Welcome to the Round of the Saintly Sixteen! After 16 bruising battles, we have cut the field from 32 saints to 16. We’ve already seen our fair share of hotly contested match-ups, blow-outs, and Cinderellas and we’re only half-way through the bracket. Lent Madness, like Lent, is part endurance race and we encourage those who have come thus far to buckle down for the duration. As Saint Paul (who was upset by Emma of Hawaii last year) says, “Run with perseverance the race that is set before you.”
In this round, we move past basic biographies and delve into what we like to call “Quirks and Quotes.” We’ll learn some unusual facts about our saints and hear about them, either in their own words or in words uttered or written about them. Some of our holy men and women are quirkier than others and some are more quotable. As always, remember these match-ups are neither fair nor for the faint of heart. If you want a bland Lenten devotion you’ve come to the wrong place.
The Saintly Sixteen action begins with two modern-day martyrs, Jonathan Daniels and Janani Luwum. In the first round, Daniels defeated Macrina the Younger and Luwum swept past Thomas Tallis. With all of the subsequent rounds you can click on the Bracket 2013 tab and scroll down to find links to the previous match-ups. This is particularly helpful if you need a quick refresher bio when making your decision. Thanks to our unsung Bracket Czar, Adam Thomas, for making this happen!
Yesterday, the final match-up of the second round was set as Dorothy Day slipped past Edward Thomas Demby and will next face Benedict of Nursia. The other Saintly Sixteen pairings are Oscar Romero vs. Lucy, Martin Luther King, Jr. vs. Frances Perkins, Martha of Bethany vs. Harriet Tubman, Luke vs. John Donne, Gregory the Great vs. Florence Li-Tim Oi, and Hilda of Whitby vs. Ignatius of Antioch.
Jonathan Myrick Daniels
Jonathan Myrick Daniels, a 26-year-old seminarian and Civil Rights worker, was killed by a shotgun blast in 1965 when he pulled a 16-year-old African American girl out of the line of fire.
A native of Keene, New Hampshire, Jonathan Daniels attended the Virginia Military Institute. Though as his yearbook page attests, “The presence of a New Hampshire Yankee in a southern military college has for four years roused the curiosity of his Dixie colleagues,” he was voted Valedictorian of the class of 1961.
After graduation, Daniels began a graduate program in English at Harvard, but the death of his father two years earlier had left him battling depression and a loss of faith. Attending the Church of the Advent on Easter Sunday 1962, he experienced a profound religious experience, inspiring him to leave graduate school and pursue Holy Orders.
Daniels had a similar sense of calling through worship when he decided to go to Selma. After reluctantly deciding “that the idea [of going to Selma] was impractical, and with a faintly tarnished feeling, I tucked in an envelope my contribution to the proposed ‘Selma Fund.’
“I had come to Evening Prayer as usual that evening, and as usual I was singing the Magnificat with the special love and reverence I have always had for Mary’s glad song. ‘He hath showed strength with his arm…’ As the lovely hymn of the God-bearer continued, I found myself peculiarly alert, suddenly straining toward the decisive, luminous, Spirit-filled ‘moment’ that would, in retrospect, remind me of others – particularly of one at Easter three years ago. Then it came. ‘He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and hath exalted the humble and meek. He hath filled the hungry with good things…’ I knew then that I must go to Selma.”
This phrase from the Magnificat is included in the collect for the feast of Jonathan Daniels.
From his work in Alabama, Daniels gained a deep understanding of the prejudice that held the whole country in thrall. After speaking to a church group in his hometown, “a militant liberal expressed the wish that I would stop calling the parishioners of St. Paul’s [Selma] ‘Christians’ – ‘churchmen’ would make her happier. Instinctively, I felt defensive for the people of my adopted ‘parish family,’ recalling the painful ambivalence and anguished perplexity some of them were beginning…to feel.” And after being teargassed in Camden, Alabama, “I saw that the men who came at me were themselves not free. Even though they were white and hateful and my enemy, they were human beings too. I began to discover a new freedom in the cross: freedom to love the enemy, and in that freedom, to will and to try to set him free.”
