Tuesday of Week 25 in Ordinary Time (Year II)
Saints Andrew Kim Taegon, Priest, and Paul Chong Hasang, and their Companions, Martyrs
Proverbs 21:1-6,10-13 | Psalm 118:1,27,30,34-35,44 | Luke 8:19-21
Today, we remember 103 Korean martyrs, whose steadfast faith in the face of persecution fired a Catholic community unique in the history of Mother Church, in that it was founded entirely by lay people. Reading about the life and death of St. Andrew Kim Taegon and St. Paul Chong Hasang, along with the testimony, recounted in Pope John Paul II’s homily at their canonisation mass, of children as young as 13 years old, I am both touched and shamed. I could never imagine declaring my faith as boldly as this:
“Even supposing that one’s own father committed a crime, still one cannot disown him as no longer being one’s father. How then can I say that I do not know the heavenly Lord Father who is so good?” (Peter Cho)
“Since the Lord of Heaven is the Father of all mankind and the Lord of all creation, how can you ask me to betray him? Even in this world anyone who betrays his own father or mother will not be forgiven. All the more may I never betray him who is the Father of us all” (Teresa Kwon)
“Once having known God, I cannot possibly betray him” (Augustine Yu)
Nor can I imagine being inspired by foreign religious books to dedicate myself to Christ, and to bring others to Him under the threat of death.
There’s no question that these 103 martyrs are counted among Jesus’ brothers and sisters, for as He reminds us in today’s Gospel:
My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and put it into practice. (Luke 8:21)
May we draw inspiration from these martyrs, perhaps not literally giving up our lives for Him, but certainly in staying on His Holy Way, and guiding others to do the same.
Amen.