Jul 9 – Memorial for St. Augustine Zhao Rong, priest, & companions
Christianity arrived in China by way of Syria in the 600s. Depending on China’s relations with the outside world, Christianity over the centuries was free to grow or was forced to operate secretly.
The 120 martyrs in this group died between 1648 and 1930. Most of them (87) were born in China and were children, parents, catechists or labourers, ranging from nine years of age to 72. This group includes four Chinese diocesan priests.
The 33 foreign-born martyrs were mostly priests or women religious, especially from the Order of Preachers, the Paris Foreign Mission Society, the Friars Minor, Jesuits, Salesians and Franciscan Missionaries of Mary.
Augustine Zhao Rong was a Chinese solider who accompanied Bishop John Gabriel Taurin Dufresse (Paris Foreign Mission Society) to his martyrdom in Beijing. Augustine was baptized and not long after was ordained as a diocesan priest. He was martyred in 1815.
Beatified in groups at various times, these 120 martyrs were canonized in Rome on October 1, 2000.
Gen 41:55-57,42:5-7,17-24
Mt 10:1-7
…proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is close at hand…
Would you agree that calling us by our name is very pleasant to our ears? When a person calls me by my name, I feel something special. How much more if it were Jesus Christ who was calling us!
Our gospel for today is about the summoning of the twelve apostles for their mission. We can only imagine how Jesus calls them one by one. That act itself was very special. They were specifically picked by Christ himself. I would really feel honoured if I had been with them. Another thing which is more honourable is that they were given privileges to have “authority over unclean spirits with power to cast them out and to cure all kinds of diseases and sickness.” But if we think about it more, with great power comes great responsibility. It may be a privilege for the apostles, but they also had
to bear the weight that it carried.
The task given to the apostles is a bit challenging because Jesus instructed them to “not turn their steps to pagan territory, and to not enter any Samaritan town.” The pagan territory refers to the Gentiles, meaning they are not Jews while the Samaritans are half Jews and half Gentiles. I feel that Christ is telling the apostles to not go to a specific group of people. Rather, they must proclaim the good news to everyone.
It can be similar to us. Preaching is not exclusive to those ordained and religious. As lay people, we also shoulder the task to spread the gospel in our everyday life. Our statement that we are Catholics is not enough. We must act on it. Though it will not be very easy, doing good is habit forming. There will come a time that we are spreading the good news effortlessly. How can we do that? Do we say ‘sorry’ when we accidently bump to a stranger? Do we offer our seat to someone who needs it more? Do we open the door for someone? Do we say ‘please’ and use kind words in our household? Do we easily forgive those who have wronged us? Those little acts of kindness go a long way. This will keep people believing that there is still hope in mankind.
“We are called to act with justice, we are called to love tenderly, we are called to serve one another, to walk humbly with God!” – David Haas
(Today’s OXYGEN by Beryl Baterina)
Prayer: Heavenly Father, please give us the strength that we may only choose to do what You desire. St. Benedict, pray for us.
Thanksgiving: Thank you Father God, for calling us to do Your will.
OXYGEN 
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