Archbishop Luwum with Idi Amin
Janani Luwum
As a young boy, Janani Luwum (1922-1977) tended goats. As a young man, soon after his conversion to Christianity, he climbed a tree to preach a sermon to children in the courtyard of a school. As a newly ordained priest, he served twenty-four congregations with only a bicycle on which to get around. So it seems that Archbishop Luwum was only a little quirky.
The strength of his faith is reflected in his words.
Quote from the day he embraced Christianity:
“Today I have become a leader in Christ’s army. I am prepared to die in the army of Jesus. As Jesus shed his blood for the people, if it is God’s will, I do the same.”
Quote about that conversion:
“When I was converted, after realizing that my sins were forgiven and the implications of Jesus’ death and resurrection, I was overwhelmed by a sense of joy and peace.…The reality of Jesus overwhelmed me – and it still does.”
Quote from his epilogue to a centennial history of Ugandan Christianity:
“What will happen in the next hundred years or so?…we have seen that the Church is founded on the belief in the sure foundation who is Jesus Christ, the Saviour. He is the sure Rock of our Salvation and therefore we will not fear any evil.”
Quote explaining why his participation in those centennial celebrations would be limited:
“I do not want to be the Archbishop of a dead church, but of a live one.”
Quote in response to criticism of his willingness to meet repeatedly with Idi Amin:
“I do not know for how long I shall be occupying this chair. I live as though there will be no tomorrow. I face daily being picked up by the soldiers. While the opportunity is there, I preach the gospel with all my might, and my conscience is clear before God that I have not sided with the present government, which is utterly self-seeking. I have been threatened many times. Whenever I have the opportunity I have told the President the things the churches disapprove of. God is my witness.”
Quote whispered to fellow Anglican bishop Festo Kivengere as Archbishop Luwum, like Jesus, was mocked by the soldiers of a dictator before he was executed:
“They are going to kill me. I am not afraid.”
Quote spoken to a young lawyer named John Sentamu, who decided to become a priest on the day that Archbishop Luwum was martyred and who now serves as the Archbishop of York:
“We must be Christ to these people: be our advocate and take up their cases. The local prison is filled to capacity with innocent people suspected of opposing the government.”
Vote!
Jonathan Daniels vs. Janani Luwum
- Jonathan Daniels (62%, 2,284 Votes)
- Janani Luwum (38%, 1,425 Votes)
Total Voters: 3,704
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This is a tough call both men died for their faith.
Janani Luwum is a hero to me, but I was called to New Hampshire by Bishop Tod Hall who teared up every time he talked of Jon Daniels…
I so agree with Lore. I wish I could vote for both men, but will have to make a choice now. After reading the other comments, I feel as a Mainer, I must vote for Jon Daniels, even though I so can understand why Janani Luwum was a part of this team.
Tough choice. I am drawn to Jonathan – maybe because I remember so much from that time.
Both are wonderful men of God, I vote for BOTH!!!!
Tough choice but being from near Keene, N.H., I have to go with the “hometown boy.”
Jonathan Daniels. On the anniversary of ‘Bloody Sunday’ it seems particularly right. Nice scheduling touch on the part of the SEC.
I first learned of Jonathan Daniel’s story when I enrolled @ EDS. I know bishops and priests who went to school with him. I know that his story and death shapes that seminary’s mission and vision. It now serves as a divinity school for the Jonathan Daniels of the world regardless of their age, gender identity, sexual orientation, call to lay or ordained ministry, race, cultural location, or denominational background to rigorously study theology while experiencing the luminous. I and Jonathan Daniels share this identity in some ways. +Janani’s story is monumental and inspirational. My connection to Jonathan lies closer to home and therefore relational.
We had Emmanuel Twesige, who knew Janani Luwum, on our podcast, Word and Table, a couple of weeks ago. Listen to him relate what Luwum went through before you vote. You can listen to it at http://wordandtablepodcast.org/2013/02/19/episode-4-janani-luwum/ We also discussed this particular match-up on the podcast on Monday. Our votes stayed with Luwum, in part because of the way that he was trapped in his situation without any opportunity of leaving. Daniels was great and totally admirable, but he always had a safety net. When I was reading about him, I wondered why Ruby Sales wasn’t a saint with him (except for the fact that she’s still alive, of course). She’s become an important activist and is very heroic, and she was putting her life on the line for civil rights as a sixteen year old girl, which seems immeasurably brave. You can listen to our discussion of this match-up at http://wordandtablepodcast.org/2013/03/04/episode-6-the-prodigal-son-in-ordinary-time/ (it comes near the end of the podcast). This was a tough and agonizing one, but the more we found out, the more it became clear that our votes had to be for Luwum.
