Memorial of Saint Andrew Dŭng-Lac, Priest, and Companions, Martyrs, November 24, 2025

Gospel

Luke 21:1-4

When Jesus looked up he saw some wealthy people

putting their offerings into the treasury

and he noticed a poor widow putting in two small coins.

He said, "I tell you truly,

this poor widow put in more than all the rest;

for those others have all made offerings from their surplus wealth,

but she, from her poverty, has offered her whole livelihood."

Reflection

Today is the Memorial of Saint Andrew Dŭng-Lac, Priest, and Companions, Martyrs.

St. Andrew Dung-Lac was one of the 117 people martyred in Vietnam between 1820 and 1862, all of which were canonized by Pope John Paul II on June 19, 1988. Of the group, 96 were Vietnamese, 11 were Spaniards, and 10 were French, among them 8 bishops, 50 priests and 59 lay Catholics.

In 1832, Emperor Minh-Mang outlawed the practice of Catholicism and ordered Vietnamese Christians to trample upon crucifixes as a public renunciation of Jesus Christ. Many refused…and many paid with their lives. They endured imprisonment, brutal tortures, humiliation, and, in the case of Fr. Andrew, beheading. These martyrs gave all they had just as the poor widow in the Gospel offered her “whole livelihood”. Their very lives became an offering poured out completely for the sake of Jesus Christ. Most of us, of course, will not be asked to give our lives in martyrdom. We may never face the same level of persecution or be called to surrender everything we possess. Yet, the example of the widow and the martyrs still invites us to consider what we can offer to God in the circumstances of our own daily lives.

I believe it starts with small, daily choices…offering up our frustrations and choosing patience, giving our time to someone who needs to be listened to, choosing forgiveness when we’ve been hurt, surrendering our worries in prayer, serving quietly without expecting recognition, practicing generosity even in our own “poverty” whether that poverty is time, energy, or emotional strength. These small offerings, though often invisible to the world, are precious to God. Like the widow’s coins, they carry great weight because they are gifts made in love.