Saints Andrew Kim Taegon, Priest, Paul Chong Hasang, and their Companions – Readings

Commentary on Wisdom 3:1-9 or Romans 8:31-39; Luke 9:23-26

The Gospel reading from Luke is a passage which follows closely after Peter’s confession about the identity of Jesus.  In response to Jesus’ question “But who do you say that I am?”, Peter answers:

The Messiah of God. (Luke 9:20)

This is followed by Jesus’ first prediction of his coming death and resurrection.  And immediately afterwards we have today’s passage where Jesus lays down the conditions for being one of his followers:

If any wish to come after me, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.

Anyone who wants to be a follower must set aside his own desires, take up his cross every day and follow the Way of Jesus.  Although this at first sight seems to be a demand to set aside one’s own well-being, it is in fact the way in which we will find what is really in our best interests.  The Way of Jesus is the Way of Life and Truth.  Hence, those who let go of their own spontaneous desires will—maybe to their surprise—find a life much more worthwhile than the one they think they are abandoning.

Have we any evidence for this?  We have, of course, in the lives of hundreds of saints, including those who even let go of their lives for the sake of Jesus’ Way and the well-being of brothers and sisters:

For what does it profit them if they gain the whole world but lose or forfeit themselves?

The most precious things in life are not money, or status or fame or property.   A priest who worked in one of the most affluent suburbs of Los Angeles said it was the unhappiest place he was ever in, while another priest was amazed by the community spirit of helping and sharing in a rundown public housing estate.

Jesus also warns us about being ashamed of acknowledging our Christian calling.  It is not enough to be a Catholic; it is important to be seen as one.  We are to be the “salt of the earth”; we are to be a lamp that is not hidden away, but gives light.  The martyrs we are celebrating today knew where true values lay and they did not conceal their faith in order to save their lives.

There is a choice of two First Readings. The first of these is taken from the Book of Wisdom and is sometimes used in Requiem Masses. It speaks about death and the suffering of the good. No matter how great these sufferings are, they cannot be compared with the peace that comes after death:

In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died, and their departure was thought to be a disaster and their going from us to be their destruction, but they are at peace.

In the sight of the living, they may have been seen to undergo great suffering, but their hopes were in a future life that could not be taken from them. The burden of their sufferings cannot compare to the blessings that await them.

Like gold being purified by fire, they were tested, but as people who had offered their whole lives to their Lord, they win great blessings and He takes them to himself. Because of their integrity and the courage of their lives:

They will govern nations and rule over peoples, and the Lord will reign over them forever. Those who trust in him will understand truth, and the faithful will abide with him in love, because grace and mercy are upon his holy ones, and he watches over his elect.

This was the spirit which gave such courage to these Korean martyrs who went with such readiness to their death, not hesitating for a moment to remain faithful to the Way of Christ.

The alternate First Reading is from Paul’s Letter to the Romans.  It is a passionate statement in which Paul tells his readers that absolutely everything works together for the good of those who love God.  If God is on our side, what have we to fear from those who are against us?  And suffering in our lives is no indication that God is not with us.

On the contrary, we have the example of Jesus himself, because God, who:

…did not withhold his own Son but gave him up for all of us, how will he not with him also give us everything else?
(Rom 8:32)

We have no need to fear anyone who accuses or condemns us because God is always on our side.

Is there anything that can separate us from the love that God extends to us?  It is an infinite and unconditional love.  So no amount of anguish, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger or death can come between us and that love.  Many find it difficult to equate suffering with a loving God.  But not the Apostle Paul.  He concludes with this magnificent passage:

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

It was this conviction that helped these martyrs face their death with courage and calmness.  They are words which we too should keep in mind in all the trials and tribulations we may have to face. We pray:

Help me, Lord, to see your loving hand in every person and in every experience of this day.

As a confirmation of Paul’s exhortation we conclude this reflection with words from the last letter of Andrew Kim Taegŏn to his parishioners as he awaited martyrdom with a group of 20 people:

My dear brothers and sisters, know this: Our Lord Jesus Christ, upon descending into the world took innumerable pains upon and constituted the holy Church through his own suffering and increases it through the suffering  passion of the faithful…

Now, however, some 50 or 60 years since holy Church entered into our Korea, the faithful suffer persecutions again. Even today persecution rages, so that many of our friends of the same faith, among whom am I myself, have been thrown into prison. just as you also remain in the midst of persecution. Since we have formed one body, how can we not be saddened in our innermost hearts? How can we not experience the pain of separation in our human faculties?

However, as Scripture says, God cares for the least hair of our heads, and indeed he cares with his omniscience; therefore, how can persecution be considered as anything other than the command of God, or his prize, or precisely his punishment?…

We are twenty here, and thanks be to God all are still well. If anyone is killed, I beg you not to forget his family. I have many more things to say, but how can I express them with pen and paper? I make an end to this letter. Since we are now close to the struggle, I pray you to walk in faith, so that when you have finally entered into Heaven, we may greet one another. I leave you my kiss of love.

