February 6--St. Paul Miki and Companions, Martyrs

Jesus told us to take up our cross, but that was figurative, right? Nobody has been crucified since the Roman persecutions. Wrong! St. Paul Miki and 25 other Japanese, European, and Mexican men and boys were crucified and lanced to death in 1597 in Nagasaki, Japan. Born the son of a Japanese military leader, St. Paul Miki was educated by the Jesuits and became a Jesuit brother preparing for priesthood. At his death he preached: “As I come to this supreme moment of my life, I am sure none of you would suppose I want to deceive you. And so I tell you plainly: there is no way to be saved except the Christian way. My religion teaches me to pardon my enemies and all who have offended me. I do gladly pardon the Emperor and all who have sought my death. I beg them to seek baptism and be Christians themselves.”

Japan had been evangelized by St. Francis Xavier and others in 1549 and was looked upon with favor by the Japanese authorities. About 200,000 Japanese had converted, including local rulers. However, this changed when political elements of trade started to concern the primary leader, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and his successors to the point that they were outlawed, hunted, and executed. There are around 1,000 known martyrs of this period.

After Japan was opened to foreign interaction by Commodore Matthew Perry in 1853, it was discovered that thousands of Japanese in the Nagasaki area had maintained their faith for almost 250 years without priests through the rite of baptism. “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.” Today, there are 509,000 Catholics in Japan, less than one-half of one percent of the total population. St. Paul Miki and companions, pray for us.

February 1--St. Brigid of Ireland, Abbess

Ireland is blessed with not one, not two, but three patron saints: St. Patrick and St. Columba, and today’s saint, Saint Brigid. Much of what we know about her comes from legend and folklore. She was the daughter of a Christian slave mother, Brocca, who was baptized by St. Patrick, and a chieftain of Leinster, Dubthach in the 5th century, dying in A.D. 525. As slaves, she and her mother were sold to a druid. She then returned to her father’s household and gave away his belongings as acts of charity. He took her to the king of Leinster, who was Christian, to sell her. As Dubthach spoke to the king, St. Brigid gave his sword to a beggar. The king convinced her father to free her because of her holiness. She eventually became the founder and abbess of a convent in Ireland at Kildare, as well as a men’s monastery, having authority over both and being considered the chief authority of all convents in Ireland.

St. Brigid is not only patroness of Ireland, but also patroness of children whose parents are not married, dairy workers (for her work as a youth), and scholars. She is called Mary of the Gaels, meaning Our Lady of the Irish. St. Brigid is portrayed with a reed cross, which she used to convert a man to Christianity on his deathbed, or an abbot’s crozier, for her ministry as abbess of Kildare.

St. Brigid is a blessing to us for her strength, her faith, her tenacity, her spirit, and her love of God. She is a gift to the Irish and through them to the United States, which benefitted greatly from the influx of Irish immigrants in the 19th century. St. Brigid of Ireland, pray for us.

January 22--Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children

Today is not a feast day of the Church, but rather a day set aside for prayer. Since Roe v. Wade on January 22, 1973 over 60 million babies have been aborted. The Church allows the readings of the Mass of the day or from the “Mass for Giving Thanks to God for the Gift of Human Life” with white vestments or from the “Mass for Peace and Justice” with purple vestments.

When we give thanks to God for the gift of human life, we remember that all good is due to the graciousness of God. He loves us, each one of us; the aborted baby; the mother who is undergoing tremendous suffering and stress given that our society says it is entirely her choice to do what she wants; and the abortionist who is entirely aware of the evil act that is being committed in the name of choice. We cannot condemn the souls of those who directly take innocent life; that is not for us. We pray for them that they may come to a conversion of heart and turn back to God and repent of their evil actions.

When we pray for peace and justice, we remember that God is the just judge and we pray for the marginalized, the oppressed, the poor, the destitute. The baby is the most innocent and oppressed, but the mother may also be oppressed into getting an abortion. Does she have the support she needs to bear and raise the baby? Is the father around? Why does she feel that she has to have an abortion? Is it due to the injustices of relationships that she is in? Are her parents, or her boyfriend, or husband abusing her by pushing her into this choice? Let us work and pray for justice for all, the baby and the mother and the family.

January 20--St. Fabian, Pope and Martyr

What would you do if a dove landed on you and the people around you then declared you pope? According to a Church historian of the fourth century, that is exactly what happened to St. Fabian. The previous pope had died and St. Fabian had come into the city of Rome. Many men were proposed as popes, but when a dove landed on St. Fabian, the people took it as a sign and he was elected pope then and there. Besides this story we know very little about him. He was martyred in 250 at the start of a major persecution under the emperor, Decius.

Signs are indicators of what is or what should be done. A “Stop” sign means we should stop at an intersection. A “Sale” sign indicates that there is something that can be bought for a lower price than usual. For the people of Rome, a dove landing on St. Fabian was a sign to choose him pope.

