"The True Story of Little Li (Chinese Girl Martyr of the
Eucharist) & Holy Communion" [Homily #198]
By
Deacon Dennis Purificacion
17th
Sunday in Ordinary Time: Jesus Miraculously Feeds 5,000
July
25, 2021
I
Before the days of online social media, the Venerable Fulton
Sheen was viewed over 30 million times every week on his show “Life is Worth
Living.” One day, a few months before
his death, he was asked about what inspired him to touch the lives of so many people. They asked: Well, was it some great Pope
perhaps or some other grand popular religious figure that inspired you? The archbishop simply replied by telling the true
unknown story of a little Chinese girl martyr of the Eucharist. Her name was Little Li.
[READ THIS STORY SLOWLY AND LET IT SINK IN FOR
PEOPLE.] When the Communist Party rose
to power in China, soldiers entered Little Li’s village and ordered everyone to
turn in all religious objects. [PAUSE.] They even went into the village church and
started shooting at the Tabernacle. [PAUSE.] [SAY THE FOLLOWING WITH EMPHASIS.] Eventually, one of the officers took out the
Ciborium holding the Eucharist and threw the Eucharist on the floor and ordered
the horrified villagers watching this to not touch the Hosts on the floor.
But every day for 32 days (because there were 32
hosts), 10-year old Little Li would [SAY SLOWLY] risk her life for the
Holy Eucharist. She would sneak
into the church, fall down on her knees, adore the Eucharistic Hosts
on the floor for an hour, and then with her tongue she would scoop
up ONE Holy Communion on the floor. [PAUSE.] On the day that the very last Eucharist was
on the floor, Little Li snuck into the church, fell down on her knees, adored
the last Eucharistic Host on the floor for one hour again, and then with
her tongue received the last Holy Communion. After that moment, one of the soldiers shot
her and she died.
The soldier who did this eventually repented and said,
“If every village had a girl like her, there would be no soldiers in the
Communist Party.” Venerable Fulton
Sheen said that his inspiration to spend one hour of prayer before Jesus in
the Eucharist every single day of his life was because of unknown Little Li,
the Chinese girl martyr of the Eucharist.
[Include comment about being a married deacon with a 10-year-old
daughter and how this story inspired me to prayer.]
II
With all the debates going on in our own time by our
bishops and the Church about who should receive Holy Communion or not, whether
this politician or that married couple, or this person or that person should receive,
the story of Little Li and the blood of this martyr puts me to a heartbreaking
state. Little Li was like a Bride receiving
the adorable Sacrament of Charity. Her
wedding garment was ready, properly disposed, and in the state of friendship or
grace with God. There was a “Eucharistic
coherence” or a child-like honesty about whether she should receive Communion
or not. She wasn’t pompous or entitled
or argumentative about her sins insisting that she should receive the gift of Holy
Communion. But she like a trusting little
child of the Eternal Father, she received is pleasing to God. Like Little Li we too are called to receive this
Sacrament of Charity in the state of grace.
[SUMMARIZE @ 12 p.m. Mass if time allows: For the next
four weeks, we’ll be hearing in the Scriptures about Jesus, the Bread of
Life. In today’s Gospel, we heard proclaimed
the miracle of the multiplication of 5 loaves and 2 fish and feeding
5,000 people. Biblical scholars have
said that when we compare the Gospel of John Chapter 6, which we just heard,
with the other 3 Synoptic Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, there is a noticeable
difference: Whereas, in the 3 Synoptic Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke
IMPLICITLY prepare the audience for the Institution of the Eucharist by Jesus
on Holy Thursday, the Gospel of John EXPLICTLY prepares the audience for the Institution
of the Eucharist by Jesus on Holy Thursday.
In other words, it is clearer in John’s Gospel that the author is making
ready, preparing and having his audience before properly disposed, to be in the
state of friendship and right mind and heart before receiving the Eucharist. When John wrote, “The Jewish feast of
Passover was near,” John explicitly and directly makes a connection. And in today’s First Reading from the Second
Book of Kings, the Prophet Elisha also fed 100 people with 20 loaves and said, “For
thus says the Lord, ‘They shall eat and there shall be some left over’” (2
Kings 4).]
III
So what does this practically mean for us today? The first is to increase our faith in the Real
Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. When
Little Li risked her life and shed her blood, she teaches us that we do not give
our lives to just ordinary bread. So the
first is to be aware of not what but WHO we are receiving. We are not receiving just a piece of bread,
like the Wonder bread that we buy at a grocery store. But we are receiving Jesus under the appearance
of bread. When the minister says, “The Body
of Christ,” the reply is “Amen” not “thank you” but Amen. This is your special moment with Jesus as you
come forward. Don’t be poorly taught or
catechizing about this teaching on the Eucharist. You know, it is said that there is poor
catechetical formation about the Eucharist, where only 1 out of 3 believe in the
Real Presence. In the USA, only 1 out of
4 Catholics go to Mass (and this was before the pandemic! which is worse). In Europe, only 1 in 10 go to Mass. This is heartbreaking. What a sad reality that so many of our
brothers and sisters in Christ do not take advantage of the Great Sacrament of
Charity and Unity that heals us, consoles us, strengthens us, and washes away
venial sin.
A
second practical action to work for is Christian unity, within our own parish
and diocese, but also with those from other Christian communities. The Sacrament of Charity, instead of being a
sign of unity, should not be a source of division.
Catechism of
the Catholic Church (no. 1336) teaches: “The first announcement of the Eucharist
divided the disciples, just as the announcement of the Passion scandalized
them: ‘This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?’ The Eucharist and the Cross are stumbling
blocks. It is the same mystery and it
never ceases to be an occasion of division.
‘Will you also go away?” the Lord’s question echoes through the
ages, as a living invitation to discover that only he has ‘the words of eternal
life’ and that to receive in faith the gift of his Eucharist is to receive
the Lord himself.
This is what happened to Jesus. The Jews of Jesus’ time could not understand
the gift of the Eucharist. When they
walked away from Jesus, Jesus didn’t say, “Oh, sorry guys, I didn’t mean that.” Instead, Jesus insisted, “Amen. Amen. I am the Bread of Life.” So on the one hand, we should not be embarrassed
in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, but on the other we should
still respect yet call to conversion those that have walked away from this Sacrament
of Charity. Perhaps, while we do not
have common doctrine with our Protestant brothers and sisters, we still have a
communion love (agape) of service to the needy.
Catholics and Protestants can still work together in acts of charity and
common witness, like working for the unborn, the hungry, and the poor or the
sanctity of marriage, or the person needing our help at home together, and even
prison and shedding blood together for the Gospel.
Third and finally, we can practically examine our
consciences and, if we have any serious or mortal or deadly sins to confess, to
go to Confession before receiving Holy Communion. Otherwise, we commit another mortal sin or a
sacrilege, if we receive Communion in the state of mortal sin instead of the
state of grace. We should ask
ourselves: 1) What does the Church teach me about how to live
a moral life? 2) Am I living according to these teachings? 3) If
not, how can I be reconciled to Christ once again, so as to be without stain on
my baptismal garment when I receive Holy Communion?
IV
In closing, dear brothers and sisters, may we have the
simple, childlike faith of Little Li, the Chinese girl martyr of the Eucharist. When Jesus teaches us about the Eucharist and
he asks us, “Will you also go away” let us persevere! Let us love the Eucharist! Let us endure! Let us stay with Jesus in the Eucharist! Like Little Li, let our response, our
Responsorial Psalm to Jesus’ teaching on the Eucharist be, “The hand of the
Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs.”
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