Today, we commemorate the martyrs Charles Lwanga and 21 other young men who converted to Catholicism and who stood up to their tribal leaders in Uganda in Africa who wanted them to commit moral acts. Charles helped instruct the other men in the Catholic faith while he was a catechumen himself. He was burned to death on June 3, 1886. He and his companions were canonized by Pope Paul VI in 1964. There was a group of young men who had joined the Anglican Church who were put to death for their faith at this same time.
We hear St Paul express gratitude and thanksgiving at the beginning of his second letter to Timothy, as he writes: “I am grateful to God, whom I worship with a clear conscience as my ancestors did, as I remember you constantly in my prayers, night and day.” It is easy to think about the things that are wrong in our lives and wrong in the world. It seems like a lot of people in the world today dwell on negative things and don’t strike toward an attitude of thanksgiving and gratitude. However, in the midst of all our challenges and struggles, we have a lot for which we can be grateful. St Ignatius of Loyola believed that being grateful was foundational to our life of faith as disciples of Christ. In the review of the day in the Ignatian examen, we are to give thanks for the way God was present to us that day. No matter what we have doing on in our lives, no matter what our challenges and struggles, we can always find blessings as well.
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