>> A READING FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE BOOK OF EZRA. IN THE FIRST YEAR OF CYRUS, KING OF PERSIA, IN ORDER TO FULFILL THE WORD OF THE LORD SPOKEN BY JEREMIAH, THE LORD INSPIRED KING CYRUS OF PERSIA TO ISSUE THIS PROCLAMATION THROUGHOUT HIS KINGDOM, BOTH BY WORD OF MOUTH AND IN WRITING: THUS SAYS CYRUS, KING OF PERSIA: ALL THE KINGDOMS OF THE EARTH THE LORD, THE GOD OF HEAVEN, HAS GIVEN TO ME, AND HE HAS ALSO CHARGED ME TO BUILD HIM A HOUSE IN JERUSALEM, WHICH IS IN JUDAH. THEREFORE, WHOEVER AMONG YOU BELONGS TO ANY PART OF HIS PEOPLE, LET HIM GO UP, AND MAY HIS GOD BE WITH HIM! LET EVERYONE WHO HAS SURVIVED, IN WHATEVER PLACE HE MAY HAVE DWELT, BE ASSISTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THAT PLACE WITH SILVER, GOLD, GOODS, AND CATTLE, TOGETHER WITH FREE WILL OFFERINGS FOR THE HOUSE OF GOD IN JERUSALEM. THEN THE FAMILY HEADS OF JUDAH AND BENJAMIN AND THE PRIESTS AND LEVITES, EVERYONE, THAT IS, WHOM GOD HAD INSPIRED TO DO SO, PREPARED TO GO UP TO BUILD THE HOUSE OF THE LORD IN JERUSALEM. ALL THEIR NEIGHBORS GAVE THEM HELP IN EVERY WAY, WITH SILVER, GOLD, GOODS, AND CATTLE, AND WITH MANY PRECIOUS GIFTS BESIDES ALL THEIR FREE WILL OFFERINGS. ♪ VERBUM DOMINI ♪ >> ♪ DEO GRATIAS ♪ >> THE LORD HAS DONE MARVELS FOR US. >> THE LORD HAS DONE MARVELS FOR US. >> WHEN THE LORD BROUGHT BACK THE CAPTIVES OF ZION, WE WERE LIKE MEN DREAMING. THEN OUR MOUTH WAS FILLED WITH LAUGHTER, AND OUR TONGUE WITH REJOICING. >> THE LORD HAS DONE MARVELS FOR US. >> THEN THEY SAID AMONG THE NATIONS, THE LORD HAS DONE GREAT THINGS FOR THEM. THE LORD HAS DONE GREAT THINGS FOR US; WE ARE GLAD INDEED. >> THE LORD HAS DONE MARVELS FOR US. >> RESTORE OUR FORTUNES, O LORD, LIKE THE TORRENTS IN THE SOUTHERN DESERT. THOSE THAT SOW IN TEARS SHALL REAP REJOICING. >> THE LORD HAS DONE MARVELS FOR US. >> ALTHOUGH THEY GO FORTH WEEPING, CARRYING THE SEED TO BE SOWN, THEY SHALL COME BACK REJOICING, CARRYING THEIR SHEAVES. >> THE LORD HAS DONE MARVELS FOR US. (ORGAN) ♪ ALLELUIA, ALLELUIA ALLELUIA, ALLELUIA ALLELUIA ♪ >> ♪ ALLELUIA, ALLELUIA ALLELUIA, ALLELUIA ALLELUIA ♪ >> ♪ LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE BEFORE OTHERS, THAT THEY MAY SEE YOUR GOOD DEEDS AND GLORIFY YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER ♪ >> ♪ ALLELUIA, ALLELUIA ALLELUIA, ALLELUIA ALLELUIA ♪ >> ♪ DOMINUS VOBISCUM ♪ >> ♪ ET CUM SPIRITU TUO ♪ >> ♪ LECTIO SANCTI EVANGELII SECUNDUM LUCAM ♪ >> ♪ GLORIA TIBI, DOMINE ♪ >> JESUS SAID TO THE CROWD: NO ONE WHO LIGHTS A LAMP CONCEALS IT WITH A VESSEL OR SETS IT UNDER A BED; RATHER, HE PLACES