REFLECTIONS TODAY
When he took the Child Jesus in his arms, the old man Simeon tells Mary that the Child is destined for the fall and the rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted (Lk 2:34).
This is immediately manifested on the day after Christmas, the liturgical celebration of St. Stephen, the Christian proto-martyr, the first to shed his blood for the faith.
In the Gospel, Jesus tells the Apostles, whom He is sending to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, that they will be handed over to the courts, but not to worry about how they are to speak in their defense because the Holy Spirit will be speaking in their behalf.
Luke writes in the Acts of the Apostles that when the deacon Stephen is accused of speaking blasphemous words against Moses and against God before the Sanhedrin, he speaks with wisdom and spirit.
Stephen’s declaration about the Temple, like that of Jesus, is a scandal to the court, which regards it as blasphemy, and so he is condemned to death. Luke takes pain to draw parallelism between the death of Jesus and the death of Stephen.
Jesus begs the Father to forgive those who crucify Him because they do not know what they are doing (Lk 23:34) and dies commending His spirit into His Father’s hands (Lk 23:46).
Turning his eyes to Jesus, now the “Lord” in glory, Stephen, as he is being stoned, calls out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” (Acts 7:59) and cries in a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them” (Acts 7:60).
As Jesus’ death produces much fruit, so Stephen’s death leads to the persecution of Hellenist Christians which scatters them in other places like Antioch, but where they establish communities of believers outside of Israel. Indeed, the blood of martyrs is the seed of Christianity.
First Reading
• Acts 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.”
Gospel •
Matthew 10:17-22
Jesus said to his disciples: “Beware of people, 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.”
Source: “366 Days with the Lord 2024,” St. Paul’s, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 632-895-9701; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.