I just bought this wonderful icon of St. Mark Ji Tianxiang (painted by Cecilia Lawrence).
For the past year or so his story has captivated me and given illustration to the Church’s teach about sin and grace.
Thread 1/
For the past year or so his story has captivated me and given illustration to the Church’s teach about sin and grace.
Thread 1/
St. Mark was born in China in 1834. He was a physician who served the poor but who himself became seriously sick in his 30s and treated himself with one of the common medicines of that time, opium. 2/
That begin an addiction that lasted for decades. He would frequently go to Confession but eventually his priest confessor told him that he wasn't serious enough about quitting so he denied Mark absolution and access to Communion. 3/
Mark lived the rest of his life without access to the sacraments. He died a martyr in 1900 during the Boxer Rebellion, still an addict, still unable to receive the Sacraments.
Two things specific things I want to share from St. Mark’s story. 4/
Two things specific things I want to share from St. Mark’s story. 4/
The first is that even though he lived for decades in the state of public sin, repeatedly engaging in gravely evil activity, the Lord was still giving him grace and making him holy. 5/
His drug use, while grave matter, was not mortally sinful. His actions were not separating him from God. On the contrary, he was living so much in union with God that grace transformed him to the point that he was able to freely die a martyr. 6/
Second, I was struck by the pastoral limitations of the confessor who didn't have the advantage of knowing the ways that addiction physically binds human freedom. What is clear to us who have the Catechism and modern psychology wasn't clear to this priest. 7/
However, God was still able to work. While St. Mark was denied the source and summit of God's grace, God himself was not bound by His sacraments. Perhaps it was through his obedience to these truly unjust restrictions that God flooded St. Mark with His grace and power. 8/
I think that St. Mark's story is a source of hope for those caught in addictions, habits, and relationships that bind their freedom, who feel like their grave actions are preventing them from a life of radical holiness. 9/
He is also a source of hope for those faithful being unjustly governed by their pastors. His story is a reminder that the failures and limitations of religious leaders cannot block God's grace. 10/
You can buy this beautiful icon, and check out more great Catholic artwork from Cecilia Lawrence, here! 11/
deviantart.com/theophilia
deviantart.com/theophilia
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