St. Isaac Jogues

How far would you be willing to go for the Gospel? For Christ? Often times, when we meet resistance, let alone outright opposition, to the Christian life, we tend to shrink away and hide our faith. I am not referring solely to speaking about the faith, but rather just simply living it. This was not the case for St. Isaac Jogues, whose feast day we celebrated earlier this month. 

Isaac Jogues was a Jesuit missionary who came to the Quebec territory in 1636 to proclaim the Gospel to the Native peoples. He joined with St. John de Brebuf and others and set out to begin his work. He labored for six years, proclaiming the Gospel to a number of different tribes. He was captured in 1642 and kept as a slave for thirteen months. He was regularly tortured, and even had both of his thumbs and forefingers removed (his torturers knew he needed these fingers in order to celebrate Holy Mass).

Jogues would eventually escape and return to New York and then to Europe. He was received as a living martyr (he was literally the first person to be named a martyr while still alive). He was granted a special permission by Pope Urban VII to celebrate Mass with his remaining fingers, and two years later, in 1644, he would return again to Canada to continue his work. Some time later, after negotiating peace between tribes and resuming his missionary work, he would eventually be martyred. 

St. Isaac Jogues remained undaunted in proclaiming the Faith, both in word and deed, despite numerous challenges and continued opposition. We can learn a lot from his courage and steadfastness. May his example lead us to boldly live out our faith and even proclaim it openly, even when opposed by the rest of the world around us!