Merry Christmas to all my dear readers as I re-launch this space!! It’s been a minute; I hope everyone is growing in holiness after a spiritually fruitful Advent!
Today, after we behold the Infant in His Crib, our holy mother The Church, calls us to honor St. Stephen, the first martyr for Our Lord.
Stephen, one of the disciples, was named one of the very first deacons. His fervor in proclaiming the Gospel and the miracles he worked could not be ignored by the enemies of God. He upbraided them, saying “ Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do you also. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? And they have slain them who foretold the coming of the Just One: of whom you have been now the betrayers and murderers: who have received the law by the disposition of Angels, have not kept it.” (Acts 7: 51-53)
St. Stephen, being filled with the Holy Ghost following the Pentecost, looked up to heaven and saw the Beatific Vision (55). He saw Our Lord seated at the right hand of The Father. He proclaimed to the Jews: “Behold I see the heavens opened and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God”. The Jews, with their hardened hearts, cried out in loud voices and stopped their ears (56). Then they took Stephen out of the city, charged him with blasphemy before the Sanhedrin, and stoned him to death. As he lay dying, Stephen prayed for his enemies “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge”(59).
I highly encourage you to read the account of St. Stephen’s martyrdom in your Bible today. Acts 7: 51-59. But really, start at Act 6 to read the full account of his zeal.
May St. Stephen pray for us, especially as we face the coming of Noahidism when we, too, shall be accused of blasphemy for proclaiming Jesus Christ as the Second Person of the Trinity.
St. Stephen, Ora pro Nobis