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Theo Tigno•
5/6/2003 7:05 am
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Tuesday, May 6th 2003 |
Acts 7:51?8:1a
Stephen said to the people, the elders, and the scribes: "You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always oppose the Holy Spirit; you are just like your ancestors. Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute? They put to death those who foretold the coming of the righteous one, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become. You received the law as transmitted by angels, but you did not observe it."
When they heard this, they were infuriated, and they ground their teeth at him. But Stephen, 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 Stephen 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." Then he fell to his knees and cried out in a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them"; and when he said this, he fell asleep.
Now Saul was consenting to his execution.
Dawg's thought:
We must always be thankful for the blood of the martyrs for they preached the glory of God with the blood that they shed.
Sometimes, we don't want to face the truth. We don't want to admit our faults and we choose the lesser in seeking fault in others. The pride of the elders and the scribes were so hurt when the Truth was spoken to them that they felt justified in killing another human being.
We all struggle with pride, which means that we all struggle with accepting the Truth. The death of St. Stephen reminds us of the ugliness of pride.
In St. Stephen, though, we see something beautiful: a man who carried his cross with joy. He proclaimed the Truth with true love absent of any fear. He endured being beaten and stoned with pure love and trust in Our Lord. We must endure our trials with that same joy and trust in the Lord. We must constantly trust that in our darkest times, Our Lord is there, revealing Himself to us. We must constantly look for God in our trials and trust that God is revealing Himself in our darkness.
When we are faced with the Truth of our weakness, will we blame outward or look inward? When we are struggling in our times of darkness, will we try to change God's will or will we change our will? In times when we are reminded how weak we really are, will you throw stones or will you turn your head toward heaven? We should be very thankful for the martyrs for they help us answer that question. Take care and God Bless.
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