Feast of Chinese Martyrs

The late Pope John Paul II canonized 120 Chinese martyrs on October 1, 2000. It was a gesture of good intention to the People's Republic of China but drew criticisms from both mainland China and Taiwan. In the following two years, the feast was celebrated on September 28. Since 2003, the feast has been moved forward to July 9.

Today, my father-in-law received baptism in St. Benedict Church in Shatin. We attended the ceremony. Fr. Francis Lau Tak Kwong officiated at the mass. He explained why the parish chose this feast day for the baptism of these 10 senior citizens. Nowadays, Catholics do not undergo violent martyrdom as they usually did in previous centuries. Yet, martyrdom should be a daily practice of Catholics. As followers of Christ, we should follow the Lord's instruction to renounce our lives.
And he called to him the multitude with his disciples, and said to them, "If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it (Mark 8:34-35).

On the one hand, it is God's choice. On the other, it is ours. We are blessed because God has prepared for us an eternal life to partake in His glory. Out of His infinite mercy, He sent His only begotten Son to die for us so that we may reclaim the lost paradise. He generously left us His body and blood to sustain and nourish our souls so that we may come home. The ball is in our court. It is our turn to return serve. For different reasons, many ignore this invitation. For those of us who accept, there are obligations to fulfil.
Jesus taught us to shift our focus from earthly living to heavenly goal. Earthly living bogs us down. Heavenly goal lifts us above. Therefore, our daily life on earth becomes a daily exercise to migrate upward. In the process, we need to sacrifice, to give up mundane things and spend our energy on more important goals --- to fight off distractions and turn always towards God. The 120 Chinese martyrs had set before us good models to follow. We get bogged down by a lot of worries. Let us learn to let go and lead a life of true freedom.

Dear Lord, I thank You for Your kindness that my father-in-law may share Your eternal life. I beg You to shower Your mercy on my parents and younger brother so that they too may have a share in Your eternal life. Amen.