Daily Reflection
June 3, 2026

It is only human to place limits on what we cannot fully understand. Many of us still grapple with the meaning of life, death, immortality, and the resurrection. We cling to what we know, what we can touch, and what feels safe. We live as if this life—this job, this hardship, this moment—is all there is. We hold tightly to the temporary—our careers, our plans, our relationships, our comforts—and attempt to measure God against the limits of our understanding. We wrap our lives, our decisions, and even our faith in assumptions about the “way things are.” In suffering, we see punishment. In sacrifice, we see loss. In death, we see an ending, and cannot really imagine what an “afterlife” would look like or feel like. Believing that we will see our loved ones again, and that all our questions about life will be answered after death, gives us comfort and hope. However, when I preoccupy myself with those thoughts, I become distracted from living.

In today’s Gospel, the Sadducees pose a hypothetical question about marriage in the afterlife, attempting to reduce the divine promise of resurrection to an absurdity. Jesus responded to their clever but misguided challenge with authority, clarity, and wisdom. Jesus said to the Sadducees, “You are greatly misled.” Jesus reminds them, and us, that resurrection is not just an extension of the life we have lived or a rehashing of our earthly life. Jesus says that we are missing the bigger picture when we view life narrowly. Jesus reminds us, as He reminded the Sadducees, to anchor ourselves in scripture and the power of God. Saint Charles Lwanga and his companions lived their lives doing exactly that in a profound way.

Today is the memorial of the martyrdom of Saint Charles Lwanga and his companions. They were young Christians in 19^th-century Uganda under the hostile rule of King Mwanga, II. They were confronted with an ethical and spiritual choice—to compromise their fidelity to God for material comforts, or hold firmly to their faith, even into death. Anchored in scripture and the power of God, they chose the latter, boldly proclaiming their hope in the resurrection, refusing corruption, sin, and exploitation, regardless of the personal cost. They understood that the resurrection was not just a distant hope but a living reality that they could stake everything on. For them, faith was not just about believing in a life after death—it was about living here and now with a fearless trust in the infinite power and goodness of God. The Sadducees feared and mocked what they could not understand, but Charles Lwanga feared nothing and stood firmly in Christ’s promise of eternal life which enabled him to see beyond the terror of death. Saint Charles Lwanga’s life shows us that letting go of what is temporary involves making daily choices guided by God’s grace, so we can focus on what truly matters.

Inspired by the words of Jesus and Saint Charles Lwanga’s legacy, we, too, must ask: where are we misled? Too often, we find ourselves focusing on trivial things, trapped in the narrow confines of flawed human reasoning, and limiting God’s promises to what fits our understanding. Like the Sadducees, we sometimes restrict ourselves to our own worldview. Yet living faithfully invites us to trust that life is more than what we see, and that we are anchored in God’s love and promises that reach beyond imagination and even death.

So, what does this mean for us today? Look at the worries that press on your heart—fear of the future, grief over loss, relationships you cling to, or dreams you insist must happen. Sometimes we try to box God in, and we attempt to contain sacred mysteries within our own understanding, but like Saint Charles Lwanga, we are called to have bold faith despite pressure and confusion. The invitation is always the same: to trust God’s word, see beyond uncertainty, and live each day with resurrection faith. That includes, forgiving when anger is easier, letting go of control for true peace, speaking truth with courage, and loving even when rejected. As we live with a resurrection faith, each “little death”—whether ego, fear, or selfishness—becomes not an ending, but the beginning of new life.

Faithful God, may we have the courage to open our hearts to the life that waits on the other side of surrender, trusting in the God who transforms everything—fear into faith, death into life, and limitation into eternity. Amen.