St. Charles Lwanga

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Tuesday, 3 June 2025 : 7th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Charles Lwanga and Companions, Martyrs (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Lord through the Sacred Scriptures we are reminded of the need for all of us to continue to have faith in God and to put our trust and faith in Him, dedicating our efforts and attention towards Him, even in our most difficult and darkest moments. We must always have hope in the Lord, believing that with His light, hope and encouragement, with His guidance and strength, all of us can overcome the many challenges, trials and difficulties that we have to face in our journey each and every day. We should not turn away from the Lord when things does not go according to our plans, but instead we should listen to the Lord speaking to us and guiding us in our path, so that we may find the best way that the Lord wants to guide us through in our lives.

In our first reading today, we heard of the time when St. Paul the Apostle went to Ephesus during one of his last missionary journeys, and at that time he was heading towards Jerusalem from his ministry throughout various cities and places across the Mediterranean. St. Paul was responding to the Lord’s call, as He sent him to the last mission of his life, to go and face the members of the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem that sought to prosecute him for his beliefs and works in propagating Christ’s truth and Good News among the people of God. He could have chosen to remain far from Jerusalem and avoid prosecution and avoid facing his opponents, but he entrusted fully in God’s plan and providence, and listened to His words calling on him to follow Him wherever He would lead him to.

Therefore, fully knowing of what he would likely have to endure in that final part of his journey, all the persecutions, hardships and more that he might have to go through, St. Paul was making a farewell speech to the elders and the faithful people of God in Ephesus, telling them that the Lord has always been with him in all of his works and endeavours, and they should also continue to have faith in the Lord despite all the challenges, trials and difficulties that they may have to encounter in life because of their Christian faith. This is also therefore a reminder for all of us to keep our faith and trust in God despite the obstacles and hardships we may be facing, and to keep on that strong relationship and connection with God at all times.

Then from our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. John the Apostle and Evangelist, we heard of the prayer which the Lord Jesus made to His heavenly Father, asking Him to watch over His beloved disciples and followers at the time when many of them would be tested for their faith in Him, and would be scattered by what would soon happen to all of them. At that time, this prayer was made by the Lord just shortly before the commencement of His Passion, that is the moment of His ultimate suffering and leading to His death on the Cross. As we all know, when that happened, the Lord suffered greatly, betrayed by one of His own closest disciples, one of the Twelve, and all the other disciples were scattered when that happened, fearing for their lives and all.

Therefore, the Lord Jesus prayed for His disciples and followers, praying that the Father would strengthen each and every one of them in the upcoming struggles and hardships that they would all face, not only during the time and moment of His Passion, His suffering and death, but in fact also referring to what they all would have to suffer and face in continuing to do their works in ministering to the faithful and to the others, in their works of evangelisation and in their various ministries among the world. Just as the Lord Himself has been hated and persecuted by the world, therefore, the disciples would also face similar persecutions, rejections and hardships in their various journeys, and they would need the strength and courage from God to be able to continue onwards, and hence the Lord was praying for them.

That is why, brothers and sisters in Christ, it is important that we should also do the same in our own respective lives, that is in how we pray for our fellow brothers and sisters in faith, so that they may all be strengthened and encouraged despite the challenges, difficulties and obstacles that we may have to face in the midst of living our lives faithfully in God. We should also continue to show and give our support to everyone around us who are in need of our help and support. We should show the love of God generously to our brethren through our own love for one another, and this is indeed what we have been reminded to do each day as Christians, as those whom the Lord Himself has called and chosen to be His own people.

Today the Church also marks the occasion of the Feast of St. Charles Lwanga and Companions, who were martyred in what is today Uganda, also known as the Holy Martyrs of Uganda. St. Charles Lwanga was the chief of the royal pages of the Kingdom of Buganda, which today still exists as a major part of the country of Uganda. At that time most of the kingdom was still practicing pagan beliefs, and the king and his court were living in a state of great sin. But when the Christian missionaries came to Uganda and began proclaiming the Good News of Christ and the salvation in God, some among the people, including that of St. Charles Lwanga were touched by their message of hope and righteousness, and eventually chose to be baptised as Catholics.

