Fr. Roger J. Landry
Visitation Mission of the Sisters of Life, Manhattan
Monday of the 25th Week in Ordinary Time, Year I
Memorial of St. Andrew Kim Taegon and Companions, Martyrs
September 20, 2021
Ezra 1:1-6, Ps 126, Lk 8:16-18
To listen to an audio recording of today’s homily, please click below:
The following points were attempted in the homily:
- Today we get the first of three days from the Book of Ezra, the only three days in the two-year daily lectionary. It begins three weeks of post-exilic writings in which we will have two days of Haggai, three days of Zechariah, two days of Nehemiah, two days of Baruch, three days of Jonah, one day of Malachi and two days of Joel, before we enter into a four-week examination of St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans. These post-exilic writings focus essentially on two things: first, the rebuilding of the temple and, second, the way of holiness so that there is never again an exile from God. In today’s passage from the prophet Ezra, we ponder the extraordinary decision by the non-Jewish King Cyrus not only to allow the Jews to return home from Babylon, but also to help them to rebuild the Temple of Jerusalem. Cyrus encouraged everyone, Jews and non-Jews, to participate in the rebuilding of the house of God, by giving their “silver, gold, good, cattle, … [and] free-will offerings.” We know that this Temple rebuilding project is more than just about a building. It points phophetically to Jesus’ incarnation, to the destruction of the temple of his Body and its resurrection on the third day, and on the way he wishes to rebuild each of us to become, individually and together, the temple of God, where he, Risen, dwells within.
- The simple architectural plans for the rebuilding project are found in the Gospel. Jesus’ message can be summarized by his saying, “Take care how you hear.” He wishes that we build ourselves on the rock of his word, that we bear abundant fruit from the seed of his teaching sown within us, that we faithfully receive what he generous gives with love.
- He tells us, “No one who lights a lamp conceals it with a vessel or sets it under a bed; rather, he places it on a lamp stand so that those who enter may see the light.” In other words, if we’re listening correctly, we’re hearing what he seeks to implant as “words to be done.” It’s not supposed to remain hidden, private or secret, but is meant to illumine the world. If we’re not listening with this apostolic dimension, we’re not going to bear abundant fruit. We’re not going to be fully rebuilt on the rock.
- He adds, “There is nothing hidden that will not become visible, and nothing secret that will not be known and come to light.” Jesus tells us that if we’re fighting to give our full wits to his words, even if we’re struggling, that effort, too, will one day be known. He’s also saying that if we fake as if we’re paying close attention, our going through the exterior motions will eventually be exposed.
- He then concludes, “To anyone who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he seems to have will be taken away.” This is a law of physical exercise, musical growth, and intellectual progress: we use it or we lose it. To the one who gives the word both ears as well as the mind and the heart, he will become more and more fruitful; but to the one who is not really hanging on every word, he’ll lose eventually even that superficial adherence. This is what we see, unfortunately, when priests, religious or Christians “lose” their vocation by not living the truth God proclaims to them.
- Today the Church celebrates martyrs who truly became Jesus’ temple and instrument to build others on him who is the Cornerstone, those who heard the word of God faithfully and responded. Pope Benedict wrote in his encyclical on Christian hope (Spe Salvi) that the first Christians and the martyrs were able to be plundered of their property, their goods, their livelihoods and even their life because they had a “better and abiding possession” (Heb 10:34). So much was “taken away from Christians in the course of persecution,” he said, but they “stood firm, though, because they considered this material substance to be of little account. They could abandon it because they had found a better ‘basis’ for their existence—a basis that abides, that no one can take away. … Faith gives life a new basis, a new foundation on which we can stand, one that relativizes the habitual foundation, the reliability of material income. A new freedom is created with regard to this habitual foundation of life, which only appears to be capable of providing support, although this is obviously not to deny its normal meaning. This new freedom, the awareness of the new ‘substance’ which we have been given, is revealed not only in martyrdom, in which people … by their death, renew the world.” We see this truth recapitulated in the Korean martyrs. In the late 1700s, some educated Korean laypeople found some texts from the Jesuit priests who were martyred missionaries in China. Because Korea was so xenophobic, it didn’t allow any foreigners in the country, including missionaries. But these lay people, searching for the truth, found that the Truth had a name. They baptized each other and tried to live the faith as best they could. When finally a missionary priest was smuggled in 12 years later, he found that there were already 4,000 Catholics present. And these Catholics knew how to behave so well that they were willing to suffer for the faith, to pick up their cross daily and even die on it. There were six ferocious anti-Christian persecution waves — in 1791, 1801, 1827, 1839, 1846, and 1866 — but none of them had the purpose that the Korean authorities wanted, of intimidating those who remained out of the practice of the faith. They continued to persevere. Today we celebrate St. Andrew Kim Taegon, who was the first Korean priest. At