DECEMBER 26, 2017 : FEAST OF SAINT STEPHEN, FIRST MARTYR.

Feast of Saint Stephen, first martyr
Lectionary: 696

Reading 1ACTS 6:8-10; 7:54-59

Stephen, filled with grace and power,
was working great wonders and signs among the people.
Certain members of the so-called Synagogue of Freedmen,
Cyrenians, and Alexandrians,
and people from Cilicia and Asia,
came forward and debated with Stephen,
but they could not withstand the wisdom and the spirit with which he spoke.

When they heard this, they were infuriated,
and they ground their teeth at him.
But he, filled with the Holy Spirit,
looked up intently to heaven
and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God,
and he said,
"Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man
standing at the right hand of God."
But they cried out in a loud voice, covered their ears,
and rushed upon him together.
They threw him out of the city, and began to stone him.
The witnesses laid down their cloaks
at the feet of a young man named Saul. 
As they were stoning Stephen, he called out
"Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."

Responsorial PsalmPS 31:3CD-4, 6 AND 8AB, 16BC AND 17

R. (6) Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.
Be my rock of refuge,
a stronghold to give me safety.
You are my rock and my fortress;
for your name's sake you will lead and guide me.
R. Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.
Into your hands I commend my spirit;
you will redeem me, O LORD, O faithful God.
I will rejoice and be glad because of your mercy.
R. Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.
Rescue me from the clutches of my enemies and my persecutors.
Let your face shine upon your servant;
save me in your kindness.
R. Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.

AlleluiaPS 118:26A, 27A

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD:
the LORD is God and has given us light.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

GospelMT 10:17-22

Jesus said to his disciples:
"Beware of men, for they will hand you over to courts
and scourge you in their synagogues,
and you will be led before governors and kings for my sake
as a witness before them and the pagans.
When they hand you over,
do not worry about how you are to speak
or what you are to say.
You will be given at that moment what you are to say.
For it will not be you who speak
but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
Brother will hand over brother to death,
and the father his child;
children will rise up against parents and have them put to death.
You will be hated by all because of my name,
but whoever endures to the end will be saved."

www.usccb.org

Meditation: "The one who endures to the end will be saved"

What is the connection between Bethlehem and Calvary - the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ and his passion and death on a cross? The very reason the Son of God took on flesh and became a man for our sake was to redeem us from slavery to sin and death and to give us new life as the adopted children of God. The way to glory in the kingdom of God is through the cross. If we want to share in Jesus' glory, then we, too, must take up our cross each day and follow in his footsteps. 

The cost of following and serving the Lord Jesus Christ
Jesus never hesitated to tell his disciples what they might expect if they followed and served him. Here Jesus says to his disciples - This is my task for you at its grimmest and worst; do you accept it? This is not the world's way of offering glory, honor, and success. After the defeat at Dunkirk during World War II, Churchill offered his country "blood, toil, sweat, and tears." Suffering for the name of Jesus Christ is not the message we prefer to hear when the Lord commissions us in his service. Nonetheless, our privilege is to follow in the footsteps of the Master who laid down his life for us. The Lord gives us sufficient grace to follow him and to bear our cross with courage and hope. Do you know the joy and victory of the cross of Jesus Christ?

"Lord Jesus, your coming in the flesh to ransom us from slavery to sin gives us cause for great rejoicing even in the midst of trials and pain. Help me to patiently and joyfully accept the hardships, adversities, and persecution which come my way in serving you. Strengthen my faith and give me courage that I may not shrink back from doing your will".

Daily Quote from the early church fathers: Your Father speaks through you in every age, by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.

"To be sure, we heard in that reading, 'But when they deliver you up, do not be anxious how or what you are to speak... for it is not you who are speaking but the Spirit of your Father who speaks through you.' And he says in another place: 'Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the world' (Matthew 28:20). Does this mean that the people who heard those words of the Lord would be here until the end of the world? The Lord was referring, rather, not only to those about to depart from this life but also to the others, including us and those who would come after us in this life. He saw everyone in his single body, and the words he spoke, 'I am with you even to the end of the world,' were heard by them and by us too. And if we did not hear them then in our knowledge, we heard them in his foreknowledge. Therefore, safe as sheep among the wolves, let us keep the commandments of him who directs us. And let us be 'innocent as doves but cautious as snakes' (Matthew 10:16). Innocent as doves that we may not harm anyone; cautious as snakes that we may be careful of letting anyone harm us." (excerpt from SERMON 64A.2)

www.dailyscripture.net

FEAST OF SAINT STEPHEN, THE FIRST MARTYR
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 26, MATTHEW 10:17-22
(Acts 6:8-10, 7:54-59; Psalm 31)

