June 3, 2011
Memorial of St. Charles Lwanga and his companions, martyrs
By Melanie Rigney
…(W)hen Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews rose up together against Paul and brought him to the tribunal, saying, “This man is inducing people to worship God contrary to the law.” When Paul was about to reply, Gallio spoke to the Jews, “If it were a matter of some crime or malicious fraud, I should with reason hear the complaint of you Jews; but since it is a question of arguments over doctrine and titles and your own law, see to it yourselves. I do not wish to be a judge of such matters.” And he drove them away from the tribunal. (Acts 18:12-16)
God is king of all the earth. (Psalms 47:8)
Jesus said to his disciples: “Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices; you will grieve, but your grief will become joy. When a woman is in labor, she is in anguish because her hour has arrived; but when she has given birth to a child, she no longer remembers the pain because of her joy that a child has been born into the world. So you also are now in anguish. But I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you. On that day you will not question me about anything. Amen, amen, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.” (John 16:20-23)
Piety
Lord, I humbly ask for the courage and strength to do your work amid the obstacles in my life.
Study
Charles Lwanga was only in his twenties when he and 21 other Catholics were burned alive on June 3, 1886 in Namugongo, Uganda. Charles’ main offenses appear to have been practicing his faith and protecting other pages from the unwanted advances of King Mwanga II.
According to the narrative posted at the Ugandan Martyr Shrine Web site, Charles arranged his own pyre and, after his feet and legs were burned away to the bone, told his tormentor: “You are burning me, but it is as if you were pouring water over my body. I am dying for God’s religion.”
On October 18, 1964, Pope Paul VI proclaimed the 22 as saints, the first from Central Africa. “Life passes away, but faith lives on,” he said. “Violence is pitted against valor—and violence in prevailing is vanquished, while valor triumphs in defeat.”
We may not be called upon to suffer in the way Charles Lwanga and the others did, but we all pay a price for following Christ. We miss out on some of the momentary pleasures of life. We suffer rejection or isolation or mockery. But in today’s Gospel reading, Jesus tells us that that anguish will end when we see Him… and God will provide what we ask for in Christ’s name. In the martyrs’ case, they were provided with the fortitude to face a gruesome death. For some of us, it’s confidence or temperance or patience. We may not always get what we think we need in this life, but as Paul VI said in canonizing the Ugandan saints, “faith lives on.”
Action
Catholic Relief Services (http://crs.org/uganda/index.cfm) has been active in Uganda since the year after Charles Lwanga and the others were proclaimed as saints. Consider making a gift to assist CRS in its work there.
