November 16, 2025 Homily: Fr. Vigoa — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:02As we approach the end of the lurggical
2. 0:05year,
3. 0:06the church asks us to focus our
4. 0:09attention on the end times.
5. 0:13She doesn't let us drift quietly into
6. 0:15the holidays.
7. 0:17She confronts us with questions about
8. 0:19eternity,
9. 0:22the resurrection of the dead,
10. 0:25the life of the world to come.
11. 0:28And it can at some times be
12. 0:30uncomfortable, even unsettling.
13. 0:34The readings turn apocalyptic.
14. 0:38The language sharpens.
15. 0:40There's talk of destruction, of
16. 0:43suffering, of final judgment.
17. 0:46It's a kind of language that can make us
18. 0:49uneasy.
19. 0:51But underneath it all, the message is
20. 0:54clear.
21. 0:56And it's always the same message.
22. 0:59Remain faithful to Christ no matter what
23. 1:02you have to do and you will share in his
24. 1:06victory.
25. 1:08It sounds simple
26. 1:11until you try to live it faithfully
27. 1:13every day.
28. 1:15Because today Jesus is brutally honest
29. 1:18with his followers.
30. 1:21He tells them what will come.
31. 1:24He says, "Persecution,
32. 1:26betrayal,
33. 1:28hatred, even death."
34. 1:31He looks them right in the eye and says,
35. 1:33"You will be seized and persecuted.
36. 1:37You will be handed over to synagogues
37. 1:39and prisons. You will be hated because
38. 1:43of my name."
39. 1:45It's no wonder that the disciples must
40. 1:48have looked at him in silence.
41. 1:51No wonder our first instinct many times
42. 1:54is to think that's not what I signed up
43. 1:57for.
44. 1:59But then Jesus gives them a promise. A a
45. 2:02promise that should anchor every age of
46. 2:05faith.
47. 2:08By your perseverance,
48. 2:11you will secure your lives.
49. 2:14In other words, stay faithful and you
50. 2:17will share in my victory over sin and
51. 2:19death.
52. 2:22For 2,000 plus years, men and women have
53. 2:26heard those words and have clung to that
54. 2:29promise, believed in that promise. And
55. 2:32it has turned out to be a lifeline for
56. 2:34them.
57. 2:36And they have been mocked. They have
58. 2:38been imprisoned, tortured, and killed.
59. 2:41And yet they persevered.
60. 2:43We call those people martyrs. Their
61. 2:47stories are the church's heartbeat.
62. 2:50Their witness reminds us that
63. 2:52Christianity was not built by comfort
64. 2:55but by courage.
65. 2:59In 1597
66. 3:01in Nagasaki, Japan,
67. 3:0426 Christians were marched to their
68. 3:07death.
69. 3:09Among them was a young seminarian, Paul
70. 3:11Mickey.
71. 3:13brilliant, eloquent, full of zeal for
72. 3:16Jesus.
73. 3:18Christianity had spread quickly through
74. 3:20Japan.
75. 3:23And that success provoked fear.
76. 3:27The authorities demanded that believers
77. 3:29publicly renounce the faith to prove
78. 3:32their loyalty to them. And so they were
79. 3:36forcing them to stomp on the crucifix.
80. 3:40Some did. Many refused. Paul Mickey
81. 3:44refused.
82. 3:46He and his companions were arrested in
83. 3:48Coyoto and marched 600 miles barefoot
84. 3:52through the winter cold.
85. 3:55And when they arrived in Nagasaki, they
86. 3:58were nailed to crosses facing the rising
87. 4:00sun.
88. 4:02The authorities thought that they would
89. 4:04silence Christianity
90. 4:06by this horrific spectacle.
91. 4:10But what they unleashed was a miracle.
92. 4:14As the executioners prepared their
93. 4:16weapons, the martyrs began to sing. They
94. 4:20sang psalms. They prayed out loud. Their
95. 4:24faces shone with joy. They forgave their
96. 4:28persecutors.
97. 4:30They called out to the crowd urging the
98. 4:32crowd to repent and to believe and to
99. 4:34follow Jesus.
100. 4:36And then Paul Mickey nailed to the cross
101. 4:40preached was probably the finest sermon
102. 4:43ever heard from a pulpit made out of
103. 4:46wood and blood. He said,
104. 4:50"At this supreme moment of my life, I do
105. 4:53not wish to deceive you.
106. 4:56My religion teaches me to pardon my
107. 4:59enemies, and I do so gladly. And I
108. 5:02pardon the emperor and all who have
109. 5:05sought my death.
110. 5:07I beg them to seek baptism and to become
111. 5:10Christians.
112. 5:11Then as he died, they sang 26 men
113. 5:16praising God.
114. 5:20Those songs echoed through the hills of
115. 5:22Nagasaki.
116. 5:24And centuries later, the church
117. 5:27canonized them not because of how they
118. 5:29died, but because how they lived, how
119. 5:31they persevered in the faith.