However, the king of Buganda began to see the growing number of converts within his domain as a threat to his power and to the community, and hence, he began to carry out systematic persecutions against Christians in his kingdom. Many among the faithful, both the foreign missionaries and the local converts alike were persecuted and not few were martyred among the missionaries for their great zeal and commitment to God, and also among the local converts for refusing to recant and abandon their faith in God. St. Charles Lwanga protected some of those Christian converts using his position, and his examples touched many others who therefore also chose to accept the Lord as their Saviour as well. In the end, St. Charles Lwanga himself and several others were martyred by burning on a stake, at the site where now the great Basilica of the Holy Martyrs of Uganda in Namugongo is standing.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, through what we have heard and reflected from the passages of the Sacred Scriptures and from the life and examples of St. Charles Lwanga and his companions in martyrdom, the Holy Martyrs of Uganda, let us all therefore do our very best to be faithful and committed disciples of the Lord at all times, in doing His will and in being courageous and strong in proclaiming our faith and belief in the Lord in every opportunities. Let us all not be easily distracted or discouraged by the many pressures, temptations and other obstacles around us, but instead we should continue to commit ourselves to the Lord, doing our very best at glorifying Him by our lives and actions, in everything that we say and do, at all times. May the Lord be with us always, and may He strengthen our resolve to live our lives well in accordance to His will, to proclaim His truth and Good News to all the nations. Amen.

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Tuesday, 3 June 2025 : 7th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Charles Lwanga and Companions, Martyrs (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

John 17 : 1-11a

At that time, after Jesus said all that He had said to His disciples, He lifted up His eyes to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come! Give glory to Your Son, that the Son may give glory to You. You have given Him power over all humanity, so that He may give eternal life to all those You entrusted to Him. For this is eternal life : to know You, the only true God, and the One You sent, Jesus Christ.”

“I have glorified You on earth and finished the work that You gave Me to do. Now, Father, give Me, in Your presence, the same glory I had with You before the world began. I have made Your Name known to those You gave Me from the world. They were Yours, and You gave them to Me, and they kept Your word. And now they know that whatever You entrusted to Me, is indeed from You.”

“I have given them the teaching I received from You, and they received it, and know in truth that I came from You; and they believe that You sent Me. I pray for them. I do not pray for the world, but for those who belong to You, and whom You have given to Me. Indeed all I have is Yours and all You have is Mine; and now they are My glory.”

“I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I come to You.”

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Tuesday, 3 June 2025 : 7th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Charles Lwanga and Companions, Martyrs (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Psalm 67 : 10-11, 20-21

Then You gave a rain of blessings to comfort Your weary children. Your people found a dwelling and in Your mercy, o God, You provided for the needy.

Blessed be the Lord, God our Saviour, Who daily bears our burdens! Ours is a God Who saves; our Lord lets us escape from death.

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Tuesday, 3 June 2025 : 7th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Charles Lwanga and Companions, Martyrs (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Acts 20 : 17-27

From Miletus Paul sent word to Ephesus, summoning the elders of the Church. When they came to him, he addressed them, “You know how I lived among you from the first day I set foot in the province of Asia, how I served the Lord in humility through the sorrows and trials that the Jews caused me.”

“You know that I never held back from doing anything that could be useful for you; I spoke publicly and in your homes, and I urged Jews and non-Jews alike to turn to God and believe in our Lord Jesus.”

“But now I am going to Jerusalem, chained by the Spirit, without knowing what will happen to me there. Yet in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that imprisonment and troubles await me. Indeed I put no value on my life, if only I can finish my race and complete the service to which I have been assigned by the Lord Jesus, to announce the Good News of God’s grace.”

“I now feel sure that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom of God will ever see me again. Therefore I declare to you this day that my conscience is clear with regard to all of you. For I have spared no effort in fully declaring to you God’s will.”

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Monday, 3 June 2024 : 9th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Charles Lwanga and Companions, Martyrs (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded that each and every one of us are called to a truly holy and worthy existence, one that is truly blessed by God, that in our every words, actions and deeds, in our every dealings and interactions with one another, we will always continue to do what is right according to what the Lord has taught and shown us. As Christians, that is as those who have professed our faith in the Lord and have embraced Him as our God and Saviour, each and every one of us must always be exemplary and inspirational in how we all carry out our actions throughout our respective lives. We must also be wary lest we may be tempted by those pleasures, coercions and temptations present all around us which may mislead us down the wrong path.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Epistle of St. Peter in which the Apostle spoke to the faithful regarding the need for all of them to follow the Lord and commit themselves to the path of Christian living, in doing what God has called them to do. This is because as St. Peter himself had explained and elaborated, all of us have shared in His divine nature and we are all indeed created in His image and likeness, and as His beloved children and chosen people, all of us truly should live our lives worthily and be holy just as our Lord Himself is holy. It is crucial that we must be Christians that are truly committed to God and truly genuine in our Christian living. Otherwise, we will end up being hypocrites and no better than unbelievers and pagans, if we do not truly live our lives in accordance to our faith.

