Today is the memorial of St. Andrew Kim and St Paul Hasang and companions, who were Korean martyrs. During persecutions from 1839 through 1867 one hundred and three Christians gave their lives as martyrs. Among the martyrs were a priest, Father Andrew Kim, and a layman by the name of Paul Hasang. Also martyred were bishops and priests, but most martyred were laymen and women, married and unmarried, men, women, young people, children and the elderly. All of them suffered greatly for the faith. By their blood they consecrated the rich beginnings of the Church in Korea.
Before his death, Fr. Andrew Kim gave an exhortation to the faithful. He said, “Dearest brothers and sisters: when He was in the world, the Lord Jesus bore countless sorrows and by His own passion and death founded the Church; now He gives it increase through the sufferings of His faithful. No matter how fiercely the powers of this world oppress and oppose the Church, they will never bring it down. Ever since His ascension and from the time of the apostles to the present, the Lord Jesus has made His Church grow even in the midst of tribulation.
For the last fifty or sixty years, ever since the coming of the Church in Korea, the faithful have suffered persecution over and over again. Persecution still rages and as a result many who are friends in the household of faith, myself among them, have been thrown into prison and like you are experiencing severe distress.
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. I beg you not to fail to love one another, but to support one another and to stand fast until the Lord mercifully delivers us from the trials.
As we are all near the final ordeal, I urge you to remain steadfast in faith, so that at last we will all reach heaven and there rejoice together. I embrace you all in love.”
Today, through the intercession of Our Lady Queen of Peace, let us pray for the Church in Korea, that it may prosper and grow to bring about a true and lasting peace in the hearts of the Korean people, and may we come to understand and imitate the love of Christ, which the Korean martyrs, so eloquently bear witness by the shedding of their blood.
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