Saints Charles Lwanga and his Companions, Martyrs Wednesday of week 9 in Ordinary Time Gospel: Mark 12:18-27In today’s Gospel, Jesus responds to the Sadducees who deny the resurrection and reduce eternal life to merely earthly categories and calculations. Jesus reminds them that God is “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob,” and concludes: “He is God, not of the dead, but of the living.” These words reveal that God is not distant or abstract, but a God of covenant, relationship, and love. His bond with His people is living and eternal. The relationship God establishes with humanity does not end with death because divine love is stronger than death itself. God remembers, sustains, and remains faithful to those whom He loves. Faith is therefore not simply adherence to religious ideas, but entering into a living communion with God who desires relationship with His people. On the memorial of Saint Charles Lwanga and his companions, we see witnesses who valued their relationship with God above earthly fear, suffering, and even death. Their martyrdom reveals that when love for God becomes real and personal, nothing can ultimately destroy that communion. The Gospel invites us to rediscover faith not merely as obligation or tradition, but as a covenant of living love with the God who calls each person by name and desires eternal communion with them. Let’s reflect: Am I truly living my faith as a personal covenant of love and relationship with the living God, trusting that His communion with me is stronger than death itself?
Don Giorgio