Especially if we call ourselves as Christians and have known the way and the truth of God, and yet, we have allowed ourselves to be deluded and swayed by the evils of this world, by the corruptions of worldly pleasures and desires, all of which could lead us to actions that are contrary to God’s path and teachings. Many of our own predecessors have shown us of what could happen if we choose to follow those temptations and if we succumb to the forces of evil and darkness, to the temptations of power, glory and worldly comforts and pleasures. We cannot truly call ourselves as Christians if we have chosen this path, and not only that, but we may even scandalise our faith and sully the Holy Name of God and His Church, as many of our predecessors had done.

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard of the teaching that the Lord Jesus gave to His disciples through the parable of the evil tenants and the landowner of a field. In that parable, the Lord told His disciples about the story of how those evil tenants refused to pay their rental dues, and how they went to the great lengths even to resist the landowner and all the servants that he had sent to them to remind them of their obligations, going as far as to persecute the servants and to made their lives difficult, and finally, killing them, and lastly, even killing the son of the landowner, whom the latter had sent hoping that the evil tenants would listen to his son.

This parable was clearly referring to the way how the people of God treated His servants, the prophets and messengers of God and finally, His own beloved Son, Jesus Christ Himself. Therefore, the Lord was in fact making a premonition and predicting everything that He Himself would have to endure and to suffer from because of the stubbornness of those who continued to doubt Him and refusing to listen to Him and His words. Those evil tenants represent the people of this world, while the landowner himself represents God, Who had entrusted this world to us, and we are indeed His stewards and the guardians of His Creation. To each and every one of us He has entrusted to us this world with all of its obligations and responsibilities.

However, just as we have heard from the Gospel passage and the parable story, those evil tenants had grown greedy from their possession of the fields, and refused to give their dues, which represent our own human greed and inability to resist the temptations of worldly pleasures, glory, fame and ambition, all of which had dragged so many people into the path of ruin and destruction. Those people had refused to obey the Lord because their hearts and minds had been corrupted by the temptations of the world, and by the allures of the false pleasures and joys which deluded them into the wrong paths. As such, we are reminded that we should not follow this same path in our own lives. We are all again called to be holy just as the Lord is holy.

Today, the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Charles Lwanga and his companions in martyrdom, the Holy Martyrs of Uganda. St. Charles Lwanga himself was an important official in the Kingdom of Buganda in what is now part of Uganda, where the Christian missionaries had been active during the time of his life and martyrdom, proclaiming the Good News, truth and salvation in God to the people there who were then still mostly pagans. At the time, more and more people began to embrace the Christian faith, as well as abandoning the wicked practices of their past pagan beliefs and customs, and this brought about tension within the Kingdom, between those who still upheld the pagan ways and those who have embraced the Christian faith.

The then King of Buganda ordered the massacre of Christian missionaries and persecutions of Christians throughout his domain. He was also infamously renowned for his immoral behaviours and actions, which led to St. Charles Lwanga, who had secretly converted to the Christian faith, to take many of the Christian converts under his protection, finding ways to hide them from the persecutions by the authorities. St. Charles Lwanga also spread the faith among the people, teaching quite a few of them about the Lord and the Christian faith, and not few were baptised by him and the other missionaries. Eventually, this led to him suffering for his actions and courage in defending his faith.

St. Charles Lwanga stood by his faith and refused to renounce his faith when confronted by the King who ordered that all of his servants and court pages to renounce Christianity if they had become a convert to the faith. Thus, St. Charles Lwanga and others who have embraced the Lord were put to great sufferings and torture, and was eventually martyred by burning at the stake at the site of Namugongo, where a great Basilica and church now stands, marking the place where these faithful servants of God committed themselves to the very end, against the temptations of worldly comforts and glory, and chose to side with the Lord, His truth and love.

Through the examples and the inspirations from the story of the Holy Ugandan Martyrs, St. Charles Lwanga and his many companions in martyrdom, let us all therefore live our lives from now on to the fullest, in the best way possible as those who are committed to the Lord, devoting ourselves in each and every moments to glorify the Lord by our lives, to live in a holy and worthy way so that by our every actions, deeds and interactions with one another, we may always truly proclaim the Lord at all times, and be the shining beacons of His light, truth, love and Good News in this world, as we have all been called to do.

May the Lord continue to bless us all in all of our every good works, efforts and endeavours. May He empower each and every one of us so that by our good examples and actions, we will continue to shine forth with the light of faith, helping many around us to come to the fullness of God’s love and grace. May God be with us all, His beloved people, His Church and flock. Amen.

