May I die for you, Jesus, who willingly died for me

Treasures of Our Faith with Deacon Richard Vehige

Today, October 19, as our Church celebrates the Memorial of Issac Jogues and John De Drebeuf, Priests and Martyrs, 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 the spiritual diaries by Saint John de Drebeuf, priest and martyr.

When the Jesuits in France decided to begin a mission to bring the Word of God to the indigenous peoples of New France, or present-day Canada, the newly ordained Fr. Jean de Brébeuf was ready. Already in his youth, he had made a vow never to refuse martyrdom if it came; and he knew that in this distant land full of vast forests, snow and warring tribes, it might come. He arrived in the territory of the Huron people in 1626. For twenty years he labored among this people, living with them, compiling the first dictionary of their language, and writing a catechism in Wendat. Echon, or “he who carries a heavy load,” the Hurons called him. Some of them accepted baptism. Gradually, other Jesuits joined the mission including Fr. Isaac Jogues and other companions.

Between the year 1642 and 1649 eight members of the Society of Jesus were killed in North America, after fearful torture by the members of the Huron and Iroquois tribes. These men had worked hard to bring the natives of that region to the true faith. Saint Isaac Jogues died on October 18, 1647 and Saint John de Brebeuf on March 16, 1648.

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 in spite of 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.