Today, November24, as our Church celebrates the Memorial of Andrew Dung-Lac, priest, and Companions, Martyrs, our Church invites us to first read and reflect on a passage from the first letter of Peter (2:1-17), entitled "We are built as living stones". Our treasure, which follows is from a letter by Saint Paul Le-Bao-Tinh. St. Andrew Dung-Lac worked in missions in Vietnam with priests from the Foreign Mission Society of Paris. He was imprisoned and repeatedly tortured during the persecutions in Vietnam between 1820 and 1840, ordered by an emperor who was known for his persecutions of Christians. While the names of most of these martyrs have been lost, 117 of them, whose sufferings were cruelest and best documented, were beatified in four groups in the 20th century and canonized together by Pope St. John Paul II on June 19, 1988. They include nearly 100 Vietnamese priests, catechists and laypeople, as well as French and Spanish missionaries; 76 were beheaded, 21 were suffocated, six were burnt alive, five were mutilated, and nine died in prison. Among the 117 companions, 96 were Vietnamese, 11 were Spanish, and 10 were French. Eight of the group were bishops, 50 were priests, and 59 were lay Catholics. Their martyrdom reminds us that life on earth is very short and what truly matters is our faithfulness to God. Each of the 117 has a unique story that can serve as an inspiration to us on our faith journey.  St. Paul Le-Bao Tinh was a Vietnamese priest martyred for his faith in 1857, one of approximately 130,000 Christians killed in Vietnam between 1630 and 1886. The first letter of Saint Peter begins with an address by to Christian communities located in five provinces of Asia Minor, including areas evangelized by Paul. Christians there are encouraged to remain faithful to their standards of belief and conduct despite threats of persecution. Numerous allusions in the letter suggest that the churches addressed were largely of Gentile composition, though considerable use is made of the Old Testament. The contents following the address both inspire and admonish these "chosen sojourners" who, in seeking to live as God's people, feel an alienation from their previous religious roots and the society around them. Appeal is made to Christ's resurrection and the future hope it provides and to the experience of baptism as new birth. The suffering and death of Christ serve as both source of salvation and example. What Christians are in Christ, as a people who have received mercy and are to proclaim and live according to God's call, is repeatedly spelled out for all sorts of situations in society, work (even as slaves, the home, and general conduct. But overall hangs the possibility of suffering as a Christian. Persecution is later described as already occurring, so that some have supposed the letter was addressed both to places where such a "trial by fire" was already present and to places where it might break out.  

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