IT ON A LAMPSTAND SO THAT THOSE WHO ENTER MAY SEE THE LIGHT. FOR THERE IS NOTHING HIDDEN THAT WILL NOT BECOME VISIBLE, AND NOTHING SECRET THAT WILL NOT BE KNOWN AND COME TO LIGHT. TAKE CARE, THEN, HOW YOU HEAR. TO ANYONE WHO HAS, MORE WILL BE GIVEN, AND FROM THE ONE WHO HAS NOT, EVEN WHAT HE SEEMS TO HAVE WILL BE TAKEN AWAY. ♪ VERBUM DOMINI ♪ >> ♪ LAUS TIBI, CHRISTE ♪ >> FOR THERE IS NOTHING HIDDEN THAT WILL NOT BECOME VISIBLE AND NOTHING SECRET THAT WILL NOT BE MADE KNOWN AND COME TO LIGHT. PROBABLY 1 OF THE MOST STRIKING STATEMENTS FROM THE MOUTH OF THE LORD IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. THIS IS A GREAT MYSTERY. WE DO NOT HAVE THE ABILITY TO KNOW THE SECRET THOUGHTS AND ACTIONS OF OTHERS BUT THE LORD DOES. THE LORD SEES ALL. IN OTHER WORDS LIVE YOUR LIFE IN THE LIGHT. NOT ASHAMED AND HIDDEN IN DARKNESS. NATURAL LIGHT ILLUMINATES, ALLOWS US TO SEE WHAT WAS IN THE DARK. WHEN THE SUN RISES, DARKNESS DISPERSES. THE LIGHT OF CHRIST THAT IS SANCTIFYING GRACE DWELLING IN OUR SOULS, IS WHAT DISPERSES THE DARKNESS OF OUR LIFE. AND DARKNESS THAT EVEN THE SUN CANNOT REACH. EVEN WHEN THE SUN HAS GONE DOWN THE LIGHT IN THE SOUL, SANCTIFYING GRACE, CONTINUES TO PERVADE IN THE WORLD. THE LORD JESUS IS CALLING US TO BE LIGHT BEARERS. TO BEAR WITNESS TO HIM WHO IS THE ETERNAL LIGHT COME INTO THE WORLD. TODAY WE CELEBRATE THE MEMORIAL OF STS. ANDREW KIM TAEGON, PAUL CHONG HASANG AND COMPANIONS. ON THE 200TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE CATHOLIC FAITH IN KOREA, ON MAY 6, 1984, POPE ST. JOHN PAUL THE 2ND CANONIZED 100 MARTYRS IN SEOUL, KOREA. AMONG THEM WERE 3 BISHOPS, 7 PRIESTS AND RELIGIOUS, BUT FOR THE MOST PART THEY WERE HEROIC LAITY. 45 MEN AND 47 WOMEN, MARRIED AND SINGLE OF ALL AGES. KOREA IS THE ONLY COUNTRY IN THE WORLD WHERE THE CATHOLIC CHURCH WAS NOT FOUNDED BY FOREIGN MISSIONARIES. THAT IS A VERY INTERESTING FACT. TO HONOR THESE HEROIC MARTYRS AND KOREAN CATHOLICS WHO MAY BE LISTENING OR WATCHING OUR BROADCAST OUR CHOIR WILL SING THE TRADITIONAL HYMN, SOUL OF MY SAVIOR IN KOREAN. SO THAT YOU WILL KNOW WHAT THEY ARE SINGING. YOU MAY NOT RECOGNIZE THE WORDS BUT YOU WILL RECOGNIZE THE MELODY. A MAN WHO WAS A VERY ARDENT SEARCHER FOR TRUTH READ ALL THE BOOKS THAT HE COULD FIND ON THE CATHOLIC FAITH. HE DESIRED BAPTISM AND WENT TO CHINA IN 1784 TO BE BAPTIZED BY A FRENCH MISSIONARY. WHEN HE RETURNED TO KOREA HE FORMED A CATHOLIC COMMUNITY. IN HIS CANONIZATION HOMILY, POPE ST. JOHN PAUL THE 2ND SAID THAT THIS COMMUNITY WAS AGAIN UNIQUE IN THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH BY