An interesting thing happened when missionaries came to Japan in the 1860s. They thought they were entering a largely non-Christian country, but when they arrived, they discovered thousands of Catholics already there practicing their faith in secret, just waiting for a day when it would be possible to practice it openly. When the official government ban was lifted in 1873, many of these “hidden Christians” then publicly professed the faith and were baptized. What caused them to courageously hold onto their faith, if only in secret? I would argue that it went back to the very public actions of some Jesuit missionaries several centuries earlier.
In 1597, the Japanese government publicly executed several Jesuit missionaries, as well as a Jesuit brother named Paul Miki, a Japanese man who had embraced the call of Christ. In addition to the Jesuits, a large number of Japanese lay people were also killed: parents and children, medical doctors and laborers. All of them bravely assented to their execution because of their faith. Paul Miki had this to say as he faced crucifixion:
“The sentence of judgment says these men came to Japan from the Philippines, but I did not come from any other country. I am a true Japanese. The only reason for my being killed is that I have taught the doctrine of Christ. I certainly did teach the doctrine of Christ. I thank God it is for this reason I die. I believe that I am telling only the truth before I die. I know you believe me and I want to say to you all once again: Ask Christ to help you to become happy. I obey Christ. After Christ’s example I forgive my persecutors. I do not hate them. I ask God to have pity on all, and I hope my blood will fall on my fellow men as a fruitful rain.”
And praise be to God for St. Paul Miki and his companions. Their blood did fall as a fruitful rain, nourishing the life of faith among thousands for centuries under heavy persecution. When I read those words of joyful forgiveness from St. Paul Miki, it moves my heart. These are the words of a man transformed by the love of Christ.
This transformation is the key to understanding Jesus’ teaching in the Gospel today. Many people have a false view of Christianity as some pale form of moralism that simply invites us to be nice people. But there is much more than “nice” going on when you look at the example of someone like St. Paul Miki. Being a nice person won’t give you the courage to publicly forgive the ones who are about to crucify you. This takes a love that goes beyond human limitation, a love which is supernatural. That love burned in the hearts of St. Paul Miki and all of his holy friends who courageously died with him that day.
They are living examples that it is indeed possible to follow what Jesus tells us in the Gospel today. The saints are living, breathing images of what it looks like to live out the high call of Christ when He says, “To you who hear I say, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”
What does it take to live out that call? It takes more than being nice, I can tell you that for sure. It takes the type of radical transformation that the love of Christ won for us on the Cross. Jesus died on the Cross for you and for me so that we can be transformed from deep within. Jesus is giving us marching orders for a radical love. Unfortunately, in the secularized world we live in, the word “radical” is seen in a negative light. To be called a “radical” is a bad thing, one of the worst, in fact. But this is exactly what Jesus is calling us to in His preaching: to be radical Christians. The English word radical comes from the Latin word radix, which means “root.” To be a radical Christian means being transformed from our roots, to be changed from deep within such that it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me, as St. Paul once said. That is the only way to fulfill the high calling of Jesus, to allow His love to draw us up, to offer our hearts to Him so that they might be transformed.
Radical hearts are what this world needs, because the love of Christ flows out of radical hearts. St. John Paul II praying with the man who tried to assassinate him showed us what it looks like to have a heart transformed. St. Stephen forgiving his persecutors as they stoned him to death embraced the love of Christ in His heart. St. Paul Miki and all of his companions forgave their crucifiers just like Christ, because He was working in them. Our patron here in Millersburg, St. Peter, whose feast we celebrated just yesterday, he went from being a denier of Christ out of fear on the night before He died, to being unafraid years later to be crucified upside down! My good friend, Rachel Muha, who forgave the killers of her college-aged son, Brian; she has personally shown me what it looks like to have the love of Christ burning in her chest, that love which even reaches out to our enemies.
Those who look at Christianity as merely a nice club haven’t really seen what the love of Christ does, but we can be the radical ones to show them.
+ Father, thank you for giving us access to your love through your beloved Son. Jesus, please pour out the love of your Sacred Heart into our hearts so that we can love with your love. Holy Spirit, free us from everything that would hold us back from that radical transformation of our hearts. We ask this through Christ, Our Lord. Amen. +