “Whatever you did for the least of my brothers you did for me” and “Take up your cross daily and follow me.” Clearly then, the conclusion was that there is some interaction between grace and work, and it is through this interaction that salvation is achieved.

But what about what Martin Luther had discovered in the very Bible about justification by faith? Most clearly in Luther commentary on Galatians, it is established that only the death of Christ saves. No works needed. Works were, then, a product of the change produced in the person who recognizes Jesus as Lord of his/her life, the born-again Christian! Not necessary to gain salvation, but just a way to show the consequences of being a transformed person saved by grace, through faith.

Helping others was not needed to obtain salvation, but it was a way to show God’s love through the saved person.

This knowledge made Antonio pray about what he should do with this new revelation.

Of course, before waiting for a direct answer from God, Antonio went to talk to Luis.

Luis invited Antonio for a walk out of the town and far from the Church. After Antonio told him how exited he was about what he had learned in the book about Martin Luther, and how he understood much better the reason why God sent Christ to pay for all our sins forevermore, Luis spoke:

“I was raised by a German grandmother who was a Lutheran and taught me about being saved only by grace through faith,” he said. “She was married to my father who died young. My mother then remarried to a wealthy man who was a member of the Opus Dei, and I was adopted by him. When I expressed the desire to dedicate my life to Christ, my stepfather arranged my admission to an order he favored, but not the Jesuits, who, he said, opposed the Opus Dei.”

Antonio first wanted to know what was Opus Dei. Luis explained that it is a personal prelature or canonical structure of the Catholic Church which comprises a prelate (high-ranking member of the Christian clergy), clergy and laity who undertake specific pastoral activities. The first personal prelature is Opus Dei.

As a laity member of Opus Dei, Luis’ stepfather believed in performing sacrifices pertaining to normal duties and emphasized charity and cheerfulness. However, he also focused on the practice of mortification. That is the voluntary offering up of discomfort or pain to God. He and his mother were required to remain silent for several hours during the day. He was not allowed to sleep with a pillow, and his stepfather and mother slept on the floor.

Luis also said that his mother and he were submitted to fasting and self-inflicted pain or self-flagellation, but he didn’t want to explain that to Antonio. Enough to say, Luis explained, that he could not get married.

Luis had asked to go to Peru as a priest because he wanted to be as far as he could from his stepfather. His mother, he explained, had died before he finished Seminary.

After Luis came to the village in Peru, he took long walks in search of a deeper relationship with Christ. (He discovered the supernatural creatures on one of those walks.) He believed that becoming a Christian was simple, not legalistic. He didn’t believe in Catholic orders or Christian denominations at all.

Luis preached the way to salvation to the villagers and didn’t encourage them to follow most of the syncretic traditions of the Catholic church.

The true Gate to Heaven was to become a believer in the justice of God. The justice of love itself.