Christianity, which came to Vietnam around 1533, was never
accepted by civil authorities although poor people embraced it. Over the year’s
emperors tried to ignore it, persecute it, and even wipe it out with violence. Well
over 300,000 Christians are believed to have been martyred in Vietnam. Our
saint today, Andrew Dung-Lac, is one of those martyrs.
Between 1820 and 1862, a particularly violent persecution of
the Church broke out. When St. Andrew and 116 other Christians refused to step
on a crucifix and deny that Jesus is the Son of God. They were killed. These heroic
men and women accepted martyrdom rather than denounce their faith in Jesus.[1]
In today’s Gospel, Jesus warns us not to place too much
importance on the material world. Basically, he says
that all we see will one day be destroyed. Nothing physical lasts forever. Ideally,
people would get this and embrace the importance of our relationship with God
over material distractions. Instead, to many miss the point. Too often they read
scripture and believe the voices claiming to have figured out precisely when
the end times will occur. They miss Jesus’ meaning to remain focused on the spiritual
welfare, that faith in Jesus and love for neighbor are what will last. These
are spiritual things. When we serve the kingdom of heaven, in our every day,
ordinary lives, by consistently offering God’s compassion, mercy, forgiveness
and love to our neighbor, then we will be prepared for the end—whenever it
takes place.
There will come a time when all things must be judged. The Book of Revelations tells us, those who serve the kingdom faithfully, focusing on things from above, will live forever; and those who refuse to serve the kingdom, choosing instead to cling to the things of this world, will find “the great press of God’s fury.”[2]
Although Vietnamese authorities thought they could destroy Christianity by killing its members, they simply left us with examples of men and women whose faith was so strong that they chose death in the material world, to serve the kingdom and so live forever in heaven.
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