When you think of religion in Asia, one automatically thinks of Buddhism and Confucianism. You can imagine how surprised I was when I found out that in South Korea today, a tiny fraction of the population is Confucian, 26% is Buddhist, and 26% is Christian – 10% of whom are Catholic. The means that Christianity is tied, numerically speaking, as the largest religion in that Asian nation. This is truly remarkable considering that Christianity was introduced there just over 200 years ago, and the first native-born priest was ordained only in 1846.
That priest as St. Andrew Kim Taegon, whose feast we celebrate today. But it’s not just his feast. We also honor St. Paul Chong Hasang, who was a lay catechist, and his companions, the 103 Christians in Korea who gave their lives as martyrs, the vast majority of whom were lay people.
Andrew Kim Taegon was born into a noble Korean family. He traveled to China to become a Catholic priest. When he returned to Korea as the first native priest, he was arrested, tortured and eventually beheaded. Paul Chong Hasang was a seminarian. As a layman, he was one of the great founders of the Catholic Church in Korea. He was persecuted before he could be ordained.
So it was the laity who first introduced Catholicism to Korea. And Korean Catholicism continues to flourish today with a strong and committed laity.
So what does this have to do with us here in America? Today’s celebration gives us the opportunity to rejoice, be challenged, and to make a commitment to live the Gospel. St. Andrew Kim said, “We have received baptism, entrance into the Church, and the honor of being called Christians. Yet what good will this do us if we are Christians in name only and not in fact?” It’s what St. Paul was saying in our first reading today, to preach what we believe – to live out our faith, to lead by example, and to love and serve our neighbors.
Today, I ask you to ponder this question: what are the things that I can do to help our parish community? Is it volunteering for a particular ministry? Is it donating financially to a cause? Is it simply praying for those who are in need of prayer? This is our calling, this is our commissioning, this is what is meant by living our faith. And that is what Jesus is asking us to do!