Thanks for the podcast.
Good to know where Emmanuel is as we went to church and worked together years ago in Nashville TN. Hope he and Beatrice and their girls, now young ladies , are doing well.
Even though this isn’t directly LentMadness related, Karl Stevens, you have put together a very impressive ministry to judge by your podcast. I hope your community will understand what a treasure they have in you. The extent of topics that you cover in your podcast is truly generous: not only Luwuum, but the difference between what African Christians read when they read the Bible and what we emphasize, as well as the challenge “where do you encounter the incarnation?” and many more.
Thank you so much, Relling!
Dear SEC, we do not have a thumbnail choice for posting this match on Facebook! I liked the previous choices of a generic thumbnail or one depicting each candidate.
This is an incredibly tough choice. Kudos once again to our celebrity bloggers for bringing these two holy men to life in their words, as they faced death and ultimately died for Christ.
Though Daniels won my vote, I’ll admit to tearing up a little when I read: Quote whispered to fellow Anglican bishop Festo Kivengere as Archbishop Luwum, like Jesus, was mocked by the soldiers of a dictator before he was executed: “They are going to kill me. I am not afraid.”
I met Bishop Kivengere a number of times when I was in college. He smuggled young teens out of the country into Mexico where my college (Westmont in Santa Barbara, CA) Arranged for them to obtain student visas and study on full scholarship. These students never talked about their lives “back home’ or about the family and friends they left behind. They understood that their leaving may have caused the death squads to find their families and kill them.
I, too, met and worshipped with Festo as a teen in Santa Barbara. He visited All Saints by the Sea, Montecito, on a few occasions. At that time, All Saints was a lily white parish; Festo may have been one of the few men of color to set foot inside. Nevertheless, he was the first person many of us had ever encountered who was visibly Spirit filled — love for humanity and joy at the opportunity to share stories of the Living God at work among his countrymen effervesced every time he spoke. It has been over 40 years, but that conviction was so contagious that I feel its impact to this day when I remember those encounters. In honor and appreciation for Festo’s own ministry, I must endorse his friend and fellow bishop Janani Luwum.
This was a very hard choice. Both of these men are contemporary martyrs. Both are saintly role models in a sinful modern world. I pray that they continue to pray and intercede for us as we stand up for God’s Kingdom and invite The HolySpirit to work through us to draw all people to Christ.
Very hard choice, but I did live in Uganda for a year before Idi Amin and worshipped in the cathedral there, experiencing the vibrancy of their faith in Jesus. So I will go with Janani. But I would love to vote for them both.
I totally agree–I would vote for both.
A very hard choice but someone who stood up to Idi Amin takes my vote
and I am sure the majority will vote for JD so I feel I need to support AB. Luwum
Both should/could win the crown. Hopefully they are both crowned in heaven
One of the retired priests in my area supervised Jon Daniels when he was a seminarian and shared this quote with me yesterday: “I need a lot of space in my togetherness.” A parishioner was a year ahead of him at VMI, and my dad was VMI class of 50B, so I have to go Big Keydet today. It was a really tough choice!
Just think of a young man knowing nothing really of the ways of a people living lives virtually foreign to him , black and white, for life in the South was not like that in New Hampshire. Then have indelibly imprinted in your memory his stepping in front of a girl and pushing her aside with no thought of the moment he would be cut to ribbons by that act. Then think of that girl made mute in memory of the horror of that act. She was Ruby Sales who later recovered and devoted her life to carrying out a ministry of pure selfless love and forgiveness as Daniels did in service to God, one of the power of a forgiving love that frees one of hatred and urges forgiveness of those who hate. May his spirit live forever.
These 2 lives are not heart breaking. They are heart bruising. They hurt me. Partly because it is hard for me to look in the mirror and say, “I am capable of such bigotry. I am capable of being a ruthless dictator.” Tho I try to be the change I want to see, I am sometimes the evil I abhor. I fear their actions (would I, could I do that?) and their fates, but I fear their lives more. Their discipleship is death-defying. With my vote, I chose to stand with Luwum, but Daniels is holding my hand.
