Sunday, 2 June 2019

The young man’s courage


The King was astounded at the young man’s courage, 2 Maccabees7:1-14
The Uganda Martyrs, 3 June
The 24 canonised martyrs of Uganda remind us of the stories of the martyrs of old. The same tortures ere repeated: some were cut to pieces, others devoured by dogs, others decapitated and thirteen were burned alive in reed baskets.
They were of different ages: Matthias Kalemba was fifty, Kizito was thirteen; most were between sixteen and twenty four. The main accusation was that they were “men of prayer”.  Also the king was enraged that they refused to give in to his sexual advances. Kizito drew the admiration of his brothers by his courage and joy. For the most part they had been recently baptised and four were still catechumens when Charles Lwanga baptised them before their ordeal began.
More than 100 Catholic and Anglican martyrs died between November 1885 and January 1887 and the most notorious event was the deaths on the pyre at Nymugonga on June 3, 1886. The growth of the church in Uganda is a testimony to the permanent efficacy of their offering of their lives for Christ our Lord. Today, as always, the blood of the martyrs is the seed of Christians.

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