Sep 20 – Memorial for St. Andrew Kim Taegon and Companions, Korean Martyrs; Memorial for Sts. Laurent Imbert, Bishop Jacques Chastan, Priest (martyrs of College General, Penang, Malaysia)
There are 103 martyrs in this group, consisting of priests, missionaries and lay people who died in the early days of the Church in Korea. Most were murdered during waves of persecutions in 1839, 1846 and 1867.
St. Andrew Kim Taegon’s father was a martyr. Andrew was baptised at age 15, then travelled 1,300 miles to the nearest seminary in Macao. He was Korea’s first native priest, and the first priest to die for the faith in Korea.
St. Laurent Imbert was a missionary to China. He taught at the College General, Penang from 1821 to 1822. He was named Vicar Apostolic of Korea on 26 April 1836. He and St. Jacques (or Jacob) were arrested for the crime of evangelisation, and then tortured and martyred.
- Patron Saint Index
Wis 3:1-9
Lk 9:23-26
They who trust in him will understand the truth, those who are faithful will live with him in love.
“Simple in Virtue, Steadfast in Duty” — that is the motto of my beloved alma mater. I have always loved this phrase and it was for me, a meaningful axiom to live by when, as a young girl, I strove to do well in my studies and excel in my competitive sports. As I grew older and got charmed by the bright lights of the world, it grew harder to keep things simple. Rather, it gets more challenging to keep ‘wants’ simple, and dutifully stick to the straight and narrow.
As we celebrate this memorial of the martyrs in Korea — Saints Andrew Kim Taejon, Paul Chong Hasang and Companions — I realise that the stories of these forefathers of the Catholic faith are so far from the glitzy world of K-pop and K-drama that bedazzle the world today. The intoxicating pop culture portrays a life of modern-day cushy and heady romantic stories, followed by millions of people. Instead, the martyrs we honour today were people who made treacherous journeys, got baptised under secrecy while risking torture and death, and fought to pass on the faith even clandestinely. They were also foreign missionaries who braved persecution to carry the faith into a closed-off land.
What made these ordinary folk so courageous and blindingly willing to give up their lives for God? Would I be able to do this if God asked this of me? I worry that my hesitations would be many. I lead a comfortable, modern life today and I encounter relatively minimal friction in my life. In short, perhaps my faith has grown lazy.
As I reflect on the seasons of my life, I recognise that my faith was tried and tested during the period of numerous challenges. Yet then, I found myself clinging ever tighter to God and sharpened in intensity to conform myself to His will for me.
As the first reading carefully points out:
The souls of the virtuous are in the hands of God, no torment shall ever touch them.
In the eyes of the unwise, they did appear to die, their going looked like a disaster…
but they are in peace…
If they experienced punishment as men see it, their hope was rich in immortality;
slight was their affliction, great will their blessings be.
God has put them to the test and proved them worthy to be with him…
They who trust in him will understand the truth,
those who are faithful will live with him in love;
for grace and mercy await those he has chosen. — Wisdom 3:1-9
How beautiful this promise is for those who may suffer much in this life or present moment! At the same time, what a timely reminder for us who begin to realise that too comfortable, smooth and unchallenged a life can sometimes be the cause of ruin for one’s soul. As in the gospel today, Jesus said, “If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross every day and follow me. For anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake, that man will save it. What gain then, is it for a man to have won the whole world and to have lost or ruined his very self?” (Luke 9:23-25)
Indeed, my true treasures are stored in heaven. And Christ holds the key to the room He has prepared for me. As I reflect on the scriptures today and acknowledge the gift of earthly and eternal life that He has given me, I am willing to live simply in virtue and strive steadfast in duty — for His glory!
(Today’s OXYGEN by Debbie Loo)
Prayer: Help me Lord, to practise dying to my self in the various moments asked of me. Help me to look not at what it costs me in this life, but to remember what the eternal cost is for my life with you. Help me to continue living as an example of Christian love and duty for my child and family, so that I may in so doing, bring them to heaven.
Thanksgiving: Thank you God, for always giving us hope in the face of pain, and eternal life in the face of death.
OXYGEN 
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