What other signs does God send to us? We have the “Sign of the Cross” which demonstrates our faith in the Trinity and the redemptive death of Jesus. We have the sign of the sacraments, symbols which bring about what they indicate: Baptism, new life in Christ; Eucharist, the Body and Blood of Jesus; Reconciliation, a return to a loving relationship with God. God places other signs in front of us every day: his presence in each one of us. We are signs of his love to others. We are signs of his efforts to bring about his Kingdom, as we pray, “Thy kingdom come.” When we look in the mirror do we see his love in our faces? Do we mirror his love? As St. Fabian was chosen by a sign, let us be a sign of choosing God’s love.

January 10--St. Gregory of Nyssa, Bishop

His father was a saint. His older brother was a saint. His sister was a saint. His younger brother was a bishop. His mother was the daughter of a martyr. That’s quite a family. It didn’t automatically make him a saint, though. As a matter of fact, he started his adult life looking for a secular career after studying rhetoric. But he eventually responded to the call of being a bishop. He was deposed, but then restored to his rightful place. It was only after his older brother, St. Basil the Great, died that St. Gregory of Nyssa found his voice.

He lived at the time of the Arian heresy, which claimed that Jesus was a creature of God; the first creature, but definitely not God. Arianism was condemned in A.D. 325, but even when St. Gregory was made bishop in 371 it was still a serious problem. Emperor Theodosius called for a council in 381 to address the continuing problem. St. Gregory was a great proponent for the truth of the faith, that Jesus is consubstantial with the Father, and that the Holy Spirit is also consubstantial with the Father and the Son. In other words, he defended the truth of the Trinity, the greatest mystery of our faith.

We are not called to “understand” the mystery of the Trinity. Faith calls for trust. We trust that what we have been taught about God is true, because of who taught us, Jesus Christ. Jesus said that God is his Father. God is our Father, too, but not in the same way. Jesus is God. The Father is God. The Holy Spirit is God. We don’t explain it with a scientific or mathematical proof. We believe it, like we believe in love. St. Gregory of Nyssa, pray for us.

January 6--Feast of the Epiphany

"We three kings of Orient are/Bearing gifts we traverse afar...." The feast of the Epiphany used to be celebrated on January 6, twelve days after Christmas. It is the day we celebrate the manifestation, or "epiphany" of the King of Kings to the world. It is proclaimed in Matthew's Gospel, which ties in with his theme of Jesus as being the fulfillment of the prophecies of the Old Testament. The first reading, from Isaiah, tells of how gifts fit for a king are brought to Jerusalem. Psalm 72 is about how kings from far off lands will honor and serve the king of Israel. Matthew's story of the magi shows how Gentiles honor and adore Jesus as the new king of Israel, but Matthew intends more than that. He knows that Jesus is God and that all peoples will come to adore him.

How do we honor and adore Jesus in our lives? Do we give him precedence above all else? Do we acknowledge his role as savior? Do we live as his disciples? Do we spread the Good News of his love? Christmas is a time of celebrating with gifts, but the greatest gift we can offer Jesus is ourselves. We do that when we love as he loved us. We offer ourselves when we love our families, our friends, our colleagues, and those we meet, even, and especially, when they annoy and burden us. May this feast day, when we remember the gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh borne by the three wise men, remind us to bear the gift of love that Jesus has given to us to all in our lives.

January 5--St. John Neumann, C.S.S.R., Bishop

                                          

You may have heard of the phrase, "Jack of all trades, master of none." However, a better phrase describing our saint could be, "Jack of all trades, master of one--love." St. John Neumann was born in what is now the Czech Republic in 1811. He studied for the priesthood in Prague and then came over to the United States and was ordained when he was 25. He eventually joined the Redemptorist Order. His ability to speak seven languages, German, Czech, Italian, English, French, Spanish, and Gaelic, was helpful in his ministry to the immigrant Catholics. He became a naturalized citizen at the age of 37 and four years later was named Bishop of Philadelphia. 

As bishop he transformed the parochial school system into a diocesan school system, increasing student enrollment from 500 to 9000 in less than three years. He added 73 churches and chapels to the diocese. He also introduced Forty Hours Devotion, wrote two catechisms, in German, a Bible history, and a handbook for priests, founded a religious order for women, and establish the first Italian Catholic parish in America. He died at the age of 48 in 1860.

St. John Neumann was blessed with many talents and skills. He used them to build up the kingdom of God by serving his people. We all have numerous talents and skills. How well do we use them? What about the one thing that St. John Neumann was master of? Love is the one gift that will always keep giving. St. John Neumann loved God and his people. We are called to love God and the people that God introduces to us. We, too, can be masters of the one talent that matters to the most. St. John Neumann, pray for us.