Memorial of Saint Andrew Dung-Lac and companions, martyrs
(Daniel
5:1-6.13-14.16-17.23-28; Luke 19:12-19)
As in many places,
Catholics in Vietnam have prospered.
Only 7 percent of the population, Catholics have held the position of
president of South Vietnam when the country was divided. No doubt, some of the Church’s influence was
an outcome of Catholic schools. But
Catholics have also suffered for their faith.
Today’s patron saint,
Andrew Dung-Lac was a Vietnamese priest-martyr of the nineteenth century. He
was killed with one hundred sixteen others between 1820 and 1862. It is said that between 100,000 and 300,000
Vietnamese Catholics were either killed or suffered extreme hardship in the
nineteenth alone. Christ predicts such
suffering for his followers in today’s gospel.
How does one square
Jesus’ statement that some disciples will be put to death and another that not
a hair on a disciple’s head will be destroyed?
One commentator thinks that the second statement is misplaced. More provocative, however, is Jesus’ command
that Christians not prepare in advance a defense for themselves in front of
their accusers. What he seems to want is
our trust in him rather than in our own logic or cleverness.