THE FACT THAT THEIR ENTIRE FOUNDING WAS ON THE LAYPEOPLE. THE LAY FAITHFUL. IN 1794, A PRIEST WAS SENT FROM BEIJING CHINA AND EVEN IN THE MIDST OF PERSECUTIONS AND MARTYRDOMS HE WENT BACK TO BEIJING, CHINA OVER 10 TIMES TO ASK FOR MORE PRIESTS, BECAUSE THERE WERE SO MANY PEOPLE IN KOREA WHO DESIRED THE SACRAMENTS. BY 1831, KOREA HAD ITS 1ST NATIVE PRIEST, FATHER ANDREW KIM WHO WE CELEBRATE TODAY. SAINT ANDREW KIM TAEGON WAS THE SON OF KOREAN CONVERTS AND WAS BAPTIZED AT THE AGE OF 15. RIGHT AFTER HE WAS BAPTIZED HE TRAVELED 1300 MILES TO THE SEMINARY IN CHINA. THERE WERE NO CARS. HE WAS BEHEADED IN 1846. 15 YEARS AFTER HIS ORDINATION TO THE PRIESTHOOD. HE WAS A MARTYR. AS AN EARLY CHURCH WRITER, TERTULLIAN WROTE, THE BLOOD OF MARTYRS IS THE SEED BED OF CHRISTIANITY. WHEREVER THERE ARE MARTYRS, WHERE THE AIR IS BLOOD BEING SHED IN THE NAME OF CHRIST WHERE PEOPLE ARE LAYING DOWN THEIR LIVES FOR THE GOSPEL, THERE WILL BE CHRISTIANS THAT WILL RISE UP. IT MAY NOT BE RIGHT AWAY, IT MAY NOT BE WITHIN 5 OR 10 OR 50 YEARS. BUT EVENTUALLY YOU SEE CHRISTIANS RISE UP AND THEY ARE THE ONES, THEY ARE THE LILIES, THE FLOWERS IN THE FIELD AMIDST THE WHEAT IN THE WORLD. IN LESS THAN A CENTURY, THE COUNTRY OF KOREA HAD OVER 10,000 MARTYRS. 10,000. IN LESS THAN A CENTURY. YES, MOSTLY LAYPEOPLE. NOT BISHOPS AND PRIESTS AND RELIGIOUS BUT MOSTLY THE LAY FAITHFUL. LIKE YOURSELVES. LAYING DOWN THEIR LIVES FOR JESUS CHRIST. IN THAT TIME IT WAS BELIEVED THAT CHRISTIANITY HAD NO PLACE WITHIN THE KOREAN CULTURE. THESE HEROIC MARTYRS HAD TO MAKE A CHOICE TO BOW DOWN TO THE CULTURE AND DENY THEIR FAITH IN CHRIST OR TO EMBRACE CHRIST AND EVEN DEATH. THESE ARE WORDS IN THE READING THIS MORNING IN THE OFFICE OF READINGS BY ST. ANDREW KIM BEFORE HIS EXECUTION. THESE ARE WORDS THAT HE WAS SAYING TO HIS COMMUNITY. AGAIN PRIMARILY THE LAYPEOPLE. "DEAREST BROTHERS AND SISTERS, WHEN HE WAS IN THE WORLD, THE LORD JESUS BORE COUNTLESS SORROWS AND BY HIS OWN PASSION AND DEATH FOUNDED HIS 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 PERSECUTION." THESE ARE POWERFUL WORDS FROM OUR ST. KIM TAEGON. EVEN IN THE MIDST OF PERSECUTION THE CHURCH GROWS. PERHAPS THESE KOREAN MARTYRS TO LAYPEOPLE AND THEIR INITIATIVE TO LIVE AND TO PROFESS AND TO BRING THE TEMPORAL ORDER TO CHRIST. TO SANCTIFY THE WORLD. AND THESE ARE SOME WORDS THAT I QUOTE FROM (LATIN)"LUMEN GENTIUM" THE DOGMATIC COUNSEL CONSTITUTION OF THE CHURCH, THE 2ND VATICAN COUNCIL, IN CHAPTER 4 OF THIS IS DEDICATED SPECIFICALLY TO THE LAITY. IT IS WORTH READING THE ENTIRE CHAPTER BUT I WENT IN AND TOOK THE MOST SIGNIFICANT