20/19/2023

"The mystery of our Faith is very deep". "You can say that again", is my flippant first response to St. Paul. 

For me it is all about God and me. How have I lived my life? I know that I have not been as true to the teaching of Jesus as I could have been. Prior to the Incarnation it seems that God was not present to his creation except in the Jews. This is more than a "mystery" in the sense of a problem to be solved. It is the same as life itself. That the Jews were chosen means that others were not.

Today the Church celebrates the  Martyrs of Korea. We believe that because they were executed for their belief in Jesus their souls went straight to the Father. Jesus prayed that his executioners receive the mercy of his Father for they were "just following orders", they did not understand what they were doing. 

How could they have done? The mystery of our faith revealed by the Resurrection is beyond intelligence to understand. We too cannot understand. We have to live as Christ in our souls by a free act of our human will. "Blessed are those who have not seen and still believe."

The Korean executioners were living in a civilization that went back beyond the time of Christ. They had achieved for themselves a cultured stability that was no more inhumane than that of the few Christians, who were also slave-owning, that they had traded with since Europeans had first been encountered.

Today's world is bulging with those who do not know the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. This is not by ignorance but by choice. Europe has nominally been Christian for 1000 years. All the ancient Cathedrals, monasteries and churches testify to this. In the market-place of our Global village, however, we the children are still shouting to each other and do not share the joy or sorrow of our God whose martyred human heart was opened by the lance to pour his Mercy over all the world.

Dear Lord your presence with us in our world in our flesh has to dominate all our selfishness and pride. The mere thought of you is enough to demolish the wall that sin creates between my soul and its creator. It is a thought that has to fill my whole being body and soul. May Mary, the only immaculate lead the souls of Kim and the other Koreans to plead as she did at the foot of your cross for the belief that can become you in the depths of our souls. May we search out for the forgiveness that can bring us all into heaven.