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| The Eight North American Martyrs |
(Trinity Sunday 2018: This homily was given on May 27, 2018
at St. Pius X Church, Westerly, R.I., by Fr. Raymond Suriani. Read Deuteronomy 4: 32-40; Psalm 33; Romans
8: 14-17; Matthew 28: 16-20.)
[For the audio version of this homily, click here: Trinity Sunday 2018]
As many of you know, last Saturday (May 19) we took 50
people on a one-day pilgrimage to the shrine of the North American Martyrs in
Auriesville, New York (which is about 30 miles west of Schenectady just off the
New York Thruway).
Many Catholics are not aware of the fact that there are actually
canonized martyrs in the Church who shed their blood for Jesus Christ on North
American soil. But there are! Eight of them, to be exact. Three died in what is now Auriesville; the
other five died at another mission site in Midland, Ontario (which is about 2
hours north of the city of Toronto). They
were all Jesuits—or at least in some way associated with the Jesuit religious
order.
They came from France in the early part of the 17th
century and worked primarily with the Huron Indians, who were a relatively
peaceful group—at least compared to the Iroquois, with whom the Hurons were at
war. They came because they heard and
took seriously the words of Jesus in today’s gospel: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded
you.”
And they were tough!
These eight men were tough, strong men of God. The tortures and sufferings they went
through, especially when they were being martyred, are almost beyond
belief. (You’ll be happy to know that I
will spare you most of the gory details in this homily.) Incidentally, the reason we know so much
about these missionaries and about their martyrdoms is because the Jesuits were
required to write to their superiors back in France, to keep them updated on
what was going on in the missions. So we
know about the brutal living conditions they faced, and the pagan culture they
were trying to evangelize: a culture that was marked by things like war,
promiscuity, cannibalism and superstition—which
was an especially big problem. For
example, whenever something bad happened, like the outbreak of a contagious
disease that spread through the settlement, the Indians would say that it was
because the Jesuits—the “Blackrobes”—had put a curse on them.
It’s very hard to defend yourself against that kind of superstition.
And yet, despite all the sufferings and challenges they had
to deal with, these missionaries loved the Indians, and they were willing to
pay whatever price was necessary—even the shedding of their own blood—to bring
these native North Americans to Christ.
In fact, at times they even longed for it! As one of them, Jean de Brebeuf, wrote in his
diary, “I vow to you, Jesus my Savior, that as far as I have the strength I
will never fail to accept the grace of martyrdom, if someday you in your infinite
mercy would offer it to me, your most unworthy servant.”
As I indicated earlier, these were extraordinary—and
strong—men of God.
My personal favorite among them is St. Isaac Jogues. For six years, beginning in 1636, Fr. Jogues
ministered to the Hurons. However, in
1642, while on a canoe trip to get some supplies, he was captured by the
Iroquois, who proceeded to torture him mercilessly. I won’t go into all the gory details, but
let’s just say that, among other things, they cut off his thumb, tore out his
fingernails, and gnawed off the ends of his fingers until the bones were
visible. That meant he could no longer
say Mass, because, as some of you will remember, in the old Liturgy a priest
could only touch the Eucharist with his thumb and forefinger.
About a year later, with the help of the Dutch, he escaped
and eventually sailed back to France. There
he was received as a hero (remember, people in France knew what was going on in
the missions because of the reports sent home by the Jesuits). Jogues was honored by royalty; he was called a
“living martyr” by the pope at the time, Urban VIII. The Holy Father even gave him a special
dispensation to say Mass with his mangled hands.
And Fr. Isaac Jogues lived happily ever after, right?
Well, not quite. All
the attention and all the accolades proved to be too much for him, and so, only
a few months later, he asked to go back to the missions—knowing that, in all
likelihood, he would never return to France again.
And he didn’t.
He was martyred a few years later, on October 18, 1646.
Now you might say, “Well, Fr. Ray, that’s a very nice
story, but today is Trinity Sunday. What
does that story have to do with the Blessed Trinity?”
The answer is: Quite a bit!
The Catechism tells
us that the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is “the central mystery of
Christian faith and life.” (CCC, 234) It reminds us that God is a “family” of
Persons united in an eternal bond of love.
The Catechism puts it this
way: “We firmly believe and confess without reservation that there is only one
true God, eternal infinite … and unchangeable, incomprehensible, almighty and
ineffable, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit: three persons indeed,
but one essence, substance or nature entirely simple.” (CCC, 202)
Now that sounds really theoretical, doesn’t it?
But what about on the experiential level?
Is it possible for people to experience the Blessed Trinity
in the ordinary events of their daily lives?
Is it possible for people to experience the Blessed Trinity even in the
midst of trial and suffering?
I would say yes! And
we find a great example of this in St. Isaac Jogues!
People (whether they realized it or not) actually
experienced the Blessed Trinity in and through the ministry and martyrdom of
this extraordinary man. First of all, they
experienced through Isaac Jogues the
merciful love of God the Father. Jesus
said, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son.” In his unending mercy, the heavenly Father
gave us his Son to save us from sin and Satan and eternal death, and to bring
us eternal life. Well, Isaac Jogues and
the seven other North American martyrs came to our shores to do the same thing
for the Huron Indians—and everyone else who would give them a hearing. They came to bring these people mercy and
salvation through Jesus Christ.
But it doesn’t stop there.
People (especially the Huron Indians) also experienced the sacrificial love of God the Son
through the ministry of Father Jogues. Jesus
said, “Greater love than this no one has, than to lay down his life for his
friends.” The love of God the Son went
the distance (unto death)—and so did the love of Isaac Jogues for the Indians
he served in the New World. And, like
Jesus, he sacrificed himself willingly.
And, finally, people experienced the abiding love of God the Holy Spirit in Isaac Jogues. At the Last Supper Jesus said to his
Apostles, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give
you another Advocate [the Holy Spirit] to be with you always.” The love of the
Holy Spirit is an abiding love. It
doesn’t waver. It’s not greater on
Sunday than it is on Tuesday and Wednesday.
It’s constant.
Which is precisely how Isaac Jogues’ love was for the
Indians—including the Iroquois. Despite
all the suffering and torture they put him through, he still loved them.
Amazing!
The
merciful love of God the Father;
The sacrificial
love of God the Son;
The
abiding love of God the Holy Spirit—
All of these were experienced by people through the words—and
through the deeds—of Isaac Jogues and the other seven North American martyrs.
Of course the real question of the day is: Are the people in our lives having a similar
experience of the Blessed Trinity through us?