Happy feast day of St. Andrew Kim Taegon (left) and St. Paul Chong Hasang + companions. Sts. Andrew and Paul were among the Korean martyrs who were executed over a period spanning 1839-1867, back when Korea still had minimal contact with the outside world.My favorite part of this rather grisly martyrdom story is that Christianity was planted on the soil not by missionaries, but by several books on Christianity that they had obtained on trips to the foreign embassy in Beijing. A group of people immediately converted and a community of the faithful flourished underground, so when French missionaries finally arrived in 1836, they found a community in the thousands who'd never seen a priest before. John Paul II canonized St. Andrew (the first native Korean priest), St. Paul, and the martyrs on May 6, 1984. I'd like to think that it's no coincidence that my brother was born in the same month and year.
"Even though the Christians in the first half century had only two priests from China to assist them, and these only for a time, they deepened their unity in Christ through prayer and fraternal love; they disregarded social classes and encouraged religious vocations. And they sought ever closer union with their Bishop in Peking and the Pope in faraway Rome...
The splendid flowering of the Church in Korea today is indeed the fruit of the heroic witness of the Martyrs. Even today, their undying spirit sustains the Christians in the Church of silence in the North of this tragically divided land...
The Korean Martyrs have borne witness to the crucified and risen Christ. Through the sacrifice of their own lives they have become like Christ in a very special way. The words of Saint Paul the Apostle could truly have been spoken by them: We are "always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies . . . We are always being given up to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh".
The death of the martyrs is similar to the death of Christ on the Cross, because like his, theirs has become the beginning of new life. This new life was manifested not only in themselves - in those who underwent death for Christ - but it was also extended to others. It became the leaven of the Church as the living community of disciples and witnesses to Jesus Christ. "The blood of martyrs is the seed of Christians": this phrase from the first centuries of Christianity is confirmed before our eyes." -- Pope John Paul II, Seoul, May 6, 1984.
Like my brother said, "Dude. It's OUR day." Sts. Andrew and Paul, pray for us.
