ST CHARLES LWANGA AND COMPANION MARTYRS.

FEAST OF ST CHARLES LWANGA & COMPANIONS. 

"Jesus began to speak to the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders in parables. “A man planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it, dug a wine press, and built a tower. Then he leased it to tenant farmers and left on a journey. 

"At the proper time he sent a servant to the tenants to obtain from them some of the produce of the vineyard. But they seized him, beat him, and sent him away empty-handed.

"Again he sent them another servant. And that one they beat over the head and treated shamefully. He sent yet another whom they killed. So, too, many others; some they beat, others they killed.

"He had one other to send, a beloved son. He sent him to them last of all, thinking, ‘They will respect my son.’ But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ So they seized him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.

"What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come, put the tenants to death, and give the vineyard to others. Have you not read this Scripture passage:

"The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; by the Lord has this been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes”?

"They were seeking to arrest him, but they feared the crowd, for they realized that he had addressed the par­able to them. So they left him and went away." (Mark 12: 1 - 12).

Monday 3rd June in the 9th Week in Ordinary Time is the feast of St Charles Lwanga and Companions. (+1886 - 1887). 

On the feast of Ascension 1886, the powerful but corrupt King Mwanga of Uganda mercilessly killed Charles Lwanga and 14 teenage companions who resisted resolutely his homosexual advances. Eight of the companions were killed later.

The blood of martyrs is the seed of Christianity, wrote the African erudite theologian, Tertulian. Martyrdom is the greatest testimony/witness to the faith.  The Greek word martyr actually means witness. The testimony of the absolute love of Jesus for us is that He gave His life to prove it.

What is most impressive about the martyrs of Uganda is that all of them were teenagers and Catechumens. Technically, they were not yet Christians since they had not received Baptism. Yet they chose to die for the faith they had come to love.

The Gospel of today from Mark 12: 1 - 12 is an allegory of the gross mismanagement of the kingdom of God on earth. God chose Israel to be His kingdom. Isaiah writes: "The house of Israel is the vineyard of the Lord." (Isaiah 5: 7).

There is no excuse for the behavior of the tenant farmers. Frankly, the Church which is the Kingdom of God on earth is not completely innocent. 

The Church honors the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus every June. 

Read of the abundant promises made to people who honor the Sacred Heart of Jesus especially in June. 

For Prayers and Prayer intentions click the link below. 

http://seekfirst.blogspot.com/2020/08/12-promises-of-sacred-heart-of-jesus.html?m=1