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Monday, 3 June 2024 : 9th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Charles Lwanga and Companions, Martyrs (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Mark 12 : 1-12

At that time, using parables, Jesus went on to say, “A man planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a hole for the wine press and built a watch tower. Then he leased the vineyard to tenants and went abroad. In due time he sent a servant to receive from the tenants his share of the fruit. But they seized the servant, struck him and sent him back empty-handed.”

“Again the man sent another servant. They also struck him on the head and treated him shamefully. He sent another and they killed him. In the same way they treated many others : some they beat up and others they killed. One was still left, his beloved son. And so, last of all, he sent him to the tenants, for he said, “They will respect my son.”

“But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the one who is to inherit the vineyard. Let us kill him and the property will be ours.’ So they seized him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. Now what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.”

And Jesus added, “Have you not read this text of the Scriptures : The stone which the builders rejected has become the keystone; this is the Lord’s doing, and we marvel at it?”

They wanted to arrest Him, for they realised that Jesus meant this parable for them, but they were afraid of the crowd; so they left Him and went away.

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Monday, 3 June 2024 : 9th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Charles Lwanga and Companions, Martyrs (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Psalm 90 : 1-2, 14-15ab, 15c-16

You, who dwell in the shelter of the Most High, who rest in the shadow of the Almighty, say to YHVH, “My Stronghold, my Refuge, my God in Whom I trust!”

“Because they cling to Me, I will rescue them,” says YHVH. “I will protect those who know My Name. When they call to Me, I will answer; in time of trouble, I will be with them.

“I will deliver and honour them. I will satisfy them with long life; and show them My salvation.”

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Monday, 3 June 2024 : 9th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Charles Lwanga and Companions, Martyrs (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

2 Peter 1 : 2-7

May grace and peace abound in you, through the knowledge of God and of Jesus, Our Lord. His divine power has given us everything we need for life and piety. First, the knowledge of the One Who called us through His own glory and Might, by which we were given the most extraordinary and precious promises. Through them, you share in the divine nature, after repelling the corruption and evil desires of this world.

So, strive with the greatest determination, and increase your faith, with goodness, goodness with knowledge, knowledge with moderation, moderation with constancy, constancy with piety, piety with mutual affection, mutual affection with charity.

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Saturday, 3 June 2023 : 8th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Charles Lwanga and Companions, Martyrs (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today all of us are called to keep on doing what the Lord has asked and entrusted to all of us to do in our own respective lives, and each one of us who have been given the Wisdom and the blessings of God, His grace and love, we have the obligation and duty to proclaim the truth and Good News of God according to what we have received through His Wisdom and the through the gifts of the Holy Spirit, by which He has strengthened us in faith and knowledge, in courage and strength. As Christians, called to love the Lord and serve Him, and doing the same to our fellow brothers and sisters, each and every one of us should make good use of these gifts God has given us so that our lives may truly be worthy and good for Him and His cause.

In our first reading today, the prophet Sirach in his Book mentioned how as Christians and therefore, the followers and disciples of the Lord, all of us should live our lives and how we should all behave in each and every moments of our lives. All of us should live our lives faithfully and dedicate ourselves thoroughly to the Lord despite the hardships and challenges that we all may have to face. Each and every one of us should always trust in the Lord and allow Him to guide us down the path of righteousness and truth, never wavering even amidst the many challenges and hardships that we may have to endure for being faithful Christians, followers and disciples of the Lord. We may be questioned and challenged by others who disagreed with us, but if we firmly hang on to the truth, we will never falter and not even the greatest trials can overcome our faith in God.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard from the moment after the Lord had cleared the Temple from the wicked and cheating merchants and money changers, who were profiting greatly from overcharging the worshippers and others visitors to the Temple of God in Jerusalem. Thus, the Lord Jesus angrily chased them all out of the Temple and scolded them all for their wicked actions, in turning the Holy House of God into a den of robbers, causing corruption, evil and sin to taint the sanctity of the Place where God Himself was present in this world. The Lord Jesus came to purify the faith, to proclaim to all that what their leaders practiced and all of their rituals and other excesses were distractions that actually caused us to be separated from God and His love and grace.

