February 6 2023 - St. Paul Miki and martyred companions - Make disciples of all nations

 

Christianity didn’t come to Japan until the tail end of the 16th century, particularly through the efforts of the great Jesuit missionary, St. Francis Xavier. Paul Miki was a native Japanese who had entered the Jesuit Order. He studied intensively the teachings of the Buddhists so that he could debate the Buddhist priests in order to convert them. 

By 1587, around 200,000 Japanese had entered the Church. Seeing Christianity as a threat to his sovereignty and to his nation, in that year, the Japanese emperor ordered the banishment of Christianity from Japan and the expulsion of all missionaries.  The edict was not very well enforced, which allowed many missionaries to remain in the country preaching the Gospel, though at the risk of their lives.

In 1596, the emperor increased his persecution of the Church, he began to arrest Christians in the south-central region of Japan called the Kansai region. They were forced to march 600 miles from Kyoto to Nagasaki. There they underwent some of the most brutal tortures in Church history. Those who did not apostatize were hung upon crosses and then skewered with spears. 

Paul Miki was among that first group of martyrs which also included 6 Franciscans from Spain, Mexico, and India, 3 other native Japanese Jesuits, and 17 lay Catholics comprised of catechists, doctors, simple artisans and servants, old men and innocent children. 

These Christian missionaries took to heart the Lord’s instruction in the Gospel: “go and make disciples of all nations”. 

Though Christianity was almost entirely wiped out from Japan, today there are about 1-3 million Japanese Christians, a half a million or so of them Catholic. A half a million out of a population of 123 million—less than one half a percent of the population. We have some work to do, no?

But then again, we have our challenges here at home, too. Again, St. Paul Miki studied Buddhism in order to convert Buddhists. The American Church likely needs to get a lot more serious about studying the prevailing philosophies, so that we can meet people are with the truth of the Gospel. What do our neighbors wrongly believe about Catholicism that is keeping them from conversion; what missionary activity in our own land is the Lord calling us to undertake?

May the example and holy intercession of St. Paul Miki and his martyred companions assist us in our task, and the Church in every land, for the glory of God and salvation of souls. 

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Our Savior’s faithfulness is mirrored in the fidelity of his witnesses who shed their blood for the Word of God. Let us praise him in remembrance of them:

The martyrs freely embraced death in bearing witness for the faith, may we receive the true freedom of the Spirit. 

 The martyrs professed their faith by shedding their blood, may we have a faith that is constant and pure. 

The martyrs followed in your footsteps by carrying the cross, may we endure courageously our earthly trials and all the misfortunes of life.

The martyrs washed their garments in the blood of the Lamb, may we be helped by their prayers to avoid the weaknesses of the flesh and worldly allurements.

That all missionaries may have courage and strength in their witness to the Gospel, for an increase in vocations, and that more men and women will take up the missionary call.

For the sick and suffering among us, for those who care for them, and for all of our beloved dead, especially X, for whom this mass is offered.

Incline your merciful ear to our prayers, we ask, O Lord, and listen in kindness to the supplications of those who call on you. Through Christ our Lord

 

February 14 2022 - Sts Cyril & Methodius (& Valentine) - Missionaries filled with charity

 Up until the reforms of Vatican II, today was the feast of St. Valentine. Valentine was a priest in 3rd century Rome. For being a Christian he was arrested, beaten, and beheaded, but not before he converted his jailor by performing a miracle of healing—Valentine cured the jailor’s daughter from blindness. 

Six centuries later, two Christian blood-brothers from Greece were impelled by the love of Christ and for souls to leave their native land to bring the Gospel to the Slavic people. Cyril and Methodius were tireless in laboring for the Gospel, even developing an entirely new alphabet, the Slavanic alphabet, also known as the Cyrillic Alphabet, named after St. Cyril—a new alphabet so that the Scriptures could be read by the Slavic people, and the Mass be celebrated in their language.

To celebrate both St. Valentine and Sts. Cyril and Methodius, it would be entirely appropriate to send someone a Valentine’s Card written in ancient Slavanic. 

