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Today is the Memorial for Saint Andrew Dung-Lac and his Companions. St. Andrew was a Catholic convert ordained to the priesthood, and one of 117 people martyred in Vietnam in the 19^th century. Hundreds of thousands Catholics gave their lives for Christ in the 200 years leading up to that. All were canonized during the papacy of Saint John Paul II.

Although the communist government in Vietnam is now more tolerant of the Church, there are still signs of persecution. Fortunately, the seeds of faith from these martyr’s continue to inspire the Catholic Church in Vietnam. As you may know, we have seminarians in our Archdiocese from Vietnam.

When speaking to a Vietnamese priest from Divine Word Seminary, he told me, that on a recent trip back home, he was asked to celebrate Mass for a small farming village. To prevent attracting attention from the local police, they celebrate their daily Mass at 4:00 in the morning. Having Mass at 4am every day is definitely a testimony to their dedication to the Eucharist. We can appreciate what it would mean to start our day 2.5 hours earlier but it’s difficult to imagine the police might be waiting to harass us when we leave.

These stories of faith from Vietnam and our apocalyptic readings today remind us that we can take nothing in this life for granted except for the Love of God. Since we do not know when the end times will come, we should strive for a faith that is always prepared. In a recent weekend Gospel reading we heard Jesus tell us to: “stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”

Being prepared also challenges us to rely less on ourselves and more on God. As we reflect this morning on the examples of St. Andrew and his companions, let us ask for their intercession to help us to rely on God to maintain a vigilant faith.