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.
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.
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