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Saints Andrew Kim Taegon, Priest, Paul Chong Hasang, and their Companions, Martyrs

Korea must be unique in that the first seeds of Christianity were planted there by lay people.  The Catholic faith came to Korea in the early 17th century, inspired by the reading of some Catholic books which had come from China. China had a strong cultural influence on Korea and Japan and was one of the reasons why Francis Xavier wanted to go there from Japan. So when the first missionaries arrived in Korea in 1836, they found strong and dynamic Catholic communities led almost entirely by lay people.

However, soon after the arrival of the missionaries, especially in the years 1839, 1846 and 1866, the Christians underwent severe persecutions, resulting in at least 8,000 martyrs.  Most noteworthy among these were a Korean priest, Andrew Kim Taegon, and a lay catechist, Paul Chong Hasang. The vast majority of the martyrs were lay people and they included men and women, married and single, old and young.

Andrew Kim Taegon was Korea’s first Catholic priest. Born on 21 August, 1822, of a noble Korean family, Kim Taegon’s parents were converts and his father was subsequently martyred for being a practicing Christian.  Andrew began his priestly studies at the seminary in Macau and, six years later, was ordained a priest in Shanghai. He then returned to Korea to preach the Gospel. During the Joseon Dynasty, Christianity was strongly suppressed, resulting in the persecution of many Christians (both Catholics and Protestants) and their execution. The Catholic faith had to go underground.  Andrew was one of thousands who gave their life for their faith at this time.  In 1846, when he was just 25 years of age, he was tortured and beheaded. Among his last words were:

This is my last hour of life, listen to me attentively. If I have held communication with foreigners, it has been for my religion and for my God. It is for Him that I die. My immortal life is on the point of beginning. Become Christians if you wish to be happy after death, because God has eternal chastisements in store for those who have refused to know Him.

Macau’s famous Camoes Garden (in Portuguese, Jardim Luis de Camoes) contains a statue dedicated to Andrew Kim Taegon. A plaque below it indicates dates and events of the major milestones in his life.

Paul Chong Hasang was born in 1795.  He was the son of Augustine Chong Yakchong, one of Korea’s first converts to Christianity who was himself martyred in 1801 during the persecution of Shin-Yu.  When Yakjong was martyred with Hasang’s older brother, Yakjong’s wife and the other children were spared and took shelter in the countryside. Hasang was then seven years old.

As a layman, Paul reunited the scattered Christians and encouraged them to keep living their faith. For this he wrote the first catechism for the Korean Church entitled Joo Gyo Yo Ji.  He also wrote the Sang-Je-Sang-Su which explained to the Korean government why the Church was no threat to the country.

Paul was employed as a servant to the diplomatic corps and this enabled him to travel to China and Beijing on at least nine occasions.  While he was there he tried to persuade the bishop in Beijing to send missionary priests to Korea.  Through the good offices of the bishop, he sent letters to Pope Gregory XVI (1831-46) in Rome requesting the establishment of a diocese in Korea independent of Beijing.  On 9 September, 1831, Pope Gregory announced the setting up of a Korean diocese.

In 1836, Bishop Laurent-Marie-Joseph Imbert MEP arrived with two priests of his Society as the first Vicar Apostolic for Korea (and Titular Bishop of Capsa).  The bishop found Paul to be gifted, zealous and virtuous.  He taught him Latin and theology and was about to ordain him priest when the Gi Hye persecution of 1839 broke out. Hasang was captured and made a statement to his judge, defending his Catholic faith. The judge, after reading it, said:

You are right in what you have written, but the king forbids this religion and it is your duty to renounce it.

To which Paul replied:

I have told you that I am a Christian, and will be one until the day of my death.

Paul was then put through a series of tortures during which he remained calm.  He was bound to a cross on a cart and courageously met his death.  He died on 21 September, 1839, and was just 45 years of age.  Bishop Imbert was also martyred at this time.

Among the 103 martyrs being commemorated today there were also Ignatius, the father of Andrew Kim, two other bishops, seven priests of the Missions Etrangeres de Paris (MEP, Paris Foreign Missions Society). There was Columba Kim, an unmarried woman of twenty-six. She was put in prison, pierced with hot awls and seared with burning coals. She and her sister Agnes were disrobed and kept for two days in a cell with condemned criminals but not molested. After Columba complained about the indignity, no more women were subjected to it. The two were beheaded.

A boy of thirteen, Peter Ryou, had his flesh so badly torn that he could pull off pieces and throw them at the judges. He was killed by strangulation. Protase Chong, a 41-year-old noble, apostatized under torture and was freed. Later he came back, confessed his faith and was tortured to death.

In 1925, 79 Korean martyrs were beatified by Pope Pius XI and 24 more in 1968 by Pope Paul VI.  On 6 May, 1984, all 103 were canonised together as saints by Pope John Paul II.  In a break with tradition, the ceremony did not take place in Rome, but in Seoul. Today there are approximately four million Catholics in Korea which has the fourth largest number of saints in the Catholic world.

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