KEY VERSE: "You will be hated by all because of my name, but whoever endures to the end will be saved" (v 22).
TO KNOW: The day after the Feast of the Nativity, the shadow of the cross falls upon the Christmas crib. The mystery of the Incarnation must be seen alongside the mystery of the Passion. When Jesus shared his ministry and mission with his disciples, he warned them of the suffering and persecution they would face. His disciples would be despised by their fellow Jews and even be rejected by members of their own families. Jesus told them not to be concerned about how they would defend themselves; the Holy Spirit would inspire them to be faithful witnesses (Greek: martus, by analogy, a martyr). Stephen was the first martyr to the faith. Charged with violating the Mosaic Law, he was stoned to death. Stephen died like Jesus, forgiving his enemies and praying for them. In fact, it is said that he had the face of an angel as he, like Jesus, commended his spirit to the loving mercy of God (Acts 6-7).
TO LOVE: St. Stephen, help me to have courage to profess my faith despite opposition from others.
TO SERVE: Do I pray for the persecuted Church throughout the world?

FEAST OF ST. STEPHEN, FIRST MARTYR

Stephen's name means "crown," and he was the first Christian to receive the martyr's crown. When the apostles found that they needed helpers to look after the widows and the poor, they ordained seven deacons, which included Stephen, "a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit" (Acts 6:5). God worked miracles through Stephen who spoke with such wisdom that many of his hearers became followers of Jesus. The enemies of the Church were furious to see how successful Stephen's preaching was, and they dragged him outside of Jerusalem where they stoned him to death. In the crowd watching the martyrdom of Stephen, was a man named Saul, who would later be known as Paul.​

BOXING DAY -- December 26.

Around the 1800s, Boxing Day became a custom in the United Kingdom. People in service positions received their "Christmas boxes" or gifts on the day after Christmas in return for service throughout the year. Churches opened their alms boxes and distributed the monetary donations to the poor. The Carol "Good King Wenceslas" is set on the Feast of St. Stephen and is about a King in the Middle Ages who brings food to a poor family. Boxing Day has now become a public holiday in countries such as Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Ghana, Hong Kong, Nigeria, Kenya, Guyana, Trinidad, Tobago, Jamaica and other countries in the Commonwealth of Nations with a mainly Christian population. In South Africa this public holiday is now known as the Day of Goodwill.

KWANZAA -- December 26 - January 1

Since 1966 many people of African descent have spent the days from December 26 to January 1 honoring ancient African principles and values. The candles lit each day represent the Seven Principles of Kwanzaa First, the black candle represents the Black people in unity. From the second day onward, the candles are lit from left (red for struggle) to right (green for the future). This symbolizes how all people must struggle in order to attain a great future.

www.togetherwithgodsword.com

Tuesday 26 December 2017

Acts 6:8-10; 7:54-59. Psalm 30(31):3-4, 6, 8, 16-17. Matthew 10:17-22.

St Stephen.

Into your hands, O Lord, I entrust my spirit—Psalm 30(31):3-4, 6, 8, 16-17.

‘Into your hands, O Lord, I entrust my spirit.’

The book of Acts tells us that Stephen was

‘full of the Holy Spirit and boldly spoke out’.

His message was met with hostility, but he ‘saw

the glory of God’. When he was being stoned, he

had the fortitude to pray, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit’, and then, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin

against them’. We see here a parallel story with

Jesus’ own life. In his Transfiguration, he saw God the Father in a personal encounter. On the cross,

he prayed, ‘Father, forgive them. They know not what they do’, and then he entrusted himself into

his Father’s hands.

May Stephen obtain for us, the gift of being ‘full of the Spirit’, and the ability to not only give ourselves completely to our God but also to have the unconditional love and humility to offer forgiveness for all those who have offended us.

www.pray.com.au

ST. STEPHEN

Just after Christmas, the Catholic Church remembers its first martyr, and one of its first deacons, Saint Stephen. Roman Catholics celebrate his feast Dec. 26, while Eastern Catholics honor him one day later.

In the Acts of the Apostles, St. Luke praises St. Stephen as “a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit,” who “did great wonders and signs among the people” during the earliest days of the Church.

Luke's history of the period also includes the moving scene of Stephen's death – witnessed by St. Paul before his conversion – at the hands of those who refused to accept Jesus as the Jewish Messiah.

Stephen himself was a Jew who most likely came to believe in Jesus during the Lord's ministry on earth. He may have been among the 70 disciples whom Christ sent out as missionaries, who preached the coming of God's kingdom while traveling with almost no possessions.

This spirit of detachment from material things continued in the early Church, in which St. Luke says believers “had all things in common” and “would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need.”

But such radical charity ran up against the cultural conflict between Jews and Gentiles, when a group of Greek widows felt neglected in their needs as compared to those of a Jewish background.