the age of 15, he was identified by a smuggled French missionary priest as someone with a priestly vocation, and he was sent to walk by foot over 1,000 miles to study in a seminary in Macão. While he was away, his father, a convert, was tortured and martyred in the 1839 persecution. Fr. Andrew returned in order to spread the faith and would die in the persecution of 1846. While he was in prison awaiting execution, he wrote a letter to his fellow Korean Catholics to strengthen them in the faith and in the recognition of the treasure they have. He asked what good would their baptism be “if we are Christians in name alone and not in fact? We would have come into the world for nothing, we would have entered the Church for nothing, and we would have betrayed even God and his grace. It would be better never to have been born than to receive the grace of God and then to sin against him” by betraying the faith under duress. He called them to model their life on Christ’s own choices. “Dearest brothers and sisters,” he wrote, “when he was in the world, the Lord Jesus bore countless sorrows and by his own passion and death founded his Church; now he gives it increase through the sufferings of his faithful. … As the Scriptures say, God numbers the very hairs of our head and in his all-embracing providence he has care over us all. Persecution, therefore, can only be regarded as the command of the Lord or as a prize he gives or as a punishment he permits. Hold fast, then, to the will of God and with all your heart fight the good fight under the leadership of Jesus; conquer again the diabolical power of this world that Christ has already vanquished.” In 2015, when Pope Francis went to Korea to beatify 123 of the martyrs of Korea, he spoke about how the choice they made to build their life on God. “Soon after the first seeds of faith were planted in this land,” he said, “the martyrs and the Christian community had to choose between following Jesus or the world. They had heard the Lord’s warning that the world would hate them because of him (Jn 17:14); they knew the cost of discipleship. … They were willing to make great sacrifices and let themselves be stripped of whatever kept them from Christ – possessions and land, prestige and honor – for they knew that Christ alone was their true treasure.” He went on to apply the example of their witness to our own situation: “So often we today can find our faith challenged by the world, and in countless ways we are asked to compromise our faith, to water down the radical demands of the Gospel and to conform to the spirit of this age. Yet the martyrs call out to us to put Christ first and to see all else in this world in relation to him and his eternal Kingdom. They challenge us to think about what, if anything, we ourselves would be willing to die for.” The light of their faith continues to shine from the lampstand to illumine all in the house of God.
- The fruitfulness of his response to God’s word, their truly becoming an image of the type of reconstruction project into God’s holy temple God desires for all of us, help us to see what’s possible when we fully align ourselves with God’s word. They inspire us to “take care what [we] hear,” just as much as they did, as we prepare to “do” Jesus’ words “in memory of” him.
The readings for today’s Mass were:
Reading 1 EZR 1:1-6
In the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia,
in order to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah,
the LORD inspired King Cyrus of Persia
to issue this proclamation throughout his kingdom,
both by word of mouth and in writing:
“Thus says Cyrus, king of Persia:
‘All the kingdoms of the earth
the LORD, the God of heaven, has given to me,
and he has also charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem,
which is in Judah.
Therefore, whoever among you belongs to any part of his people,
let him go up, and may his God be with him!
Let everyone who has survived, in whatever place he may have dwelt,
be assisted by the people of that place
with silver, gold, goods, and cattle,
together with free-will offerings
for the house of God in Jerusalem.’”
Then the family heads of Judah and Benjamin
and the priests and Levites–
everyone, that is, whom God had inspired to do so–
prepared to go up to build the house of the LORD in Jerusalem.
All their neighbors gave them help in every way,
with silver, gold, goods, and cattle,
and with many precious gifts
besides all their free-will offerings.
Responsorial Psalm PS 126:1B-2AB, 2CD-3, 4-5, 6
R. (3) The Lord has done marvels for us.
When the LORD brought back the captives of Zion,
we were like men dreaming.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with rejoicing.
R. The Lord has done marvels for us.
Then they said among the nations,
“The LORD has done great things for them.”
The LORD has done great things for us;
we are glad indeed.
R. The Lord has done marvels for us.
Restore our fortunes, O LORD,
like the torrents in the southern desert.
Those that sow in tears
shall reap rejoicing.
R. The Lord has done marvels for us.
Although they go forth weeping,
carrying the seed to be sown,
They shall come back rejoicing,
carrying their sheaves.
R. The Lord has done marvels for us.
Alleluia MT 5:16
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Let your light shine before others,
that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel LK 8:16-18
Jesus said to the crowd:
“No one who lights a lamp conceals it with a vessel
or sets it under a bed;
rather, he places it on a lampstand
so that those who enter may see the light.
For there is nothing hidden that will not become visible,
and nothing secret that will not be known and come to light.
Take care, then, how you hear.
To anyone who has, more will be given,
and from the one who has not,
even what he seems to have will be taken away.”
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