Today we remember and celebrate martyrs in China that most of us don’t know much about. St. Augustine Zhao Rong was a soldier, not a Christian, when he escorted a missionary bishop from France, St. John Dufresse to his martyrdom. Augustine was so impressed by his witness he himself was soon baptized and became a priest - then captured, tortured and killed for the faith in 1815. With them we celebrate 120 named and many thousands unknown Martyrs for Christ over 4 centuries of persecution in China that still continues to this day. In 1900 the Boxer Rebellion, a brutal complicated international conflict in China took special aim at Christians and at least 40,000 Christians, mostly Catholics were killed.
In the Gospel text of today, the Lord sends forth the Apostles to preach the Good News: “The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, drive out demons.” Jesus Christ has only good gifts to give us! He has only good gifts to give us. Why so much resistance and persecution of Christianity starting with the Lord himself and continuing to this day?
We should not naively ignore the persecution of Christians in our world now. Particularly in China. For centuries the Chinese rulers have been saying they do not want outside influences. The oppression of religion in China is clearly about CONTROL… that becomes DOMINATION that is about MONEY AND POWER…
But rather than political analysis, I’d like to suggest that we look into ourselves to see this deep urge in our own hearts… the need to control, to be in control … of our lives, of others… It’s not in itself bad. There is a healthy sense of control. When you drive your car, you better be in control of yourself. Children need to learn self-control…
But there is this urge in us BORN OF FEAR that began at the rebellion against God that was the first sin of Adam and Eve… Fears that can start to control us, on one hand sometimes paralyzing us or on the other leading us to try to control and even dominate others! Then when a society becomes driven by fear and the need to control and dominate the effects are dangerous.
There are real threats at times in life – like now - that provoke fear… What do we do with them? The Lord says clearly, “Fear is useless. What is needed is trust!”. Rather than getting locked up more and more by fear of uncertainty the Lord invites us to journey with him on a different way… That of truly believing and knowing THAT HE IS WITH US. Instead of desperately clinging to a false sense of being in charge, TRUST IN JESUS. Especially when the way seems difficult, HOLD TIGHT TO HIM. BELIEVE HE WILL GUIDE YOU THROUGH IT. The Kingdom of heaven is among us. TRUST IN Jesus. Our Lady of Hope, lead us to trust.
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Father Jim's inspirational homily was recorded live this morning during Mass at the Father Peyton Center. Please view the video on our Facebook page. (You don't need a Facebook account to view.)
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