I like what you say, Sheldon – that you stand with Luwum, but Daniels is holding your hand. You’ve helped me to do the same!
Voting for Jonathan Daniels today because it was through the Daily Office, in part, that he was led to understand his calling to Selma. Both men are powerful, clear witnesses to God’s love.
Hard choice but I feel I have to go with Archbishop Luwum he broke my heart with his quotes.
JD has my vote b/c I’m reading a Civil Rights tome – which alleges he was considering dropping out of the Episcopal Church and seeking ordination as a Catholic priest… Either way, his witness inspires me!
No one ever says what Janani was before his conversion to Christianity.
An Animist? A Muslim? A Scientologist? What?
It matters not, what his religion of “birth” was. He converted to Christianity at age 26 and was considered the “Father of the faith” by his fellow Ugandans and others who knew of his work.
I agree, it matters not at all what Janani was before he met Jesus. But I would like to learn as much about him as I can, since he is a man I have always greatly admired.
According to Emmanuel Twesige when he was on the Word and Table podcast, Janani was raised Christian but had a spiritual conversion at age 26. Somewhat like John Wesley’s spiritual conversion. I’m not sure I left that detail in when I edited the podcast – it was a long interview and we needed to make it fit into a reasonable time.
Thank you, Karl. I haven’t had a chance to listen to your podcast yet,
but I am looking forward to it.
One of the sources I have been in touch with has provided me with the following “the main published source on Janani’s life is Margaret Ford’s book entitled, “Janani: The
Making of a Martyr”, (Marshall Morgan & Scott, 1978). Margaret was Janani’s secretary at the time of his death. Archbishop John Sentamu has also written a chapter on his life, which can be found in Andrew Chandler’s edited volume entitled, “The Terrible Alternative: Christian Martyrdom in the 20th Century”.
I will certainly check out both of those books.
Thanks, Martha.
As a person who grew up while desegregation was taking place in the south, I remember having such admiration for those who left hearth and home to go south to help in the cause. watching these brave men on TV from the safety of my home, and wondering why they did it. Now i know why, not just to right a wrong, but for the glory of God. Jonathan gets my vote.
Tough choice . . . . wish I could have voted for both.
Thanks to Neil Alan Willard for the connection between Luwuum and Sentamu. I hadn’t know of it before.
They were both amazing people and truly saints. Luwuum gets my vote.
Both men already have the real halo they deserve I believe. I chose Jon Daniels because of the story of loving the members of his church even as they violently disagreed. I’ve faced that as a clergy person and it touched my heart.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Janani Luwum stood up to strong men who would eventually kill them, and they knew it, yet “cursum perficio” these young Pauls. Jonathan Daniels ran the perfect course into the line of fire showing the greatest love.
As I am associated with Africa, I have seen the Janani Luwums moving among the Dark places, throwing Light into the corners.
I, too, made the Luwum-Bonhoeffer connection and so my vote went to him. But, like everyone else, I wish I could have voted for both. I don’t know that I could do what both of these men did. The cost of discipleship indeed.
As many have stated a “tough choice”, both deserve our votes and both are worthy of advancing. To me Janani Luwum is that person who optimizes the meaning of martyr. To be tortured and still proclaim his faith and forgiveness of his torturers is an inspiration to me.
Not for the faint of heart to be sure, this second round. I voted for Jonathan Daniels but, for sure, both these men and their witness will be with me in my meditations this day. How blessed are we to have such examples before us to strengthen us on our journeys!
It was a hard choice, but in the end I voted for Jonathan. Years ago, I saw a glimpse of what God was calling me to do in the quiet of compline in an Austrian abbey. It was the first time I felt the power of the Holy Spirit.
I have taken my children to Lowndes County, LA (Lower Alabama) several times for the Jonathan Daniels pilgrimage, and worshiped in the courthouse, where there is still a cell in the back corner. Powerful! Jonathan Daniels all the way!
Very hard choice indeed. On the anniversary of Bloody Sunday, I went with Daniels. Even now, I am second-guessing that vote. Both men are saints. Period.
