(or summarized and spoken by the prayer leader in his/her own words)

The evangelization of Korea began during the 17th century through a group of lay persons. A strong vital Christian community flourished there under lay leadership until missionaries arrived from the Paris Foreign Mission Society.

During the terrible persecutions that occurred in the 19th century (in 1839, 1866, and 1867), one hundred and three members of the Christian community gave their lives as martyrs. Outstanding among these witnesses to the faith were the first Korean priest and pastor, Andrew Kim Taegon, and the lay apostle, Paul Chong Hasang.

This first native Korean priest was the son of Korean converts. His father, Ignatius Kim, was martyred during the persecution of 1839 and was beatified in 1925. After Baptism at the age of 15, Andrew travelled 1,300 miles to the seminary in Macao, China. After six years he managed to return to his country through Manchuria. That same year he crossed the Yellow Sea to Shanghai and was ordained a priest. Back home again, he was assigned to arrange for more missionaries to enter by a water route that would elude the border patrol. He was arrested, tortured and finally beheaded at the Han River near Seoul, the capital.

When Pope John Paul II visited Korea in 1984 he canonized, besides Andrew and Paul, 98 Koreans and three French missionaries who had been martyred between 1839 and 1867. Among them were bishops and priests, but for the most part they were lay persons: men and women, married and unmarried, children, young people, and the elderly. All suffered greatly for the Faith and consecrated the rich beginnings of the Church of Korea with their blood as martyrs.

Among the martyrs in 1839 was Columba Kim, an unmarried woman of 26. She was put in prison, pierced with hot tools and seared with burning coals. She and her sister Agnes were disrobed and kept for two days in a cell with condemned criminals, but were not molested. After Columba complained about the indignity, no more women were subjected to it. The two were beheaded.

A boy of 13, Peter Ryou, had his flesh so badly torn that he could pull off pieces and throw them at the judges. He was killed by strangulation. Protase Chong, a 41-year-old noble, apostatized under torture and was freed. Later he came back, confessed his faith and was tortured to death.
 

OPENING PRAYER:

May you, Lord, be for us a moon of joy and happiness.
Let the young become strong and the grown man keep his strength.
Let the pregnant woman be delivered,
and the woman who has given birth suckle her child.
Let the stranger reach the end of his journey,
and those who remain at home live safely in their houses.
Let the flocks that travel to feed in the pastures return satisfied.
May you, Lord, be a moon of harvest and of calves.
May you be a moon of restoration and good health.
Amen.     Prayer, Africa, used by CAFOD.

First Reading: Wisdom 3:1-9
But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and no torment will ever touch them.

In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died, and their departure was thought to be an affliction, and their going from us to be their destruction; but they are at peace.

For though in the sight of men they were punished, their hope is full of immortality.

Having been disciplined a little, they will receive great good, because God tested them and found them worthy of himself; like gold in the furnace he tried them, and like a sacrificial burnt offering he accepted them.

In the time of their visitation they will shine forth, and will run like sparks through the stubble.
They will govern nations and rule over peoples, and the Lord will reign over them for ever.

Those who trust in him will understand truth, and the faithful will abide with him in love, because grace and mercy are upon his elect, and he watches over his holy ones.

The Word of the Lord ...

PAUSE

RESPONSE         Do not be afraid

Do not be afraid of those who kill the body
Do not be afraid of those who set traps for you

Do not be afraid of those who insult you or of those who come bearing arms...
Do not be afraid of those who twist everything to ensure that justice never triumphs.
Be afraid only of being afraid, like those who lie to survive.

Do not be afraid of those who threaten to kill you or to destroy your reputation.
Do not be afraid of the strong and mighty though they are armed, they tremble.
Do not be afraid of those who dictate the rules in order never to lose.
Be afraid only of being afraid, like those who keep silent and pretend not to see.

Do not be afraid of those who stand up in public and assert that all is well in the world.
Do not be afraid of those who declare, scornfully, that your ideas are impractical.
Do not be afraid of the prophet's role: the role of the prophet is to speak out.
Be afraid only of being afraid, like those who believe it is better not to sing.

ALL: Truth will liberate you.  Truth will set you free, free!
- Sung in communities of Brazil in memory of Dom Helder Câmara.

PAUSE

Gospel Reading: Luke 9:23-26

Then he told them what they could expect for themselves: "Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You're not in the driver's seat--I am. Don't run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I'll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self. What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you? If any of you is embarrassed with me and the way I'm leading you, know that the Son of Man will be far more embarrassed with you when he arrives in all his splendour in company with the Father and the holy angels. This isn't, you realize, pie in the sky by and by.

"The Korean Church is unique because it was founded entirely by lay people. This fledgling Church, so young and yet so strong in faith, withstood wave after wave of fierce persecution. Thus, in less than a century, it could boast of 10,000 martyrs. The death of these martyrs became the leaven of the Church and led to today's splendid flowering of the Church in Korea. Even today their undying spirit sustains the Christians in the Church of silence in the north of this tragically divided land" (Pope John Paul II, speaking at the canonization).

INTERCESSIONS

- the intercessions are to come from the community


CLOSING HYMN: We Will Drink the Cup (from CD, The Spirit of Malia, GIA)