Stephen was filled with grace and power. St. Stephen, the first deacon and martyr of the church, was stoned to death in Jerusalem for his faith.
Our first reading speaks of him as a disciple filled with grace and power who was working great signs and wonders among God’s people. All the learned ones from Cilicia and Asia, and the Cyreneans and Alexandrians who came forward to debate him, could not withstand the wisdom of the Holy Spirit that filled him.
Not unexpectedly, St. Stephen was violently opposed by those who were afraid that the spread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ would mean the end of the existing social and religious power structures and the demise of their own influence over ordinary people.
St. Stephen’s holiness was so apparent that in Acts 6, “All those who sat in the Sanhedrin looked at him and saw that his face was like the face of an angel.”
Fight the Good Fight
As modern-day disciples who can read the signs of the times, we are only too aware that persecution of Christ’s followers may not be far away.
Any authentic disciple of Jesus who dares to preach the gospel can expect to be disliked, disagreed with, maligned, ostracised, and falsely accused of hypocrisy, bigotry, hatred and superstition.
How well am I preparing, then, to fight the good fight of faith and make it to the finish line?
What tools and practices can I adopt to withstand these pressures and challenges?
Let us model ourselves on St. Stephen and the psalmist in today’s readings. These were disciples who
· Meditated on and sought understanding of God’s statutes and wondrous deeds
· Delighted in God’s decrees and chose God’s laws as their counselors
· Removed themselves from the ways of falsehood
· Chose the way of truth
Peace and Persecution are part of discipleship
Jesus promised us His peace. In John 16:33, He says, “I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
But Jesus also warns us of persecution. In John 15:20, He said, “A servant is not greater than his Master. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.”
We learn from St. Stephen and the psalmist that, though powerful people meet and talk against us, we can choose to meditate on the Lord’s statutes and delight in His decrees. In this way, we can be like the man who builds his house on the rock, remain firmly rooted in God’s eternal truth, resting and trusting in Yahweh’s providence and protection even in the face of imminent danger and death.
As I write this, a faithful young Catholic family friend of ours is fighting for his life in the ICU. What a powerful reminder to me this reading has been! I cannot afford to let the struggles of earning a livelihood (the food that perishes) steal from me the primacy of the vision and passion for the things of heaven, and my call to spend time with God.
May God give us grace, through the intercession of holy martyr St. Stephen, to make small daily decisions that honour and glorify Him – spending time in His Word, frequenting the sacraments, choosing honesty and purity, and shunning idolatry so that we may do the work of God, that is grow daily in believing and trusting in the One that God has sent to us, our Lord Jesus Christ.