I wonder what Jon would think of this contest. I suspect he might not have been amused. If forced to vote in it, he would almost certainly have voted for Janani. I was determined to do that, as it were, on Jon’s behalf. Until the very last minute, when I voted for my classmate.
This contest is so, well, if you pardon the expression, American. There must be winners (hence, however regrettably, losers). And of course we’ll vote for the saint we know rather than the saint we don’t. But the plurality (ot is it majority?) of Anglicans worldwide are African. If the contest reached as many Africans as Americans, I wonder how the Daniels vs. Luwum tally would go.
I appreciate your note about this contest being American. We are certainly more familiar with Daniels and understand him better; I absolutely relate to him much more than I do to Luwum. In fact, there is a bit of a superhero quality about Luwum, not fearing death and persevering as he did, that is hard for me to understand, whereas Daniels is more like me, not wanting to do something scary but finally being persuaded by the Magnificat…. I am voting for Luwum because he’s behind, and Daniels, as you said, would have voted for the underdog, and because a saint is, in a way, a superhero. So now between the two of us, we’ve voted for both of them!
A really tough choice, as noted. I prayed, then went with Daniels – he was one for the many against the many. Luwuum was one for the many against one.
This is by far the hardest vote I have ever cast in Lent Madness. Went with Janani Luwum because I learned about him here!
Tengo una rara sensación. Ninguno de los dos propuestos me mueve los cimientos, pero no se me mal interprete, son vidas meritorias y como tal las alabo. Ahora, me pregunto si de haber llegado con vida Janani Luwum a nuestros días, ¿no sería parte de esa ala conservadora africana de la Iglesia que se aferra a lo que a mí me parecen absurdas tradiciones que ya no se justifican en nuestros tiempos? ¿Estaré teniendo pensamientos errados?
Both of these men faced the evil of their time and gave their life following Jesus, I hope I would choose as they did. My daily life brings me new small chances to choose Christ’s way; I hope my choices will offer one person a chance to glimpse Christ’s blessed caring for this needed world.
The toughest choice for me so far. Jonathan Daniels, perhaps because he would be my age now, and because the memory of those times is still so fresh in my mind. I was a Georgia girl living in Arlington, Massachusetts then. Although I had been raised by unprejudiced parents (and I thank them for that) I knew how deep the feelings of fear and hate ran in the hearts of some Southerners.
Today’s match-up is a tough decision. Both Daniels and Luwum risked and lost their lives standing up to injustice and oppression. Luwum was the leader of the church in Uguanda, and he could not escape coming into confrontation with Idi Amin; as a white Northerner, Daniels was not personally subject to or affected by segregation and the Jim Crow laws. Luwum bravely accepted a conflict forced upon him but Daniels freely chose to associate with the oppressed and marginalized and gave his life when he had no personal self-interest in doing so.
Good point about Daniels freely choosing to get involved.
These matchups don’t get any easier. What a choice. The Holy fool goes with Jonathan Daniels.
I’ve been thrilled to learn about both of these men. To me, it’s purely wonderful that the Magnificat plays such a central role in Jonathan Daniels’ story – and of course, so is his faith and courage. And then there’s Janani Luwum’s powerful faith and witness: “I am not afraid.”
I chose the Archbishop this time, but it could easily have gone the other way. Both stories are incredibly moving, and both men an inspiration. (Great photos, too!)
Tough choice as I’ve read and heard about both men. Yet, I remember the terror of Idi Amin and knew people of Indian descent who had to flee Uganda during that time so Luwum’s ability to speak truth to power during such terror is amazing to me.
This is the toughest choice for me yet. Once again I have to thank the SEC for bringing information about those whose witness I might never have known. I think I have to go with Luwum because I don’t think he is very well know in the U.S. and deserves to be.
Tough match up and, as several have said, I am beginning to second guess my choice. I went for JD because I too love the beauty of the Magnificat and his truly selfless act of taking a bullet for someone is an inspiration to me. I try to aspire to be as selfless as that and it is just so hard…. That said Archbishop Luwum was a brave and courageous man and a holy and blessed saint.
