Today the church celebrates a memorial of the Ugandan martyrs led by Saint Charles Lawanga.
And if there was ever a feast made for our times, it is this.
Charles Langa and his companions were young men.
Most were teenagers or in their early twenties.
They served in the royal court of Uganda in the late nineteenth century, and when the Kin King began demanding immoral acts from them and persecuting Christians, they were given a choice compromise or die.
Many of them had been baptized only months earlier.
Think about that.
Some Catholics today cannot make it through a difficult conversation about their faith.
These young men walked into the flames.
On june third, eighteen eighty six, Charles Owanga and many of his companions were burned alive rather than deny Christ.
And what is remarkable is that they did not die angry.
They died praying, they died singing, they died forgiving.
How is that possible?
Well, the answer is found in the first reading.
Saint Paul tells Timothy, God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather of power and love and self-control.
That verse is one of the most important verses in the entire New Testament because fear is one of Satan's favorite weapons.
Fear keeps people from speaking the truth.
Fear keeps people from defending the faith.
Fear keeps people from making difficult moral decisions.
Fear keeps people from following Christ completely.
And Paul says something astonishing.
Fear does not come from God.
The Holy Spirit produces power.
The Holy Spirit produces love.
The Holy Spirit produces courage.
The Holy Spirit produces self-control.
And the martyrs understood that.
Charles Longa did not wake up one morning and suddenly become courageous.
No, courage is built through fidelity.
Day after day, prayer after prayer, choices after choices.
The same is true for us.
Most of us will never face execution for our faith, but every one of us face opportunities to compromise.
Every single day.
The business leader tempted to be dishonest.
Cut through here, cut corners over here, no one's gonna notice.
The student afraid of defending the church teaching.
Well let me just get along and or the husband tempted by infidelity.
Oh it's just a little flirting here, a little time here, or a little no, the young people pressured by friends.
The Catholic who remains silent because he fears being labeled intolerant.
Martyrdom begins long before blood is shed.
It begins with the daily decision to belong to Christ.
Then we come to the gospel.
The Sadducees approach Jesus with what they think is an impossible question about the resurrection.
But notice Jesus' response You are greatly misled because you do not know the scriptures or the power of God.
It's an incredible statement.
They knew the arguments, they knew the debates, they knew the technicalities, but they did not know the power of God.
And that is still a danger today.
Sometimes people reduce Christianity to philosophy, ethics, politics, or even social commentary.
Christianity is not primarily an idea.
It is the announcement that Jesus Christ rose from the dead.
Sadducees could not believe in the resurrection because they underestimate what God could do.
And we often do the same.
We believe God can create galaxies but not heal a marriage.
We believe God can raise Lazarus but not convert our children.
We believe God can feed five thousand but not provide for our needs.
We believe God can conquer death but not transform our hearts.
Jesus reminds us today that our God is a god of the living, the god of Abraham, of Isaac, of Jacob, the God of Charles Lawanga, and the God of the martyrs, the God who raised Jesus from the dead.
And that changes everything.
Because if Christ truly rose from the dead, then no sacrifice made for him is ever wasted.
Not one prayer, not a tear, not a struggle, not a cross, not even death itself.
That's why Saint Paul can say, I am not ashamed, for I know him in whom I have believed.
Notice he does not say, I know what I have believed.
No, he says, I know whom I have believed.
Christianity is ultimately not trust in an idea.
It is trust in a person, and that person is Jesus Christ.
And Charles Lewonga knew him.
He knew him so well that when the flames came he chose Christ over comfort, Christ over safety, Christ over life itself.
The martyrs challenge us today with a very simple question If Christianity became costly tomorrow, would I still be Christian?
Would I still speak the truth?
Would I defend the faith?
Would I still belong to Christ?
Because the same Holy Spirit that strengthened Charles Luanga lives inside of you.
The same spirit that gave courage to the martyrs has been given to you.
And that spirit has not given us a spirit of cowardice.
He has given us a spirit of power, of love and self control.
And that is enough to make us saints.
Amen.