CHAPTER OR PARAGRAPH OF THIS CHAPTER AND I THOUGHT I WOULD SHARE WITH YOU IN LIGHT OF THE SAINTS THIS MORNING. IT SAYS "THE LAITY BY THEIR VOCATION SEEK THE KINGDOM OF GOD BY ENGAGING IN TEMPORAL AFFAIRS AND BY ORDERING THEM ACCORDING TO THE PLAN OF GOD." ORDERING TEMPORAL AFFAIRS TO THE PLAN OF GOD. THEY LIVE IN THE WORLD, THAT IS, IN EACH AND IN ALL OF THE SECULAR PROFESSIONS AND OCCUPATIONS. THEY LIVE IN THE ORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCES OF FAMILY AND SOCIAL LIFE FROM WHICH THE WEB OF THEIR EXISTENCE IS WOVEN. THEY ARE CALLED BY GOD THAT BY EXERCISING THEIR PROPER FUNCTION AND LED BY THE SPIRIT OF THE GOSPEL THEY WORK FOR THE SANCTIFICATION FROM THE WORLD FROM WITHIN LIKE A LEAVEN. IMAGINE HOW BREAD IS MADE. IT IS MADE WITH LEAVEN. AND IT RISES FROM THE INSIDE AND IS A BEAUTIFUL SMELL THROUGHOUT ONE'S HOUSE. YOU COULD EVEN SAY THROUGHOUT THE WORLD. I REMEMBER LIVING IN COLUMBUS OHIO AND PASSING THE WONDER BREAD PLANT AND ROLLING DOWN MY WINDOWS. SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL ABOUT THE SMELL OF BREAD. HOW MUCH MORE THAT IS TO YOU. TO YOU WHO ARE THE LAY FAITHFUL. IN THE MIDST OF THE WORLD, IN THE MIDST OF YOUR FAMILIES AND IN THE MIDST OF YOUR SECULAR PROFESSIONS, YOU BRING THE ENTIRE TEMPORAL ORDER AND YOU BRING THAT TO JESUS. YOU BRING IT TO HIM IN ORDER TO SANCTIFY THE ENTIRE CREATED REALM. THE CREATED TEMPORAL ORDER. THE COUNCIL CONTINUES, IN THIS WAY THEY MAKE CHRIST KNOWN TO OTHERS ESPECIALLY BY THE TESTIMONY OF A LIFE RESPLENDENT IN FAITH, HOPE AND CHARITY. THEREFORE SINCE THEY ARE TIGHTLY BOUND UP IN ALL THE TEMPORAL AFFAIRS IT IS THEIR SPECIAL TASK AND ORDER AND TO THROW LIGHT ON THESE AFFAIRS. AGAIN NOT TO CAST YOUR LIGHT UNDERNEATH A BED. WE THINK ABOUT THIS NOWADAYS BUT WE THINK ABOUT LIGHTS BEING ELECTRIC. WELL, BACK THEN THERE WAS NO ELECTRICITY. THEY WERE CASTING LIGHTS WHICH WERE TORCHES UNDERNEATH THE BED. WHAT WILL HAPPEN? A FIRE. YOUR HOUSE IS GOING TO BURN DOWN. BUT YOUR LIGHT IS MEANT TO SHINE ABOVE AND TO PERVADE THE WORLD. AGAIN LIGHT SHINES IN THE DARKNESS. LIGHT SCATTERS DARKNESS. HOPEFULLY THE WITNESS OF THE SAINTS STS. ANDREW KIM TAEGON, PAUL CHONG HASANG AND COMPANIONS WILL INSPIRE MANY LAY MEN AND WOMEN TO WORK FOR THE SALVATION OF SOULS. AGAIN SIMPLY TO BRING THE TEMPORAL ORDER TO BRING YOUR VOCATIONS, FAMILY LIFE AND SINGLE LIFE, TO BRING YOUR PROFESSIONS, WHAT YOU WORK IN, TO BRING THAT TO THE TEMPORAL ORDER, THAT WHICH IS IN THE TEMPORAL ORDER TO BRING THAT TO CHRIST. AND HE SANCTIFIES IT. AND ASK HIS LIFE GIVING SPIRIT TO SANCTIFY ALL OF YOUR WORK.