120. 5:36But let me tell you the most astonishing
121. 5:38part of this all
122. 5:43Christian pri the priests were killed
123. 5:46and banished. There were no more priests
124. 5:49in Japan. The churches were destroyed.
125. 5:53The faith was outlawed for century.
126. 5:57But when the Christians returned some
127. 6:00500 years later, they found Christians
128. 6:04on in Japan.
129. 6:07Hidden Christians writing prayers,
130. 6:11teaching others about the faith,
131. 6:14baptizing each other in private.
132. 6:18But they kept the faith alive. They
133. 6:20persevered.
134. 6:22Their story is not unique.
135. 6:25Every century has its Paul Mickey. Every
136. 6:29nation has its martyrs. The gospel has
137. 6:33always been a threat to the world
138. 6:34because it demands something no empire,
139. 6:38no ideology, no ego can can tolerate.
140. 6:44Our religion demands conversion.
141. 6:48Paganism and superstition are easy.
142. 6:52They don't demand anything. They don't
143. 6:54demand of you to change. No repentance,
144. 6:57no personal cost.
145. 7:00But Christianity begins and ends with a
146. 7:02person. And that person is Jesus Christ.
147. 7:07And that Christ is the one that looks us
148. 7:09in the eyes and says, "Follow me."
149. 7:13And following him means we need to
150. 7:15change.
151. 7:17It means we need to surrender to do away
152. 7:20with those things that distract us and
153. 7:22take away take us away from the faith to
154. 7:25do and leave behind whatever keeps us
155. 7:27from love.
156. 7:30That's why the res that's why the world
157. 7:32resists him.
158. 7:34Why? Because deep down we all fear the
159. 7:37cost of conversion. We want it our way
160. 7:40on our terms to be able to control every
161. 7:43aspect of our lives.
162. 7:48We may not face imprisonment or
163. 7:51execution,
164. 7:53but if each one of us face our own kind
165. 7:56of trials
166. 7:58in our homes, in our workplace, in our
167. 8:01universities, our culture, there are
168. 8:03countless little ways we are asked to
169. 8:06compromise our faith, to stay silent, to
170. 8:10step away. Maybe it's not stomping on a
171. 8:13crucifix,
172. 8:15but it's staying quiet when we should
173. 8:17speak. It's choosing convenience over
174. 8:20conviction. It's being tempted to live a
175. 8:23faith that costs nothing, demands
176. 8:25nothing, risks nothing. I want a faith
177. 8:28that's comfortable on my terms. But
178. 8:32Jesus didn't call us to be comfortable.
179. 8:35He calls us to be courageous.
180. 8:38He doesn't call us to be just to survive
181. 8:40and to just die one day. He calls us to
182. 8:43be witnesses.
183. 8:45So the question for us today is very
184. 8:47simple.
185. 8:50Do we believe these words? You have to
186. 8:52ask yourself honestly, do I believe in
187. 8:55the promises of Christ?
188. 9:00Because if we do, then it demands of us
189. 9:03responsibility.
190. 9:05The martyrs believed.
191. 9:08They believed that eternity was worth
192. 9:10everything. Pain,
193. 9:12death. They knew that death was not the
194. 9:15end but the beginning.
195. 9:17So no, we don't need to pray that we
196. 9:20will share the martyr's faith. But we do
197. 9:22need to pray that we share their faith.
198. 9:26We must ask for courage to stand firm
199. 9:28when the world demands of us to kneel to
200. 9:31something else.
201. 9:33We must ask for the grace to love when
202. 9:36it would be easier to hate and to
203. 9:38divide.
204. 9:39Because every time a Christian chooses
205. 9:41fidelity over fear, heaven gains ground.
206. 9:46Every time a believer remains steadfast
207. 9:48and perseveres in truth, the kingdom of
208. 9:50God breaks through.
209. 9:54So my brothers and sisters,
210. 9:57by your perseverance, you will secure
211. 10:00your lives. That's a promise.
212. 10:07Those are the same words that Christ
213. 10:09steadied Paul Mickey on the cross, who
214. 10:13kept the hidden Christians of Japan
215. 10:15faithful for centuries,
216. 10:18who now comes to us in the eukarist with
217. 10:21the same strength, the same fire.
218. 10:25If they could sing on crosses, nailed to
219. 10:28crosses, we can stand firm in a c in a
220. 10:31culture that pushes us to compromise.
221. 10:35If they could forgive their
222. 10:36executioners, we can forgive people who
223. 10:39have wounded us. If they could whisper,
224. 10:42"I belong to Christ," with their last
225. 10:46breath,
226. 10:47we can live
227. 10:49all of our lives praising Jesus.
228. 10:54So allow their witness to awaken a faith
229. 10:57in you that is unshakable,
230. 11:00a hope that is stubborn, a love that is
231. 11:03courageous.
232. 11:05Why? Because we need to be witnesses to
233. 11:08the world.
234. 11:10And when we do, we will persevere in the
235. 11:13faith.
236. 11:15St. Paul Mickey and all holy martyrs of
237. 11:18Christ prayed for us.