Fr. Bob Kus 
Today, we look at a missionary hero of our times, James Miller.
James was born on September 21, 1944 in Stevens Point, Wisconsin in the United States, into a farm family.
In Pacelli High School, he met the Christian Brothers for the first time and found that he greatly admired their work as teachers.
So, in September 1959, he entered the novitiate of the Order in the State of Missouri. After three years of study, the order sent him to his Postulancy and Novitiate in August of 1962. In Religious life, James took the name Leo William. However, after the Second Vatican Council, he went back to using his baptismal name – James.
His first assignment as a Religious Brother was as a teaching Brother at Cretin High School in St. Paul, Minnesota for three years. There, he taught Spanish, English, and Religion, and he supervised school maintenance and coached American-style football.
In 1969, after making his perpetual vows as a Christian Brother, Brother James was sent to Bluefields, Nicaragua. He taught there until he was re-assigned to be the Director of a school in Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua in 1974. Under his leadership, the school enrollment went from 300 to 800 students.
Brother James also supervised the building of ten new rural schools.
In July of 1979, however, Brother James’ religious superiors ordered him to leave Nicaragua because they thought the civil war there put him in danger. He obeyed, and, once again, taught at Cretin High School in Minnesota. He also spent time in the Sangre de Cristo renewal program in New Mexico in 1980.
In January of 1981, Brother James was sent to Guatemala. There, he taught school in Huehuetenango and worked at the Indian Center where young indigenous Mayans from rural areas studied agriculture.
Brother James was known for his hard work, love of his religious vocation, and his simplicity. Though he was a teacher and intelligent, his simplicity captivated everyone who knew him.
Once, when he was working in Nicaragua with the very poor, someone asked him if he was afraid to be in a place with so much violence. Brother James replied, “Are you kidding? I never thought I could pray with such fervor when I go to bed.”
In January of 1982, he was aware that the situation in Guatemala was dangerous. He wrote how although it was scary being in a violent environment, his commitment to the suffering poor of Central America was stronger than his fear.
Brother James, because he was so very handy fixing things, was sometimes called “Brother Fix-It.” His final action, in fact, was trying to repair a building. The date was February 13, 1982. As Brother James climbed a ladder to make repairs on a building, three hooded men appeared and shot him several times. Brother James, at the age of 37, died instantly.
On December 7, 2019, Brother James Miller’s beatification ceremony took place in Huehuetenango, Guatemala. Blessed James Miller’s feast day is February 13.
