Oct 19 – Memorial for Sts. John de Brebeuf, Isaac Jogues, Priests, and Companions, martyrs; Memorial for St. Paul of the Cross, Priest
St. John de Brebeuf (1593–1649) was a French Jesuit. He wanted to enter the priesthood since young, but his health was so bad there were doubts he could make it. His posting as a missionary to frontier Canada at the age of 32 was a literal godsend. He spent the rest of his life there, and the harsh and hearty climate so agreed with him that the natives, surprised at his endurance, called him “Echon”, which means ‘load bearer’. His massive size made them think twice about sharing a canoe with him for fear of sinking.
John had great difficulty learning the Huron language. “You may have been a famous professor or theologian in France,” he wrote in a letter home, “but here you will merely be a student, and with what teachers! The Huron language will be your Aristla crosse.” However, he eventually wrote a catechism in Huron, and a French-Huron dictionary for use by other missionaries.
According to the histories of the game, it was John who named the present-day version of the Indian game ‘lacrosse’ because the stick used reminded him of a bishop’s crosier (la crosse).
He was martyred in 1649, tortured to death by the Iroquois. By 1650, the Huron nation was exterminated, and the laboriously built mission was abandoned. But it proved to be “one of the triumphant failures that are commonplace in the Church’s history”. These martyrdoms created a wave of vocations and missionary fervour in France, and it gave new heart to the missionaries in New France.
- Patron Saint Index
Isaac Jogues (1607–1646) joined the Jesuits at Rouen, France in 1624. He was ordained a priest and taught literature. He became a missionary to New France (Canada) in 1636, starting in Quebec and working among the Hurons and Petuns in the area of the Great Lakes. This was a rough assignment – not only were the living conditions hard, but the locals blamed the ‘Blackrobes’ for any disease, ill luck, or other problems that occurred where they were.
He was captured on 3 August 1642 by the Mohawks, enslaved, tortured and mutilated for 13 months, but he taught the Faith to any who would listen. With the help of local Dutch settlers, he finally escaped and was sent back to France to recover.
In 1644, he returned to Canada to continue his work with the natives and negotiate peace with the Iroquois. He was martyred with fellow Jesuit priest, John de Brebeuf and several lay missionaries, when the natives blamed Christian sorcery for an epidemic and crop failure. He is one of the North America Martyrs.
- Patron Saint Index
Rm 3:21-30
Lk 11:47-54
Is God the God of Jews alone and not of the pagans too? Of pagans too, most certainly, since there is only one God.
One of the most common questions I get asked during Catechism is if our brothers and sisters who are not Catholics can be saved. At some point in our lives, most of us would have asked this question in one form or another. Some would ask, “What about those people in the mountains who have not heard about Christ?” “What about those of other religions and they are good people?” “What about those babies who died and were not baptized?” At the root of the questions is our concern if good people will end up eternally separated from God just because they are not Catholics. That did not seem consistent with a just, good and merciful God.
According to Lumen Gentium 16: Those also can attain to salvation who through no fault of their own do not know the Gospel of Christ or His Church, yet sincerely seek God and moved by grace strive by their deeds to do His will as it is known to them through the dictates of conscience. Nor does Divine Providence deny the helps necessary for salvation to those who, without blame on their part, have not yet arrived at an explicit knowledge of God and with His grace strive to live a good life. Whatever good or truth is found amongst them is looked upon by the Church as a preparation for the Gospel. So yes, even non-Catholics can reach heaven.
And what about the babies who did not get the chance to be baptized? The Catechism of the Catholic Church states: As regards children who have died without Baptism, the Church can only entrust them to the mercy of God, as she does in her funeral rites for them. Indeed, the great mercy of God who desires that all men should be saved, and Jesus’ tenderness toward children which caused him to say: “Let the children come to me, do not hinder them,” allow us to hope that there is a way of salvation for children who have died without Baptism. All the more urgent is the Church’s call not to prevent little children coming to Christ through the gift of holy Baptism.
The next question then is, “Why be Catholic? What’s the point of being a Catholic?” This is really a very fair question. After all, our faith is pretty famous for all things that we could not do but seems to make people happy. According to the Baltimore Catechism, God made us ‘to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him forever in heaven.’ The best place to know that here on earth is in the Catholic Church. I once read in a book that while we are on earth, we learn to enlarge our hearts so we can receive and appreciate God’s love more when we are in heaven. The author mentioned that all of our hearts will be filled with God’s love when we reach heaven. However, some of us would have bigger hearts since we’ve learned how to enlarge our hearts more on earth.
Is the Catholic Church helping you learn to love and be loved? This is the best place to be in to learn that.
(Today’s OXYGEN by Stephanie Villa)
Prayer: Lord, please help me enlarge my heart a little today so I can learn how to give an receive love.
Thanksgiving: Thank you, God, for preserving the Catholic Church.
OXYGEN 
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