6 February, Tuesday — The Heart of the Matter

6 Feb – Memorial for Sts. Paul Miki and Companions, martyrs (in Japan)

St. Paul Miki (1562-1597) was one of the Twenty-six Martyrs of Japan. He was born into a rich family and educated by Jesuits in Azuchi and Takatsuki. He joined the Society of Jesus and preached the gospel for his fellow citizens. The Japanese government feared Jesuit influences and persecuted them. He was jailed among others.

He and his Christian peers were forced to walk 600 miles from Kyoto while singing ‘Te Deum’ as a punishment for the community. Finally they arrived at Nagasaki, the city which had the most conversions to Christianity, and he was crucified on 5 February 1597. He preached his last sermon from the cross, and it is maintained that he forgave his executioners stating that he himself was Japanese. Alongside him died Joan Soan (de Goto) and Santiago Kisai, of the Society of Jesus, in addition to 23 clergy and laity, all of whom were canonized by Pope Pius IX in 1862.

On 15 August 1549, St. Francis Xavier, Father Cosme de Torres, SJ, and Father John Fernandez arrived in Kagoshima, Japan, from Spain with hopes of bringing Catholicism to Japan. On Sep 29, St. Francis Xavier visited Shimazu Takahisa, the daimyo of Kagoshima, asking for permission to build the first Catholic mission in Japan. The daimyo agreed in hopes of creating a trade relationship with Europe.

A promising beginning to those missions – perhaps as many as 300,000 Christians by the end of the 16th century – met complications from competition between the missionary groups, political difficulty between Spain and Portugal, and factions within the government of Japan. Christianity was suppressed. By 1630, Christianity was driven underground.

The first Martyrs of Japan are commemorated on Feb 5 when, on that date in 1597, 26 missionaries and converts were killed by crucifixion. 250 years later, when Christian missionaries returned to Japan, they found a community of Japanese Christians that had survived underground.

• Wikipedia

1 Kgs 8:22-23,27-30
Mk 7:1-13

“This people honours me only with lip-service, while their hearts are far from me…”

In today’s Gospel passage, two aspects regarding the Pharisees and the scribes caught my attention. Firstly, Jesus labelled them as hypocrites because they merely paid lip service to Him. Secondly, they were criticised for rigidly following the tradition of the elders in observing the law. 

It is often tempting to judge the Pharisees and the scribes for their hypocrisy, as they focused more on appearances and following rules rather than understanding the essence of the law — their concern was with doing things right instead of doing the right thing.  

I would like to think, “Thank God I am not like them” — but upon reflection, I realise that I share quite a few similarities with them. At the start of every liturgical year, I habitually make a list of spiritual resolutions – commitments that I want to take on, to grow spiritually closer to God. But oftentimes, I find myself ‘recycling’ some (if not most) of the resolutions from the past year, and from the year before that, because I was just not as committed to doing them as I was with writing them down. This realisation leads me to acknowledge that, like the Pharisees, I may also be guilty of offering lip service to the Lord — I tell him that he’s the centre of my life, while my actions speak otherwise.  

The second thing that struck me today is that the Pharisees were following “the tradition of the elders” — to observe what was handed down to them. Why were they criticised instead of lauded for keeping the observances and doing what they were taught to do? Isn’t obedience a virtue?

At the heart of the matter, they were called hypocrites because they were doing things without heart.

While obedience is commendable, it becomes hollow when devoid of genuine devotion. Their actions lacked sincerity as they followed the letter of the law without embracing its spirit. How often do I fall into such behaviour as well, overly concerned with form and structure rather than substance — doing things in the ‘proper’ manner, instead of doing the right thing – making commitments without true dedication to fulfil them?

Ultimately, the core issue lies in honouring God with more than just words. It requires opening our hearts to Him and aligning ourselves with His will. May we, as brothers and sisters in faith, strive to cultivate open hearts, allowing our words and actions to flow from genuine devotion. 

(Today’s OXYGEN by Esther Leet)

Prayer: Lord, please help me open my heart to You and be guided by Your wisdom so that I will do the right thing at every moment of each day. May my actions glorify You through all that I do.

Thanksgiving: Thank you, Lord, for loving me despite my failings, and for revealing that You are at the heart of all that matters.