Today the Church remembers St. Charles Lwanga of Uganda, who was martyred for refusing to abandon the faith. It is fitting that the Gospel for his memorial Mass recalls the Beatitudes: “Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven.”
This beatitude (and indeed every Beatitude) can be difficult to accept. How can we rejoice or be “blessed” in the midst of our persecution? And yet the example of St. Charles Lwanga shows us that Christ’s words are true: when we accept the freedom that Christ offers, we are joyfully blessed under insults, persecution, and even martyrdom. That is true freedom, a freedom that could not be taken from St. Charles. Today, let us pray for the freedom that Christ and his Beatitudes bring, even in suffering. St. Charles Lwanga, pray for us.