And as we heard, the Lord immediately faced challenges and opposition, which happened because the Temple authorities, the chief priests and others were concerned with what the Lord had done. They questioned the Lord on the actions He had done, and the authority by which He had done so. But the Lord answered them with great courage and challenged them back on what they said about the baptism of St. John the Baptist and all of his other works. As a context, the same group of Temple authorities, the elders and the Pharisees were also against the works of St. John the Baptist, and questioned the latter exactly in the same manner that they had also questioned the Lord. But they did not dare to publicly challenge the Lord and the works of St. John the Baptist, as these two were very popular among the people, and it would have caused a great uproar should the Temple authorities chose to do so.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, all of these highlighted to us the kind of hardships and challenges that we as Christians may have to face in the midst of us living our Christian lives faithfully and obediently, just as the Lord Jesus and St. John the Baptist have carried out their respective ministries, and faced often bitter and persistent opposition and challenges from those who refused to believe in them, and in God’s truth and Good News. Instead, they chose to persist in their error and disobedience, thinking that as the custodians of the Law and the leaders of the people of God, they were above the Law and the truth itself, and that they could never go wrong. Their pride, which intermingled with their greed and desires, and fear that their influence and power would wane, should the worshippers and those merchants were to avoid the Temple by the Lord’s actions, made them to oppose the Lord.

We must not give up despite all these challenges and oppositions, and we should persevere and be strong amidst all these obstacles we may have to face, being inspired by the many great examples of our holy predecessors, the great saints and other holy men and women in the past who had laboured well and dedicated their whole lives to the Lord. Each one of us are reminded that we are never walking this journey and all of us are always guided by the Lord through His Wisdom and the Holy Spirit. However, it is often that we become complacent and slack in how we live our lives, taking the easy way out and preferring to conform to the ways of the world, especially to the path of evil, wickedness and sin. This is not the path which we should be taking, as we are reminded that if we follow those path, we will easily drift away from God and His truth, as the chief priests and the Pharisees had done.

Today, the Church celebrates the feast of St. Charles Lwanga and his holy companions in martyrdom, collectively known as the Holy Ugandan Martyrs. They all dedicated themselves to the Lord, missionaries, local priests and faithful laymen and laywomen alike, who were persecuted for their faith in God, and remained firmly resolute and committed in their faith in God to the very end, despite the temptations, coercions and threats that they were facing. Back then, St. Charles Lwanga himself was the chief page and an important servant of the King of the Kingdom of Buganda in what is today Uganda. He encountered the Christian faith through the missionaries who proclaimed the Lord and His Good News among the people there in that region. Back then, the King was a great pedophile who preyed on the young pages of the kingdom, and the opposition from Christian missionaries against such practices caused the king to conduct massacres against them.

St. Charles Lwanga himself was convinced of the truth that the Lord had delivered through the Catholic missionaries, the White Fathers who were there, and St. Charles Lwanga along with many others among Buganda’s court members and servants were also baptised together as Christians. St. Charles Lwanga also protected the pages, the young boys under his care from the king’s perverted and wicked actions. It was then that the king and those among his courtiers that had become Christians came to a point of contention, as the former condemned some of them to death, which led to St. Charles Lwanga and the other servants to stand up for their faith publicly, and they were therefore led to be martyred by being burnt alive. At the site where he and others were martyred now stands the great Basilica of the Holy Ugandan Martyrs at Namugongo, where the relics of those faithful martyrs are enshrined. Their fidelity and commitment to God served as great examples and inspirations to all of us Christians in how we ourselves should live up to our Christian calling and mission in our lives.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore reflect on these words of the Scriptures that we have heard and received, and also on the lives of our holy predecessors, particularly those of the Holy Martyrs of Uganda, in their most courageous defence of their faith and commitment to the Lord’s truth and righteousness. Are we willing and able to commit ourselves in the same way as well, brethren? Are we willing and able to carry our own crosses in life, in following the Lord ever more faithfully in each and every passing moments? Let us all discern our path forward well and carefully so that we may continue to inspire many others to walk in God’s Presence and to be steadfast in our obedience and commitment to Him, despite the many challenges and trials that we may have to face. Let us remember that even our Lord Himself has been rejected and opposed throughout His life and ministry. May the Lord continue to strengthen and bless us in our every works and endeavours, in all the things we do for His greater glory, now and always, forevermore. Amen.

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Saturday, 3 June 2023 : 8th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Charles Lwanga and Companions, Martyrs (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Mark 11 : 27-33

At that time, Jesus and His disciples were once again in Jerusalem. As Jesus was walking in the Temple, the chief priests, the teachers of the Law and the elders came to Him, and asked, “What authority do You have to act like this? Who gave You authority to do the things You do.”

Jesus said to them, “I will ask you a question, only one, and if you give me an answer, then I will tell you what authority I have to act like this. Was John’s preaching and baptism a work of God, or was it merely something human? Answer Me.”

And they kept arguing among themselves, “If we answer that it was a work of God, He will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’” But neither could they answer before the people that the baptism of John was merely something human, for everyone regarded John as a prophet. So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you what authority I have to act as I do.”