Although from New England, I first learned of Jonathan Daniels while I was a cadet at VMI (1982-1986). As an English major (like Daniels), I sometimes studied in the Jonathan Daniels library in Scott Shipp Hall, called by cadets, “the Daniel’s Den.” I had instructors who knew him. It was during my cadetship, I saw an increased attention to his life and witness. This evolved into an humanitarian award given in his name (first givent to President Carter in 2001). I have grown through the books and stories I have read and heard about him through the years, and I am sure it has helped shape me. As inspired as I am by Janani Luwum, I went for the one I have had the most connection to over these many years. In fact, thanks partly to Lent Madness, I introduced him to my congregation in our March newsletter. The article is posted here: http://2pennyblog.wordpress.com/2013/02/20/love-resurrection/
I would be happy to see these two men tied in the voting after ten overtime periods.
A very hard call!
Admins, would it be possible to use tags or add links to earlier entries for those of us who either missed the original posts or forget easily. I know that I can use the search, but since blog platforms tend to allow for tags, it might offer a simple solution.
You can go to the bracket page to find links to all the prior articles: https://www.lentmadness.org/bracket-2013/
Woot! Woot! and Huzzah! to the Bracket Tsar for these handy links. Would like to cast a vote today for Adam Thomas in appreciation for his excellent work and beautiful bracket design & maintenance. (That’s also much easier than trying to decide between Luwuum and Daniels.)
I had both of these men in my bracket in the first round and now have to choose one over the other. I chose Janani Luwum. I believe that Jonathan Daniels is the person that many of us can more readily identify with. He is from America and gave up his life fighting the evil that is racial bias. Janani Luwum was from a country that most of us know little about and gave up his life in a struggle against a dictator, a struggle that does not affect us as much as racial inequality but to the people of Uganda was just as important. Like John said I too would love to see this matchup end as a tie.
A very tough decision. They are both such beautiful martyrs!
At the risk of being provincial about this, I love the concept of a saint from Keene, NH.
Toughest decision yet! I am voting for Luwum for the probably irrational reason that he was sure his perseverence would have him killed. Although Daniels is good, holy, true to his faith, etc, I don’t think he was expecting to be killed. I’m sure they both have “real” haloes!
Is it possible to have a tie? Both of these men speak to me, but since I must pick one, I vote for Jonathan Daniels. He honestly lived his faith. The epitome of selfless love! “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.” Matthew 7:12
I’ve listened to the podcast with the friend who knew Luwum and I’ve read Daniels’ valedictorian speech in which he said: “I wish you the joy of a purposeful life.” And I still do not have a decision. Both men led purposeful lives, but for a young college senior to write so eloquently, he must have been something from early on. And yet to fight a battle in a land that is so foreign to most of us, standing up to evil and knowing you would die doing so — Lent Madness indeed! I am haunted by what both did, but think I shall go with Luwum, trusting that Daniels would understand. But as a native Southerner, I am grateful for Daniels’ work here and so glad to learn about both of these men.
Very tough choice! Just about reduced me to tears. I went with Daniels because of his feelings for the Magnificat, but Luwum’s story is just as inspiring, and if anything he was able to do good on an even larger scale…Praise God for both of these saints!
This one was nearly impossible. I voted for Luwum because he is behind in the voting right now, and I want it to come out a perfect tie. There’s rational for ya!
As I keep telling myself, a vote for one is not a vote against the other. In fact, I welcome the tough choices here, because they make me think, and this particular tough choice does not have potentially devastating consequences. No one loses; both saints, secure in their golden halos, are probably rolling their eyes in amused laughter at us then going off arm-in-arm for a cup of ambrosia. (Does it come in cups?) And we win, whoever we vote for, because we have been touched with two more Christian lives and given the Holy Spirit one more opening to sneak in and show us what it might mean for our own lives.
Irene,
You have the spirit of Lent Madness. You have just said what it is all about! Thank you for your insight!
Still not sure for whom I’ll vote, but as you said they are drinking ambrosia, from a goblet I imagine, and we are the better for them and this madness.
“Nearly impossible” indeed. I very nearly voted for Archbishop Janani, partly because he’s trailing, partly because–as someone earlier pointed out–Jonathan had the freedom to leave, partly because he stood up to such a terrible person.
But I voted for Jonathan, partly because he listened to the Spirit (in a time before such things were “kosher”), and mainly because he went and did that which some of us college students only admired and applauded.
