From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   Our Human Weakness Overcome In Christ   
      
      "As evening drew near, the Lord yielded up his soul upon the cross   
   in the certainty of receiving it back again. It was not wrested from   
   him against his will.   
      But we too were represented there. Christ had nothing to hang upon   
   the cross except the body he had received from us. And in doing so he   
   nailed our human weakness to the cross."   
   --St. Augustine--Commentary on Psalm 140, 5   
      
   Prayer: Rise up, Lord, help us, and redeem us because of your Name.   
   Redeem me out of your kindness and not for any merit of mine.   
   --St. Augustine--Commentary on Psalm 43, 26   
      
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   20 October – Blessed Daudi Okelo and Jildo Irwa, Martyrs, Catechists.   
      
   The martyrs Daudi Okelo and Jildo Irwa were two young catechists from   
   Uganda at the beginning of the 20th century. They belonged to the   
   Acholi tribe, a subdivision of the large Lwo group whose members even   
   today live mostly in the North of Uganda but they are also present in   
   Southern Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania and Congo. They lived and were   
   martyred in the years immediately following the foundation of the   
   mission of Kitgum by the Comboni Missionaries in 1915.   
      
   Daudi Okelo was born around 1902 in Ogom-Payira, a village on the road   
   Gulu-Kitgum. The son of pagan parents, Lodi and Amona, at 14-16 years   
   of age he attended the instruction to receive baptism. Baptised by Fr   
   Cesare Gambaretto on 1 June 1916, Daudi received his first holy   
   communion on the same day and was confirmed on 15 October 1916. After   
   completing his formation, Daudi accepted to be enrolled as a   
   catechist.   
      
   At the beginning of 1917, Antonio, the catechist in charge of Paimol,   
   died. Daudi went to Fr Cesare, then superior at the mission of Kitgum,   
   offering to take Antonio’s place. Daudi’s appointment came only   
   towards the end of that year, during one of the catechists’ monthly   
   meeting. The young Jildo Irwa was to go with him as his assistant.   
   Before setting off, the two of them went to Fr Cesare who informed   
   them of the difficulties of their work, like the long travelling   
   distance—the village was about 80 km from Kitgum—and, in particular,   
   the frequent in-fights of the local people, instigated also by gangs   
   of raiders and traders of slaves and gold, sporadically visiting the   
   area. To all this Daudi is alleged to have answered:  “I am not afraid   
   to die. Jesus, too, died for us!”.   
      
   So around November-December 1917, with Fr Cesare’s blessing, Boniface,   
   the head-catechist of Kitgum, accompanied Daudi and Jildo to Paimol.   
   Here Daudi immediately began his work by gathering children willing to   
   take religious instruction.   
      
   At dawn he beat the drum to call his catechumens for morning prayers   
   and, for Jildo and himself, also for the Rosary. He taught them the   
   prayers and the catechism’s questions and answers, repeated often in a   
   sign-song like manner during the lesson, to facilitate the memorizing.   
   It was a matter of teaching the first elements of faith, the so-called   
   Lok-odiku (the words of the morning), namely the essential parts of   
   the catechism. To this activity Daudi added the visits to the nearby   
   small villages from where the catechumens were coming, busy during the   
   day in assisting their parents to look after the cattle or work in the   
   fields.   
      
   At sunset, Daudi gave the signal for common prayer and the Rosary,   
   always closing with a song to Our Lady. On Sunday, he held a longer   
   prayer service, often enlivened by the presence of catechumens and   
   catechists of the area.   
      
   Daudi of Payira is described as young man of peaceful and shy   
   character, diligent in his duties as a catechist and loved by all. He   
   never got involved in tribal or political disputes, fairly frequent at   
   that time, as submission to the British government was often followed   
   by ill-concealed intolerance. In fact, due to an unhappy decision   
   taken by the District Commissioner, there rose a serious tension.   
   Raiders, Muslim elements and witchdoctors took advantage of the   
   violent situation to get rid of the new religion brought by Daudi.   
      
   During the weekend of 18-20 October 1918, long before dawn, five   
   people headed for the hut where Daudi and Jildo were staying with the   
   clear intention of killing them. A village elder confronted the new   
   comers telling them they were not allowed to kill the catechists, as   
   they were his guests. Daudi appeared at the door of his hut and   
   entreated the elder not to get involved. Then the intruders entered   
   into Daudi’s hut and insisted with him that he gave up teaching   
   catechism. Realising that Daudi was not giving in to their threats,   
   they dragged him outside, pushed him to the ground and pierced him   
   with their spears. He was about 16-18 years old.   
      
   His body was then left unburied until a few days later some people,   
   tying a rope around the neck, dragged the body over a nearby empty   
   termite hill. The mortal remains, collected in February 1926, were   
   later placed in the mission church of Kitgum, at the foot of the altar   
   of the Sacred Heart.   
      
   Jildo Irwa was born around 1906 in the village of Bar-Kitoba,   
   North-West of Kitgum, from pagan parents: Ato, his mother, and Okeny,   
   his father who later became a Christian.   
      
   He was baptised by Cesare Gambaretto on 6 June 1916, at the age of   
   10-12 years; on the same day he received his first Holy Communion and   
   was confirmed on 15 October 1916.   
      
   Father Cesare wrote about him “Jildo was much younger than Daudi. Of   
   lively and gentle nature, like many Acholi youngsters, he was quite   
   intelligent and occasionally acted as secretary to the vice-chief Ogal   
   who had given hospitality in Paimol. He was of great help to Daudi in   
   gathering the children for the instruction with his gentle way and   
   infantile insistence. He knew also how to entertain them with innocent   
   village games and noisy and merry meetings. He had recently received   
   baptism, whose grace he preserved in his heart and let it transpire by   
   his charming behaviour”.   
      
   He had spontaneously and very willingly offered to go with Daudi to   
   teach God’s word in Paimol. Here he was loved by everyone because he   
   was always available and exemplary in his duties as   
   assistant-catechist.   
      
   On the morning of their martyrdom Jildo answered to Daudi who was   
   warning him about a possible cruel death, “Why should we be afraid? We   
   have done nothing wrong to anyone; we are here only because Fr Cesare   
   sent us to teach the word of God. Do not fear!”   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)