Sts. Andrew Kim Tae-gon, priest, Paul Chong Ha-sang, and companions, martyrs
Feast day: September 20
“We have received baptism, entrance into the Church, and the honor of being called Christians. Yet what good will this do us if we are Christians in name only and not in fact?”
These are some of the final words of St. Andrew Kim Tae-gon, the first native-born Korean priest who died as a martyr. Although today there are approximately four million Christians in Korea, the Faith was not tolerated there until 1884.
Born in 1822 to Catholic convert parents, Andrew was baptized at age 15 and martyred at age 25 together with 10,000 Christians in Korea, most of whom were lay people. Even though his father and grandfather had been killed for their Christian faith, Andrew traveled over 1,000 miles away to a seminary in Macau, China, to prepare for the priesthood. Ordained a priest in Shanghai by a French bishop, he was sent back to his homeland of Korea secretly to minister and evangelize. While bringing missionaries into the country secretly via Chinese shipping boats, Andrew was eventually discovered and tortured in prison in Seoul. Prior to being beheaded, he told those around him:
“This is my last hour of life, listen to me attentively: if I have held communication with foreigners, it has been for my religion and my God. It is for him that I die. My immortal life is on the point of beginning. Become Christians if you wish to be happy after death, because God has eternal chastisements in store for those who have refused to know him.”
Today we honor 103 of those Koreans declared saints who were killed with Andrew along with a layman, Paul Chong Hasang. Born in 1795 and the son of converts to Christianity, Paul also chose to be a Christian even though several members of his family had been martyred. Through his job serving as a government interpreter, Paul, a married layman, traveled to Beijing, a location from which Korean Christians previously had obtained Christian literature from Jesuits in China to form house churches. Wanting to bring more priests to celebrate Mass and administer the sacraments to these first Korean Christians, Paul asked the bishop in Beijing to send priests to Korea and establish an apostolic vicariate.
Pope Gregory XVI did as Paul requested, but when a persecution broke out in Korea, Paul was arrested and tried for his advocacy for Christians. The judge was impressed with Paul’s written defense and exclaimed, “You are right in what you have written, but the king has forbidden this religion, and it is your duty to renounce it.” Nevertheless, Paul was adamant, “I have told you that I am a Christian. I will be one until my death.” Paul was tortured and died after being placed on a cross.
When Pope St. John Paul II canonized the 103 Korean martyrs in 1984, he noted,
“The Korean Martyrs have borne witness to the crucified and risen Christ. Through the sacrifice of their own lives they have become like Christ in a very special way. The words of Saint Paul the Apostle could truly have been spoken by them: ‘We are always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies … We are always being given up to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh.’ (2 Cor 4:10-11).The death of the martyrs is similar to the death of Christ on the Cross, because like his, theirs has become the beginning of new life. This new life was manifested not only in themselves — in those who underwent death for Christ — but it was also extended to others. It became the leaven of the Church as the living community of disciples and witnesses to Jesus Christ.”
Reflection
Jesus, may my love for you grow so strong that I am willing to give all for you. You are the Way, the Truth and the Life.
Prayer
O God, who have been pleased to increase
your adopted children in all the world,
and who made the blood of the Martyrs
Saint Andrew Kim Tae-gon and his companions
a most fruitful seed of Christians,
grant that we may be defended by their help
and profit always from their example.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
