Memorial of St. Charles Lwanga and Companions, Martyrs
Each day, students gathered for our Christian morality, and no one bothered to turn on the lights. Every day, the professor would enter the room, look around, and with a twinkle in his eye he said, “God said, let there be light!” (flipping the switch), “And there was light!’ Dr. Tweisgye was a man filled with joy!
On the last day of class that semester, our university chaplain came to speak to us. He shared the story of a young episcopal priest in Uganda during the reign of the brutal dictator Idi Amin. This young priest went to his bishop to implore him, “The Church must speak out.” The bishop said if he could get all the other bishops in the country to agree, he would speak out. Given the risk, he likely thought this an impossible task. Later, the young man returned - all the bishops agreed. They spoke out. That night on the country’s radio, the message went out, “Emmanuel Twesigye was a dead man.”
By the grace of God, my professor of Christian morality fled the country with his young family and sought asylum here in the US. Today, the Church celebrates the Ugandan martyrs, St. Charles Lwanga and companions, who died nearly a century prior to Dr. Twesigye’s Christian witness in Uganda. On this, their memorial, the canticle for morning prayer is the canticle of Judith. Judith also gave a powerful witness to her faith in God. She trusted that God would save her and her people. She went fearlessly into danger, preparing and centering herself in prayer.
While we often think of the martyrs as those who were murdered for the faith, “martyr” means witness. Martyrs are those who are willing to give everything to witness to their faith. Martyrdom is not about dying for the faith so much as it is about living fearlessly for the faith in total freedom and trust in God. Martyrdom is about knowing we are sent by God. It is about embracing our baptism in Christ and knowing not just in our heads but in our hearts and our entire bodies that we are empowered by the Holy Spirit.
Judith sings, “Let every creature praise you; You spoke and they were made. You sent forth your spirit and they were created.” (Judith 16: 14)
Our life is a gift. We offer this gift back to God. We offer our bodies and our breath in love of God expressed in love for each person and all creation. It is no accident that on the memorial of martyrs, of faithful witnesses, we sing a song of joy. Judith, Emmanuel Twesigye, Charles Lwanga and Companions, and each of us, when we answer the call - we are free not just at the end of the journey, but throughout it.
Being free in Christ and sent by the Holy Spirit is a gift of freedom that is always accompanied by joy. This is what we celebrate when we celebrate the martyrs. This is what we called to—to offer our lives in freedom and joy, trusting in God.
—Kelly Adamson