And yet, Cyril and Methodius and Saint Valentine teach us that the greatest Valentine we can give to someone is to help them to know the love of Jesus Christ. Teaching them to read the great love letter from God, the Holy Scriptures, and to show them what it looks like for a soul to love God more than he loves himself.

These three holy men are powerful models for all of us, called to enter into the lives of strangers, in order to help them to know Christ. Cyril and Methodius developed an entire alphabet to help strangers know Christ. What will we do today? For the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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For all Christians whose love for God and neighbor has grown lukewarm or has been compromised by serious sin, that the virtue of charity may be rekindled, and that all Christians may develop missionary hearts.

That young people may seek Christ amidst all the perversions and distractions of the world, and for the protection of innocent human life from evil.

For the hungry, sick, lonely, and heartbroken, for cures to disease and relief for the poor. 

For all who have died, and for all the poor souls in purgatory, and for X. for whom this Mass is offered.

Incline your merciful ear to our prayers, we ask, O Lord, and listen in kindness to the supplications of those who call on you. Through Christ our Lord.

Columbus Day 2019 - Into the unknown

In 1892, President Benjamin Harrison issued a proclamation encouraging Americans to mark the 400th anniversary of Columbus’ voyage with patriotic festivities, writing, “On that day let the people, so far as possible, cease from toil and devote themselves to such exercises as may best express honor to the discoverer and their appreciation of the great achievements of the four completed centuries of American life.”

And In 1937, President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed Columbus Day a national holiday, largely as a result of intense lobbying by the Knights of Columbus.

Controversy over Columbus Day dates back to the 19th century, when anti-immigrant groups in the United States rejected the holiday because of its association with Catholicism. Controversy over this holiday continues into our own day, not so much by anti-immigrant groups, but by those who view Columbus as an icon of the negative aspects of colonialism. One wonders, however, if anti-Catholicism still underlies the controversy, a disagreement with our Catholic mission to evangelize all peoples of the earth.

For Columbus, his voyage of discovery was a work of evangelization. On board his ships were missionaries; his first act upon landing in the New World was to plant the cross, claim the new lands for Christ and His Church, and ask the missionaries to offer Mass. In fact, upon first sighting land, he and his crew prayed together the Salve Regina.

Columbus on the other hand, plunged willingly into the unknown in order to spread the saving faith. He willingly endured the violent storms of the Atlantic, as St. Paul and the Apostles did, in fidelity to Christ’s great commission, to spread salvation to the ends of the earth. “Through Christ”, we read from the Scriptures this morning, “we have received the grace of apostleship, to bring about the obedience of faith, for the sake of his name, among all the Gentiles”

Columbus is celebrated not simply because of his great navigational feat, with its geographical, economic and political implications, which continue to effect history. He is celebrated for his faith, an act flowing from what he believed to be the purpose of life, the purpose of all life, to make God known, to make God’s mercy known through Jesus Christ.

Christians are called to venture into the unknown for the spread of the faith. Into what unknown waters is God calling us to explore, what unknown lands is he calling us to claim for Christ and his Bride the Church, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That Catholics around the world will be ever more zealous in their preaching of the Gospel.

That young people be inspired to respond generously to God’s call to sanctity, and for vocations to the priesthood and religious life.

For those whose love for Christ has grown cold, for those who have fallen away from the Church, for those with unrepentant hearts, for their conversion and the deeper conversion of all people.

For the Knights of Columbus and all who look to the inspiration of Christopher Columbus, may they continue in good works and be examples of virtue and faith.

For the sick and the suffering, and all persecuted Christians, that they may come to experience Christ’s healing and peace amidst their illnesses and needs.

For the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish, and all the poor souls in purgatory, for deceased clergy and religious, and for those who have fought and died for our freedom.

O God, you know that our life in this present age is subject to suffering and need, hear the prayers of those who cry to you and receive the prayers of those who believe in you. Through Christ our Lord.