The Memorial of St Charles Lwanga

Tobit 6:11.7:1, Mk 12:28-34. Some of the finest Biblical glimpses of marriage and family life appear in today's first reading. The bride’s father, Raguel, expresses a noble view of marriage when he tells young Tobias: “Sarah is yours according to the rules laid down by Moses. Your marriage to her has been decided in heaven. From now on she is your beloved.” This sense of God’s blessing continues in the prayer of the newly married husband: “Blessed are you, O Lord of our ancestors, who said, It is not good for the man to be alone. I take this wife not because of lust, but for a noble purpose. Call down your mercy on me and on her, and let us live together to a happy old age.” After blessing God and receiving a blessing, the newly-weds went to bed for their first night together.

Today's Gospel links love and commandment. Normally we do not think of love as a law but as a spontaneous response of one person to another. Yet how easily what is called love can be a cloak for lust, in contrast to the noble purpose of Tobias and Sarah in the ideal of pre-marital chastity in their cultural understanding. True love is a giving of self, “with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” It reaches out to others and loves them for themselves, to “love your neighbour as yourself.” Such love is “worth more than any burnt offering or sacrifice.” Without love everything else loses its value, while with it we are “not far from the reign of God.” The Holy Martyrs of Uganda, St Charles Lwanga and his many companions, missionaries and local converts to the Christian faith, martyrs of brutal persecutions against them, show us what it truly means to be drawn to God in love. When the Christian converts refused to abandon their newfound faith in God, they were tortured and brutally put to death, by burning on the stake. Their courage in standing up for their faith, their steadfast refusal from abandoning their faith and safeguarding their own personal desires and safety, knowing that God was always with them becomes a great source of inspiration for us to emulate.

May the Lord be our guide, so that we may always have that courage and strength in us to live with faith! Amen!! Remain safe and have a pleasant day!!!