This EDS alum had to vote for Jonathan Daniels.
I have been trying to observe all the ways racism affects the way I see things… This pairing has been interesting in this regard… my natural thought is to vote for Daniels, after all I was shaped by the civil rights struggles of the 50’s and 60’s in the south the are landmark events in my heart and psyche and as a white woman it’s easy to fall into a pattern of saying oh what a good man he was for doing this for this child and he was… But here also is Luwum, an African who stood against the principalities and powers of an oppressive regime on behalf of powerless people, and to die doing and saying what needed to be said… We make the one a hero here in America and until the first round I did not even know Luwum’s name… I vote for Luwam, We seem so much more comfortable with northern Africa and with South Africa, but the Africa that lies between is like a dark hole we do not see, except to report a litany of it’s alleged failures… It remains a stranger to us and perhaps there are lessons there for us to see and learn from…
Beautifully said.
However I vote today, I’ll be voting through tears. Such amazing stories! Such beautiful souls! God bless us every one.
Oh dear, what a dilemma! Both stood up against pure evil and died as a result. I considered tossing a coin, but then thought how idealistic we all were back in the 60’s — until the horrors of the civil rights movement were behind us, we didn’t realize how inhumanely people could treat others. Daniels had the courage to do the right thing, without the realization that it could cost him his life. Luwum, on the other hand, had seen plenty of the horrors at the hand of Idi Amin and was fully aware that his life was on the line. Flawed as it may be, this logic led me to vote for Archbishop Luwum.
You didn’t live in the South, did you? We knew . . . .
I was at General Convention and signed the petition to add Jonathan Daniels and his day is my birthday.
Geesh… Choosing keeps getting harder and harder. Both men who died for their faith and fellow man.
Archbishop praying the Lord’s prayer at the extremis of torture and demands of renunciation makes my little life different forever. Thank you.
This becomes very difficult as we enter the Saintly Sixteen! Although I am a New Englander, I voted for Luwum today.
As parishoner in the diocese of Alabama, I have a very special place in my heart for Jonathan Daniels and have attended the pilgrimate several times. After his arrest, the bishop of Alabama, Bishop Carpenter, sent Father Frances Walters to bail Jonathan out. Jonathan refused until bail was raised for everyone. Suddenly, the authorities released everyone. A visit to the jail and seeing the cells where they were held (all the men in one cell and all the women in another), walking to the general store (where the shooting occurred), and attending the eucharist in the courtroom (where the defendent was found not guilty) is an amazing experience.
As a current seminarian from St. James’ in Keene, and only the second since Jonathan, I’ve had a strange opportunity to experience his legacy. It is amazing to see him held in the community as both a childhood friend and a martyr of wide significance. Three weeks after I moved to Keene, before I was considering ordained ministry, I was asked to play Jonathan in one of the vignettes of St. James’ 150th anniversary celebration. Meditating on his life and death in order to step into that role was a terrifying, wonderful, profound experience of standing on sacred ground. I still find myself convicted each time I think on his decision to say “yes” to that same call of Jesus which I hear spoken so often. For myself, and I think for many, his example is eerily familiar.
Thanks for sharing your story and answering Christ’s call.
As a resident of the home of the US Bicycling Hall of Fame, I vote for the Archbishop on the bicycle. (I can’t think of any other way to choose. Even the potential kitsch seems to me fairly equal.)
I can imagine finding the strength to do what Jonathan Daniels did, but there is no way I can comprehend how Bishop Luwum stood up to the Amin regime and still held fast to his faith and convictions. I would buckle, and he did not, and for that reason he absolutely had my vote.
My contemplations on these martyrs reminds me of an epiphany moment while I was an arrogant undergrad and reading an early bishop’s encouragement to catechumens. It dawned upon me that if choosing Christian baptism was tantamount to a death sentence by the civil authorities (Rome then), perhaps there was more to “this Christianity business” than I knew, having been comfortably raised as a cradle RC in suburbia USA. Today we read of two men who exeprienced spiritual conversions, two who accepted calls to witness for the peace (no peace without justice) of Christ in the clear face of danger. Two who had profound rippling effects upon those who knew them or knew of them. Two emminently worthy saints by any standard. As I had not encountered Archbishop Luwum’s story before Lent Madness but had heard a little of Jonathan Daniels’s, I cast a vote for the archbishop in praise and thanksgiving for the gift from God that Lent Madness surely is.
