February 17: Janani Luwum, Archbishop and Martyr, 1977

The Collect of the Day

Janani Luwum

O God, whose Son the Good Shepherd laid down his life for his sheep: We give you thanks for your faithful shepherd, Janani Luwum, who after his Savior’s example gave up his life for the sake of his flock. Grant us to be so inspired by his witness that we make no peace with oppression, but live as those who are sealed with the cross of Christ, who died and rose again, and now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Janani Luwum

O God, whose Son the Good Shepherd laid down his life for his sheep: We give thee thanks for thy faithful shepherd, Janani Luwum, who after his Savior’s example gave up his life for the sake of his flock. Grant us to be so inspired by his witness that we make no peace with oppression, but live as those who are sealed with the cross of Christ, who died and rose again, and now liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Ecclesiasticus 4:20–28
Psalm 119:41–48
John 12:24–32

Janani Luwum was born in 1922 to Acholi parents in Mucwini, Uganda, near the Sudanese border. After his early years as a teacher and lay readerin Gulu, he was sent to St. Augustine’s College, Canterbury. He was ordained as a priest in 1956 and returned to Uganda to assume responsibility for twenty-four congregations. After several years of service that included work at a local theological college, Luwum returned to England on scholarship for further study at the London College of Divinity.

In 1969, Luwum became Bishop of Northern Uganda, where he wasa faithful visitor to his parishes as well as a growing influence at international gatherings of the Anglican Communion. In 1974, he was elected Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and Boga-Zaire.

Luwum’s new position brought him into direct contact and eventual confrontation with the Ugandan military dictator, Idi Amin, asthe archbishop sought to protect his people from the brutality of Amin’s regime. In August of 1976, Makerere University was sacked by government troops. With Archbishop Luwum as their chair, the Christian leaders of the country drafted a strong memorandum of protest against officially sanctioned rape and murder.

In early February 1977, the archbishop’s residence was searchedfor arms by government security forces. On February 16th, President Amin summoned Luwum to his palace. He went there, accompanied by the other Anglican bishops and by the Roman Catholic cardinal archbishop and a senior leader of the Muslim community. After being accused of complicity in a plot to murder the President, most of the clerics were allowed to leave. However, Archbishop Luwum was ordered to remain behind. As his companions departed, Luwum said, “They are going to kill me. I am not afraid.” He was never seen alive again. The following day the government announced that he had been killed in an automobile accident while resisting arrest. Only after some weeks had passed was his bullet-riddled body released to his family for burial.

Early in his confrontation with the Ugandan government, Archbishop Luwum answered one of his critics by saying, “I do not knowhow long I shall occupy this chair. I live as though there will be no tomorrow…While the opportunity is there, I preach the gospel with all my might, and my conscience is clear before God.”

Lessons and Psalm

First Lesson

Psalm

⁴¹Let your loving-kindness come to me, O Lord, *and your salvation, according to your promise.

⁴²Then shall I have a word for those who taunt me, *because I trust in your words.

⁴³Do not take the word of truth out of my mouth, *for my hope is in your judgments.

⁴⁴I shall continue to keep your law; *I shall keep it for ever and ever.

⁴⁵I will walk at liberty, *because I study your commandments.

⁴⁶I will tell of your decrees before kings *and will not be ashamed.

⁴⁷I delight in your commandments, *which I have always loved.

⁴⁸I will lift up my hands to your commandments, *and I will meditate on your statutes.

Gospel

²⁴Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. ²⁵Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. ²⁶Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor. ²⁷“Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say—‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. ²⁸Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” ²⁹The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” ³⁰Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. ³¹Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. ³²And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”