17/09/2024
DIES DOMINI | Sunday Insights
by: Bro. Ivan Panganiban
βIn this world of perils and hardship
if we did not recognize the Lord as our Creator,
there would be no benefit either in being born
or in our continued existence.
We have come into the world by Godβs grace;
by that same grace 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 alone and not in fact?
We would have come into the world for nothing,
we would have entered the Church for nothing,
and we would have betrayed even God and his grace.
It would be better never to have been born than to receive the grace of God and then to sin against him.β
- From the Final Exhortation of St. Andrew Kim Tae-gon, Pro Corea Documenta, ed. Mission Catholique SΓ©oul, SΓ©oul/Paris, 1938, vol. 1, 74-75.
A Look into the Korean Catholic Martyrs and their Shrines
St. Andrew Kim Tae-gon (κΉλ건 μλλ μ), the first Korean-born Catholic priest, is known in the province of Bulacan in the Philippines for he settled there as a seminarian before being ordained as a priest in Shanghai, China and sent to Korea to be the first native priest of the kingdom at a time of intense Christian persecution under the Joseon Dynasty. He died among hundreds of other Korean Catholics in 1846 such as Paul Chong Hasang, a lay catechist who paved the way for the creation of a Catholic Diocese in Korea in 1825. They were canonized by Pope St. John Paul II on May 6, 1984.
Two international shrines are found in South Korea and are dedicated to the Korean Martyrs - the Jeodulsan Martyrs International Shrine (2018) under the Archdiocese of Seoul and the Haemi Martyrs International Shrine under the Diocese of Daejeon (2020).
In the Philippines, the Diocese of Malolos elevated the Nuestro SeΓ±or Jesucristo Parish founded in 1959 in Lolomboy village in Bocaue, Bulacan as the Nuestro SeΓ±or Jesucristo Parish - Diocesan Shrine of St. Andrew Kim Tae-gon on January 31, 2021, by the authority of Malolos Bishop Dennis C. Villarojo. On May 22, 1986, Villarojoβs predecessor, then Malolos Bishop Cirilo R. Almario, Jr. signed the agreement with then Suwon Bishop Angelo Kim, linking the parish as a spiritual twin of the Saenamteo Cathoic Shrine (μλ무ν°), the site of St. Andrewβs death during the 1846 persecution. This shrine found beside the Han River was the place of ex*****on of many Roman Catholic martyrs during four anti-Catholic persecutions in Korea in the 19th century, occurring in 1801, 1839, 1846, and 1866. The martyrs are celebrated on September 20.
We pray to have the fortitude of these martyrs.
As Pope Francis said, βto us they have handed on
a perennial witness that the light of Christβs truth dispels all darkness, and the love of Christ is gloriously triumphant.β
Reference cited:
Catholic News Agency. βSouth Korean shrine celebrates designation as international pilgrimage siteβ (2022) https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/250102/south-korean-shrine-celebrates-designation-as-international-pilgrimage-site.
Diocese of Malolos. Decree of Recognition of the Diocesan Shrine of St. Andrew Kim Taegon (2021).
Kim, Sebastian C. H. and Kim, Kirsteen. A History of Korean Christianity (2014).
Nuestro SeΓ±or Jesucristo Parish, Lolomboy, Bocaue, Bulacan, Philippines and Saenamteo Cathoic Shrine (103 Martyrs Catholic Church), South Korea. Sister Covenant (1986).
Office of the Readings on the Memorial of Saints Andrew Kim Tae-gon, Priest, Paul Chong Ha-sang, Catechist, and Companions (September 20).
Pope Francis. Homily during the Mass on the Occasion of the Sixth Asian Youth Day, Haemi Catholic Shrine (2014).
Photo Credit: Cyrus Josef Andres