Stephen's reputation for holiness led the Apostles to choose him, along with six other men, to assist them in an official and unique way as this dispute arose. Through the sacramental power given to them by Christ, the Apostles ordained the seven men as deacons, and set them to work helping the widows.

As a deacon, Stephen also preached about Christ as the fulfillment of the Old Testament law and prophets. Unable to refute his message, some members of local synagogues brought him before their religious authorities, charging him with seeking to destroy their traditions.

Stephen responded with a discourse recorded in the seventh chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. He described Israel's resistance to God's grace in the past, and accused the present religious authorities of “opposing the Holy Spirit” and rejecting the Messiah.

Before he was put to death, Stephen had a vision of Christ in glory. “Look,” he told the court, “I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”

The council, however, dragged the deacon away and stoned him to death.

“While they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit,’” records St. Luke in Acts 7. “Then he knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them.’ When he had said this, he died.”

The first Christian martyrdom was overseen by a Pharisee named Saul – later Paul, and still later St. Paul – whose own experience of Christ would transform him into a believer, and later a martyr himself.

www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint.php?n=666

LECTIO DIVINA: ST. STEPHEN THE FIRST MARTYR

Lectio Divina: 

 Tuesday, December 26, 2017

Christmas Time

1) Opening prayer

Lord our God,
we honour today St Stephen,
the first martyr of your young Church.
Make us good witnesses like him,
people filled with faith and with the Holy Spirit,
men and women who are full of fortitude,
as we try to live the life of Jesus.
Give us a great trust
that we may live and die in your hands
and make us pray for those who harm us,
that you may forgive them and us.
We ask you this through Christ our Lord.

2) Gospel Reading – Matthew 10, 17-22

'Be prepared for people to hand you over to sanhedrins and scourge you in their synagogues. You will be brought before governors and kings for my sake, as evidence to them and to the gentiles. But when you are handed over, do not worry about how to speak or what to say; what you are to say will be given to you when the time comes, because it is not you who will be speaking; the Spirit of your Father will be speaking in you.
'Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will come forward against their parents and have them put to death.
You will be universally hated on account of my name; but anyone who stands firm to the end will be saved.

3) Reflection

• The contrast is enormous. Yesterday, Christmas Day, we had the crib of the newly born child, with the singing of the angels and the visit of the Shepherds. Today here is the blood of Stephen, stoned to death, because he had the courage to believe in the promise expressed in the simplicity of the crib. Stephen criticized the fundamentalist interpretation of the Law of God and the monopoly of the Temple. This is why he was killed (Acts 6, 13-14).

• Today, the feast of Stephen, first martyr, the liturgy presents us a passage from the Gospel of Matthew (Mt 10, 17-22), taken from the so called Sermon of the Mission (Mt 10, 5-42). In it Jesus advices the disciples saying that fidelity to the Gospel implies difficulties and persecutions: They will hand you over to the Sanhedrin and scourge you in their synagogues”. But for Jesus what is important in persecution is not the painful side of suffering, but rather the positive side of witnessing: “You will be brought before governors and kings for my sake, as evidence to them and to the gentiles”. Persecution offers the occasion of giving witness of the Good News which God brings to us.

• This is what happened to Stephen. He gave witness of his faith in Jesus up until the last moment of his life. At the hour of his death he says: “I can see Heaven thrown open, and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God” (Acts 7, 56). And in falling dead under the stones, he imitated Jesus crying out: “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” (Acts 7, 60; Lk 23,34).

• Jesus had said: “When they will hand you over to them, do not worry about how or what you have to day, because it will be suggested to you at that moment what you have to say: in fact, it is not you who will speak, but the Spirit of your Father who will speak in you”. This prophecy is also fulfilled in Stephen. His enemies did not succeed to resist the inspired wisdom with which he spoke” (Acts 6, 10). “The members of the Sanhedrin all looked intently on Stephen, and his face appeared to them as the face of an angel” (Acts 6, 15). Stephen spoke “filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 7, 55). This is why the anger of the others was so great that they killed him.

• The same thing happens also today. In many places, many persons are drawn before the tribunals and they know how to give responses which exceed the wisdom of the learned and the wise (Lk 10, 21).

4) Personal questions

• Placing oneself in Stephen’s place, have you suffered, sometimes, because of your fidelity to the Gospel?

• The simplicity of the crib and the harshness of martyrdom go hand in hand in the life of the Saints and in the life of so many persons who, today are persecuted up to the point of death because of their fidelity to the Gospel. Do you know closely persons like this?

5) Concluding Prayer

Lord, be for me a rock-fastness,
a fortified citadel to save me.
You are my rock, my rampart;
true to your name, lead me and guide me! (Ps 31,2-3)

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