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Gospel: John 17: 1-11
Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and said,
“Father, the hour has come.
Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you,
just as you gave him authority over all people,
so that your son may give eternal life to all you gave him.
Now this is eternal life,
that they should know you, the only true God,
and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ.
I glorified you on earth
by accomplishing the work that you gave me to do.
Now glorify me, Father, with you,
with the glory that I had with you before the world began.
“I revealed your name to those whom you gave me out of the world.
They belonged to you, and you gave them to me,
and they have kept your word.
Now they know that everything you gave me is from you,
because the words you gave to me I have given to them,
and they accepted them and truly understood that I came from you,
and they have believed that you sent me.
I pray for them.
I do not pray for the world but for the ones you have given me,
because they are yours, and everything of mine is yours
and everything of yours is mine,
and I have been glorified in them.
And now I will no longer be in the world,
but they are in the world, while I am coming to you.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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When do you sing out loud?
Perhaps at a concert or on a hot summer day while driving in the car alone – windows down, hair blowing in the wind, not a care in the world.
To me, singing is a bit like whistling – it’s hard to do when your sad or angry, but easy to do when joyful.
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Today we celebrate the feast of Charles Lwanga and his companions, who sang to God during the most difficult moments in their lives.
By the end of the 19th century, Catholicism was spreading like wildfire throughout Africa. But often when the Church begins to flourish, it also meets resistance.
Such was the case in in Uganda.
The local king didn’t pay any attention to Christianity taking root, budding beneath his throne, until he was confronted directly by Christ’s teachings through Saint Charles Lwanga.
Charles told the king that he was living a life of immorality and debauchery, and that his actions offended God. The king should repent.
Much like King Herod after being confronted by John the Baptist, this earthly royal became so enraged that he forced Charles and his Christian companions to march into the woods for two dreadful days, then he burned them on wooden stakes.
As they endured their death march, Charles and his companions sang songs to God – a sign of just how deeply rooted their faith in Christ had become.
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As the old Swedish proverb reminds us, “Those who wish to sing always find a song.”
It’s not only true on good days, while jamming out a concert or cruising down the highway; it can also be true while under duress.
May Charles and his companions pray for us, that even in the darker hours of life, we’d turn trustingly to God, finding a song to sing.
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Image credits: (1) Saint Charles Lwanga, The Saints Project (2) Singin’ in the Rain, The Guardian (3) StickPNG