There were about 1000 Christians who were martyred during this persecution, one of whom is honored on July 9, St. Mark Ji Tian-xiang. (Shi-ang)
St. Mark was born in China in 1834. He was a physician who served the poor. But when he himself became seriously sick in his 30s, he began to treat himself with one of the common medicines of that time, opium. But he began to abuse the powerful drug and developed an opium addiction that lasted for decades.
As a Catholic, St. Mark prayed for deliverance from his addiction, but he kept falling. He would confess his moral failure in the Sacrament of Confession, but even that only provided periods of sobriety, and as the Yihequan began their persecutions access to the Sacrament became impossible. Nevertheless he remained a believing and practicing Catholic.
During the Boxer Rebellion, St. Mark was captured by the Yi-he-quan and when he was given a chance to renounce his faith in order to save his life, he refused. It is said that he sang the litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary as he was led to his execution.
And remember St. Mark died still mired in a vice from which he was never able to completely break free: that crippling addiction to opium.
No matter how many times he confessed, and no matter how many times he uttered his resolution to amend his life, he continued to fall back into addiction. Those around him, including his family, his friends and even the priest to whom he regularly confessed his sins suspected him of abandoning the desire for conversion.
And yet…he died a heroic Christian martyr. He professed Christ with his last breath and won the martyrs crown. He is with Christ in heaven. This addict had also cultivated heroic courage and responded to the grace of God in final perseverance.
As St. Mark and his family were dragged to prison to await their execution, his grandson looked fearfully at him. “Grandpa, where are we going?” the grandson asked. To which St. Mark replied, “We’re going home.” St. Mark begged his captors to kill him last so that none of his family would have to die alone. He stood beside all nine of them as they were beheaded; his faith unshaken.
Those who have struggled with or those who continue to struggle with addiction know that there is a real temptation just to give up trying to overcome the addiction, to give up and give in. But St. Mark reminds us all to persevere in seeking to overcome our vices. As many times as you fall, come back to the Lord. Don’t stop praying for deliverance. Don’t stop going to confession and receiving the Eucharist with the desire for inner healing and freedom.
In the Second reading, St. Paul s very clear about how the flesh and the Spirit are at war. There is a war between what our body desires, what our flesh desires, and what is good for our soul. Because of Original Sin, we cannot trust that every bodily desire is for our greater good. We desire too much of what we don’t need, like sin, and too little of what we do need, like prayer. Our body often craves what is sinful, not always, but enough that bodily desires must be discerned.
And St. Paul teaches that there are eternal consequences for living only for those sinful fleshly desires, making an idol of the flesh, where pleasure is first and God is second. “For if you live according to the flesh, you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”
St. Mark Ji Tianxiang didn’t give up. He fell. He relapsed. He disappointed his family and himself. But he persevered in the struggle. That’s what living by the Spirit means. It’s not that we are automatically morally perfect in all of our behaviors just because we are baptized. Living by the Spirit means continuously struggling against those weaknesses of the flesh, repenting when we fall, turning to God for forgiveness, making a firm purpose of amendment to change as we can with God’s help.
The Lord in the Gospel says, "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you.” You want refreshment in your struggles against the flesh? The Sacrament of Confession is like instant refreshment. You who are burned by the guilt of sin, you can receive instant refreshment. So many people deprive themselves of that beautiful sacrament, that refreshing sacrament, where Jesus is waiting to refresh you, if you would but humble yourself. Confession is such a powerful aid to our sanctification. Every sin might be a failure, but every confession is a victory for God.
And there may come a time, like in 20th century China when priests were rounded up and forced underground, when that Sacrament—that gift from Jesus himself, isn’t as available as it is right now. With the way modern society is bent on giving up its freedoms these days, and obscuring the message of the Gospel, the Church may have some difficult times ahead in these parts, not to mention the secret and not-so-secret societies which hate the Church and work against her. But even then, it will be okay, because the real fight is always the fight of the Spirit—to seek faithfulness to God when the world’s powers are unleashed.
For those who learn from Jesus, those who become meek and humble of heart like him, even in persecution, will find rest in his presence, in his company, the company of the saints with Christ for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.
No comments:
Post a Comment