Feb. 6, 2014 Thursday: St. Paul Miki and Companions
Returning to God's Ever-Present Love
We often confuse unconditional love with unconditional approval. God loves us without conditions but does not approve of every human behavior. God doesn't approve of betrayal, violence, hatred, suspicion, and all other expressions of evil, because they all contradict the love God wants to instill in the human heart. Evil is the absence of God's love. Evil does not belong to God.
God's unconditional love means that God continues to love us even when we say or think evil things. God continues to wait for us as a loving parent waits for the return of a lost child. It is important for us to hold on to the truth that God never gives up loving us even when God is saddened by what we do. That truth will help us to return to God's ever-present love.
-Fr. Henri Nouwen
St. Paul Miki and Companions
These twenty-six martyrs are sometimes called the martyrs of Nagasaki and the martyrs of Japan. St. Francis Xavier brought the Good News of Christianity to Japan in 1549. Many people accepted the Gospel and were baptized by St. Francis himself. Although Francis moved on and eventually died near the shores of China, the Catholic faith continued to grow in Japan. By 1587 there were 200,000 Japanese Catholics. Missionaries from various religious orders were working in the country, and Japanese priests, religious and lay people lived the faith joyfully.
Paul Miki was born at Tounucumada, Japan, in 1562. He was educated by the Jesuits at Anziquiama, and joined their order in 1580. Paul was an excellent preacher and catechist.
In 1588, the emperor of Japan ordered all Jesuits to leave the country within six months. Many stayed, in disguise, because they knew that faithful Catholics would need them, especially during the coming times of persecution.
In 1597, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who ruled Japan in the emperor’s name, heard a false rumor that the missionaries were only bringing Christianity to the Japanese so that it would be easier for Spain and Portugal to defeat Japan. Fearing this was true, Hideyoshi ordered all the Christians to be arrested and put to death.
On February 5, 1597, Paul Miki was crucified along with two other Japanese Jesuit catechists, six Franciscans from Spain, Mexico and India, and seventeen Japanese Catholic lay people, including children as young as twelve and fifteen. Paul’s last words from his cross were to encourage the community of believers to be faithful, even in the face of death. Then, at the same moment, twenty-six executioners thrust twenty-six spears into the Christians as they hung on their crosses.
St. Paul Miki and his companions were canonized as the martyrs of Japan by Pope Gregory XVI in 1862.
We can pray every day for people who live in parts of the world where they are persecuted for their belief in God. We can also ask St. Paul and his companions for the courage to be faithful to Jesus.
-Daughters of St. Paul
We often confuse unconditional love with unconditional approval. God loves us without conditions but does not approve of every human behavior. God doesn't approve of betrayal, violence, hatred, suspicion, and all other expressions of evil, because they all contradict the love God wants to instill in the human heart. Evil is the absence of God's love. Evil does not belong to God.
God's unconditional love means that God continues to love us even when we say or think evil things. God continues to wait for us as a loving parent waits for the return of a lost child. It is important for us to hold on to the truth that God never gives up loving us even when God is saddened by what we do. That truth will help us to return to God's ever-present love.
-Fr. Henri Nouwen
St. Paul Miki and Companions
These twenty-six martyrs are sometimes called the martyrs of Nagasaki and the martyrs of Japan. St. Francis Xavier brought the Good News of Christianity to Japan in 1549. Many people accepted the Gospel and were baptized by St. Francis himself. Although Francis moved on and eventually died near the shores of China, the Catholic faith continued to grow in Japan. By 1587 there were 200,000 Japanese Catholics. Missionaries from various religious orders were working in the country, and Japanese priests, religious and lay people lived the faith joyfully.
Paul Miki was born at Tounucumada, Japan, in 1562. He was educated by the Jesuits at Anziquiama, and joined their order in 1580. Paul was an excellent preacher and catechist.
In 1588, the emperor of Japan ordered all Jesuits to leave the country within six months. Many stayed, in disguise, because they knew that faithful Catholics would need them, especially during the coming times of persecution.
In 1597, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who ruled Japan in the emperor’s name, heard a false rumor that the missionaries were only bringing Christianity to the Japanese so that it would be easier for Spain and Portugal to defeat Japan. Fearing this was true, Hideyoshi ordered all the Christians to be arrested and put to death.
On February 5, 1597, Paul Miki was crucified along with two other Japanese Jesuit catechists, six Franciscans from Spain, Mexico and India, and seventeen Japanese Catholic lay people, including children as young as twelve and fifteen. Paul’s last words from his cross were to encourage the community of believers to be faithful, even in the face of death. Then, at the same moment, twenty-six executioners thrust twenty-six spears into the Christians as they hung on their crosses.
St. Paul Miki and his companions were canonized as the martyrs of Japan by Pope Gregory XVI in 1862.
We can pray every day for people who live in parts of the world where they are persecuted for their belief in God. We can also ask St. Paul and his companions for the courage to be faithful to Jesus.
-Daughters of St. Paul
