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Gospel: Luke 8: 19-21
The mother of Jesus and his brothers came to him
but were unable to join him because of the crowd.
He was told, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside
and they wish to see you.”
He said to them in reply, “My mother and my brothers
are those who hear the word of God and act on it.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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The history of Catholicism in Korea is fascinating, almost miraculous.
When the first priest arrived on Korean shores in the 18th century, there were already an estimated 4,000 Catholic converts present.
“But how is that possible?” You may wonder. “How did Christianity arrive Korea without a Catholic missionary?”
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During the 17th century, Korean scholars imported literature from China, including Christian literature. Although they were intrigued, ultimately these scholars denounced Christianity because of its belief in human equality.
Korean society was built upon Confucianism, which is a caste-based system; the wealthy and the scholarly are on the top and the poor are progressively on the bottom.
When a Chinese priest managed to secretly enter Korea years later, he found a community of 4,000 Catholics who had never met a priest. They were being taught by a few of those scholars who first encountered Christianity in a book.
Slowly, missionaries were sent, where they ministered to the Korean Catholic community under the cover of darkness.
Finally, the first Korean Catholic priest, Andrew Kim Taegon, was ordained in the 1840’s, but he was put to death by the sword at the tender age of 26.
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More than 10,000 Koreans died as martyrs over the span of 100 years.
But today there are an estimated 6 million Catholics in Korea, a sign that nothing – not even death – can stop the spread of the Gospel.
May the Korean Martyrs pray for us.
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Image credits: (1) Knights of Columbus (2) Vatican News, Vatican.va (3) Wall Street Journal