Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them and teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. The Church honors today the memory of Paul Miki, a Japanese Jesuit scholastic, and his twenty-five companions, both clerics and lay. They were martyred by being raised on crosses and then stabbed with spears. It is said that their executioners were astounded upon seeing their joy at being martyred in a manner following Christ’s passion.
The story of Paul Miki and companions is certainly one that is true of many missionary expeditions. It is a situation that for the most part is brought about because of ignorance about Christianity by the host cultures/societies.
For those of us reading the stories of the encounters between missionaries and their host communities, the one thing that always stands out is the courage and zeal with which these men and women carried out their mission. In the unfortunate cases where the missionaries ended up being martyred, most of the time they rejected the opportunity offered them to renounce their faith. The missionary-martyrs are always ready to give up their faith because of the Pauline understanding of a Christian that we find in the First reading.
Paul, writing to the Christian community of Galatia, reminds them of the redemption he received in Jesus Christ. His encounter with Christ has given him a new identity, one that has enabled him to become a perfect proclaimer of the Gospel. For upon encountering the Christ, Paul accepted not only his message but also the person of Christ himself. He allowed Christ to “take over” his being. As he says, the life he now lives is that of Christ himself.
One cannot become a real missionary unless he/she, like Paul, allows Christ to take over his/her life. For unless a missionary understands the self as having died in order to allow Christ to be alive in him/her, he/she will lack the zeal and courage exhibited by missionary-martyrs. Paul Miki and his companions certainly understood this missionary “requirement,” and was perhaps the reason why they were joyful even as they were being executed. They knew that their death was not a loss to either themselves or to the Church since they had already given up their lives to Jesus Christ.