25th Ordinary Sunday, Year B, 23.09.2012

Wisdom 2:12, 17-20/ James 3:16-4:3/ Mark 9: 30-37


There is a peculiar phenomenon that is happening in the entertainment scene.

We see it in TV serials, in live concerts, in movies – it’s like an invasion on the entertainment scene.

I would just want to generally term this as the “K-pop”.

Well, it all began with Canto-pop in the 70s, followed by Mando-pop and then J-pop (Japan) and now K-pop from Korea is riding the waves.

In the similar styles of the “pop” tradition, K-pop usually features boy-bands and girl-bands, whose members are young and good-looking and with very slick dance moves.

What is amazing is that we may not even know they are saying or singing. Of course I presume that we do not know the Korean language.

Take for example the song “Gangnam Style”. I really don’t know what the singer is singing or rapping away with.

Yet, it is the hottest video on Youtube with more than 225 million hits.

But if the rise of the K-pop in phenomenal, then there is something else from the land of South Korea that is is also phenomenal, but it not on the entertainment scene.

The rise of Christianity in S. Korea has indeed been astonishing as well as amazing.

But that does not mean that it has been easy for Christianity to take root in that land, or that Korea has always been favorable to Christianity.

Because ever since missionaries entered Korea in the 17th century, there had been fierce persecutions against Christianity especially during the 19th century.

In 1984, Pope John Paul II canonized 103 martyrs of Korea, but it was estimated that there were more than 8000 who were killed for their faith.

In fact the relics of one of the martyrs St. Laurent Imbert, who was a French missionary, is entombed in our Cathedral of the God Shepherd.

Yet it must be remembered that the fierce persecutions were not because the Christians were causing social unrest or creating political trouble.

The Christians were just ordinary men and women who were fervently living out their faith.

But because their faith shaped their lives and actions and practices, they were viewed by their fellow countrymen as detractors of the national culture and even as insurgents.

The 1st reading gives the reason for this attitude towards Christians – The godless say to themselves, “Let us lie in wait for the virtuous man, since he annoys us and opposes our way of life. Let us test him with cruelty and with torture, and thus explore this gentleness of his and put his endurance to the test.”
“Let us condemn him to a shameful death since he will be looked after – we have his word for it.”

It is very amazing how the 1st reading managed to read into the minds of evil people and express their evil intentions.

Yet it is also quite disgusting to know that such are the thoughts and the deeds of evil people towards good and virtuous people.

It is simply illogical, irrational and absurd. Yet it has happened in the past, and it is still happening and it will continue to happen.

In other words, evil does not need a reason to make the good suffer. 

Evil is just out to exterminate the good.

We often say that Jesus died to save us from our sins.

Yet it must also be said that it was evil which nailed Jesus to the cross and killed Him.

Jesus knew what evil could do to Him, and that was why He said in the gospel: The Son of God will be delivered into the hands of evil men. They will put Him to death but three days after He has been put to death, He will rise again. 

So Jesus knew that evil was out to get Him. In spite of all the good He does, He will be persecuted and persecuted unto death.

He came to save us but who will save Him? We may not like to hear this, but God did not save Jesus from death on the cross!

But that is not the end of it. Because Hebrews 5:7 says this -  During his life on earth, he offered up prayer and entreaty,
aloud and in silent tears, to the one who had the power to save him out of death, and he submitted so humbly that his prayer was heard.

Yes, God did not save Jesus from a horrible death on the cross. But God saved Jesus out of death. Jesus rose from the dead. That was God’s promise to Jesus.

So in the face of evil, or in the midst of tragedy, God will promise to save us, just as He promised to save Jesus.

In 1989 an earthquake measuring 8.2 almost flattened Armenia, killing over 30,000 people in less than four minutes.

In the midst of utter devastation and chaos, a father left his wife securely at home and rushed to the school where his son was supposed to be, only to discover that the building was as flat as a pancake.

After the traumatic initial shock, he remembered the promise he had made to his son: "No matter what, I'll always be there for you!"  And tears began to fill his eyes.  As he looked at the pile of debris that once was the school, it looked hopeless, but he kept remembering his commitment to his son.

He began to concentrate on where he walked his son to class at school each morning.   Remembering his son's classroom would be in the back right corner of the building, he rushed there and started digging through the rubble.

As he was digging, other forlorn parents arrived, clutching their hearts, saying: "My son!"  "My daughter!"  Other well-meaning parents tried to pull him off from what was left of the school saying: "It's too late!", "They're dead!", "You can't help!", "Go home!", "Come on, face reality, there's nothing you can do!"
"You're just going to make things worse!"

To each parent he responded with one line: "Are you going to help me now?"   

And then he proceeded to dig for his son, stone by stone.

The fire chief showed up and tried to pull him off of the school's debris, saying, "Fires are breaking out, explosions are happening everywhere.  You're in danger.   We'll take care of it.  Go home." 

To which this loving, caring Armenian father asked, "Are you going to help me now?" 

But no one helped.
   
Courageously he proceeded alone because he needed to know for himself: "Is my boy alive or is he dead?"

He dug for eight hours . . . 12 hours . . . 24 hours ... 36 hours . . . then, in the 38th hour, he pulled back a boulder and heard his son's voice.  

He screamed his son's name, "ARMAND!"  He heard back, "Pa!?!  It's me, Pa!  I told the other kids not to worry.  I told them that if you were alive, you'd save me and when you saved me, they'd be saved.  You promised me, 'No matter what, I'll always be there for you!' 

"What's going on in there?  How is it?" the father asked.

“There are 14 of us left, Pa.  We're scared, hungry, thirsty."

"Come on out, boy!". "No, Pa!  Let the other kids out first, because I know you'll get me!  No matter what, I know you'll be there for me!"

So it was a happy ending for that father and son. It was also a happy ending for Jesus and His Father. 

His Father saved Him out of death. His Father did not give up on Him or left Him for dead.

Neither did God the Father leave the martyrs for dead. Because they are now with God in glory.

As for us, the reality is that evil will make us suffer. But we don’t have to return evil for evil.

But like Jesus, let us return evil for good. And for the good that we do, God our Father will save us out of death and from every evil.