Your Share of Hardship

Memorial of Saint Charles Lwanga and Companions, Martyrs

Readings for the Memorial of Saint Charles Lwanga and Companions, Martyrs

Reading 1 2 Timothy 1:1-3, 6-12

Paul, an Apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God
for the promise of life in Christ Jesus,
to Timothy, my dear child:
grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father
and Christ Jesus our Lord.

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.

For this reason, I remind you to stir into flame
the gift of God that you have through the imposition of my hands.
For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice
but rather of power and love and self-control.
So do not be ashamed of your testimony to our Lord,
nor of me, a prisoner for his sake;
but bear your share of hardship for the Gospel
with the strength that comes from God.

He saved us and called us to a holy life,
not according to our works
but according to his own design
and the grace bestowed on us in Christ Jesus before time began,
but now made manifest
through the appearance of our savior Christ Jesus,
who destroyed death and brought life and immortality
to light through the Gospel,
for which I was appointed preacher and Apostle and teacher.
On this account I am suffering these things;
but I am not ashamed,
for I know him in whom I have believed
and am confident that he is able to guard
what has been entrusted to me until that day.

Responsorial Psalm Psalm 123:1b-2ab, 2cdef

R. (1b) To you, O Lord, I lift up my eyes.
To you I lift up my eyes
who are enthroned in heaven.
Behold, as the eyes of servants
are on the hands of their masters.
R. To you, O Lord, I lift up my eyes.
As the eyes of a maid
are on the hands of her mistress,
So are our eyes on the LORD, our God,
till he have pity on us.
R. To you, O Lord, I lift up my eyes.

Alleluia John 11:25a, 26

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I am the resurrection and the life, says the Lord;
whoever believes in me will never die.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel Mark 12:18-27

Some Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection,
came to Jesus and put this question to him, saying,
"Teacher, Moses wrote for us,
If someone's brother dies, leaving a wife but no child,
his brother must take the wife
and raise up descendants for his brother.
Now there were seven brothers.
The first married a woman and died, leaving no descendants.
So the second brother married her and died, leaving no descendants,
and the third likewise.
And the seven left no descendants.
Last of all the woman also died.
At the resurrection when they arise whose wife will she be?
For all seven had been married to her."
Jesus said to them, "Are you not misled
because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God?
When they rise from the dead,
they neither marry nor are given in marriage,
but they are like the angels in heaven.
As for the dead being raised,
have you not read in the Book of Moses,
in the passage about the bush, how God told him,
I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac,
and the God of Jacob?
He is not God of the dead but of the living.
You are greatly misled."

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Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States, second typical edition, Copyright © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine; Psalm refrain © 1968, 1981, 1997, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved. Neither this work nor any part of it may be reproduced, distributed, performed or displayed in any medium, including electronic or digital, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

June 3, 2026 // Memorial of Saint Charles Lwanga and Companions, Martyrs

Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s First Reading: 2 Timothy 1:1–3, 6–12

Reflect on the Word //

I bit my tongue a little harder. I wish my strides toward virtue were more sophisticated by now; however, in the moment when I wanted to respond to a family member with harshness, physical restraint helped.

I thought, You have a choice to make here, and that choice will have a lasting impact. Who do you want to be?

I want to be rooted in the reality that I am God’s daughter. And I want to act like it. I want to consider my responses and to choose ones that reflect what I actually desire: to be more like my Father.

Saint Paul wrote today’s First Reading from prison. He was kept under lock and key because he would not keep his belief in Jesus Christ to himself. He was maligned and doubted, yet he had no doubt in the One for Whom he was imprisoned. Saint Paul was not afraid or deterred from what he wanted: life with Christ.

Further, he encourages Timothy to bear his own share of hardship for the Gospel. How? Not by his own abilities or cleverness, but “with the strength that comes from God” (2 Timothy 1:8).

This strength is the opposite of cowardice. In fact, it is this strength, poured out by the Holy Spirit, that allows God’s children to move in “power and love and self-control” (2 Timothy 1:7).

I am not locked in prison like Saint Paul. But I can suffer my own share of hardship for the Gospel each day.

Every time we hold our tongues through self-control, every time we understand the power of our actions, and every time we choose to respond in love, we live by the Holy Spirit.

In these little sufferings—in these little deaths to self—we become more like “our savior Christ Jesus, who destroyed death and brought life” (2 Timothy 1:10).

Relate to the Lord // Ask the Holy Spirit to be with you in all of your interactions today.

About Olivia Spears

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Olivia Spears lives in Kentucky, where sweet tea and bourbon flow like milk and honey. She holds degrees in Theology and Catechetics from the Franciscan University of Steubenville and works from home while enjoying her children and husband. She curates relevant and inspiring content for Catholic women as Blog Manager. She is the narrator of Set a Fire, And Hay Became Holy, and All She Had as well as a contributing author for Rise Up. Find out more about her here.