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Martyrs
We can be shielded in the United States from the fact that people are different in different parts of the world. We can see everything kind of through the lens of American and forget that others don’t share our view of the world, of our faith, of who knows what else.
I think of it when I find myself in need of being able to purchase some new article of clothing. Go out and try to find an article of clothing that was made in the United States. It’s almost impossible. But what we don’t see is that often in the places where these articles of clothing are made, people are working in very, very hard conditions for very little money.
The same can be true with our faith. We can look in the United States and say our faith is really the way it should be celebrated. We see that in a whole bunch of ways where there’s an insistence that this really is the way it should be done.
On one hand, we may have people who really embrace what we would call the extraordinary form of the liturgy, something that was celebrated before the Second Vatican Council. And there are those who really kind of like it. They find it transcendent. They find it something that actually helps them to see the transcendence and the power of God.
Now, I couldn’t celebrate the extraordinary form of my life dependent on it, not only because I don’t know how to do it, but I’ve never really had any desire to learn how to do it either. It’s quite complicated. There are others who would rather see a liturgy that looks quite different, one that is perhaps more participatory, one that is in fact more focused on the body of Christ that is the people of God. The liturgy in many ways that was instituted after the Second Vatican Council.
Now, why do I say all of this? I say all of this because the danger in our life is to think that we are the Holy Spirit, that the way we see the world is the only way in which the world could possibly be seen. I know I’m guilty of this. I suspect we all are in our own way.
Things seem so clear to us that we can’t imagine another way to look at things. And it’s uncomfortable when someone places another way of looking at things for us to see. Today, we celebrate martyrs from Vietnam. We probably don’t have a strong sense of how powerful the faith is in Vietnam because we probably don’t think much about it. Mentioned Vietnam to the average American, and I suspect the first thing that comes to mind is the Vietnam War, and not so much the people of Vietnam.
The Dominican presence in Vietnam is quite powerful indeed. The largest priory in the Dominican Order is in Vietnam. And while some of the predominant reason is that it’s the only priory they’re allowed to have in Vietnam, there are hundreds of Dominicans who live in this priory. There are hundreds of thousands of Dominican laity in Vietnam.
And today, we celebrate those Vietnamese martyrs. One was a diocesan priest, Andrew, the one we mention at the top by name. And they gave their life for their faith. It is said that there have been more martyrs in the last century, in the 20th century, than all of the previous 19 combined.
This is a dangerous time in our world to be a Christian, to be a Catholic. People are being killed for their faith all over the world. What does all this mean for us? It means, I think, more than anything that we need to treasure our faith. That there are those in our world who are suffering for the faith, and never should we take for granted our ability to celebrate freely what we believe.
We ask the Lord today to continue to fill our hearts with gratitude. That we might be most grateful for what Jesus has done through his life, death, and resurrection for us, and offering us the opportunity and invitation for eternal life.
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