12th Sunday Ordinary (A) - June 22, 2008 Sunday

Before getting into my homily, let me introduce myself. I’m originally from South, Korea. My parents immigrated to Dallas, Texas in 1984 when I was 11 years old. How many of you have met a Korean before? I know this parish had previously three priests from India.

Catholic faith entered Korea at the end of 18^th century by way of Korean scholars self-studying literature obtained from missionaries in China. Shortly, Korean kings fearing that European influence is entering the country began waves of persecution. And it produced 8,000 plus known martyrs. And out of them, Pope John Paul II canonized 103 martyrs, priests, and catechists in 1984 in Seoul, Korea, before a crowd of 650,000 people. In his homily at that canonization mass John Paul said “The blood of martyrs is the seed of Christians…the martyrs who underwent death for Christ won new life for others.” The four children [who will be] baptized here at this mass, in a sense, gained new life in Christ primarily due to Christ’s own death and resurrection on the cross and secondarily due to the sacrifice of the martyrs from all over the world including Korea.

In the face of persecution, all these martyrs had one thing in common. They believed Our Lord’s exhortation in today’s gospel, “Fear no one.” Jesus’ constant cry throughout the gospel was, “Be not afraid.” Why should we not be afraid? It’s because we are loved by God the Father who is the author of all time and all events. As Jesus says, the Father knows even every strand of hair on our head and every event that we will face. It is His Perfect Love that casts out all fear.

Just a week ago I was in South Korea visiting my relatives. And I had a chance to say a mass at a well-known Marian shrine. In the church of the shrine was a statue of Our Lady of Lourdes brought by a French missionary in 1930. Strangely it has 7 bullet holes in the statue. The story is that during the Korean War, the communist North Korean soldiers attempted to destroy the statue with their machine guns. Since this was a simple, hollow statue made of plaster, a single shot of bullet should have shattered it. Seven bullets entered, yet none came out from the back. The North Korean soldiers, who were convinced that the whole church was haunted, evacuated immediately. And the villagers would often hide inside the church knowing that the soldiers would never set their foot inside it again. People since then have flocked to this shrine seeking help with their marriage, illness, and to give thanks for the blessings received. There is no fear when we realize that Our Lord and Blessed Mother is on our side, even when the challenge seems too great.

[These children to be baptized today will begin their new life under the watchful eyes of Our Lord, Our Lady, the saints, and the guardian angels. May we also be aware that all of us are under the same loving gaze as these newly baptized children.]

-for more information about the shrine:
(in Korean) http://www.maegoe.com/
(in English) http://www.rjkoehler.com/2007/04/25/koreas-catholic-churches-gamgok-parish-church-yakhyeon-catholic-church/