Tough, tough choice……..can I vote for them both??
For me this was the most difficult match we have had this season. Both of these men are surely saints. But for me, who acutely remembers the times of JMD, I still had to go with JL. The reason, because Janani was a fully mature man who knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that death was not only a probablility, but very likely, if he continued to maintain his beliefs and direction. The fact that he did so, in the face of such a monster as we all know Idi Amin to have been, makes him a true martyr for his faith. I think JMD would support a vote for his brother in Christ.
This match-up brought a flood of memories: being in high school and college during the time that the civil rights was going strong and not really understanding why all this turmoil had to be. Many years later, being a Lay Eucharistic Minister and being called to take communion to an African Bishop (whose name I do not remember) in Arcadia who was recovering from open heart surgery and wondering how I, a lay person (and female to boot!), would be received. He was wonderful: very accepting of the Sacrement and me (his wife was a little more reserved) and when I left, I received hugs from both. These memories are so juxtaposed that I just closed my eyes, moved my mouse, opened them and voted for the one nearest the little arrow. I didn’t even look to see which one it was: both men are deserving and both should be allowed to move on. However I can’t vote twice.
Too too hard. Brave Christian men. May have to toss to decide
Keep up the madness
logging in each day gives me strength for the day thank you madness.
I sang in the Church of the Advent choir for years and was always moved by the glorious music. My vote goes to Daniels for hearing the voice of God in music, too.
I was all set to vote for Jonathan as I did during his first appearance. The quotes from Janani really affected me and I found myself wanting to hold him up.
So while I cast my vote for Janani, I esteem these two brave, selfless men who pursued their calling in the face of evil & violence, knowing the probability of their demise.
They seemed so likable as opposed to some of the saints who appear one dimensional to me.
The photo of the slender Bishop Luwuum and the not-slender Idi Amin helped make my decision. The larger man is smiling and appears to have a weapon on his belt. Sooner or later, he will crush the Bishop.
Amin did crush Luwuum.
He could not crush Christ out of Uganda.
Amin did crush Janani Luwum’s body; but clearly did not crush his spirit.
Re: Jonathan Daniels. I could definitely ask for this guy’s intercession. The last quote in the little essay above is the clincher.
My admiration and vote go to Janani Luwun. He knew his fate but kept doing what he had to do. His last words “They are going to kill me. I am not afraid.” do it for me. Johnathon Daniels is a true martyr but I don’t think his scope and effect were as great as Archbishop Luwun’s.
I’m shocked at the lopsided vote.
This was tough, especially since I’d voted for both men in the first round, so I guess I set myself up for this difficulty. But I stayed with my homeboy, Jonathan Daniels, and appreciated Laura Toepfer including many of the stories that I had learned about him, and how his spirit evolved as he stood shoulder-to-shoulder with those who were oppressed, and could see that the oppressor is also victimized by the need to keep others down.
Today’s Martyr Madness leaves me wishing for multiple votes! These are two relatively contemporary saints, but their circumstances are really very different in so many ways. And then similar in so many ways. I’m thinking of closing my eyes and voting also, if I can summon the courage to do so. Otherwise, I’ll probably just put it off until the last minute before bed, hoping for divine revelation (or, at least forgiveness in case I vote for the wrong one!). Thanks for a great contest, I think!
Having dedicated Christians from around the world helps me remember that our faith isn’t based soley in North America. Nothing in “The noble army of martyrs praise thee…” says that they have to be from our continent alone! Janani Luwum gets my vote.
Lent Madness is there an App for that?
A very difficult choice but my vote goes to Janani Luwum for using his position to directly challenge Idi Amin and also for an older member of our church, a medical missionary in Uganda forced out by Idi Amin, but who still visits Uganda today.
I’m voting for Daniels because he went to VMI, from where many of my relatives have graduated; because his loss of faith following his father’s death gives me hope that a friend with a similar experience will also find his faith again; and because of the lovely photo with a smiling (probably giggling) little girl.
Bishop Luwuum is admirable but the militant perspective revealed in one quote has so often been a shameful expression of Christianity & other religions.