Wednesday - December 26, 2018
December 26, 2018
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."
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.
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.
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."
"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."
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Rest in God's Hands
What does it mean to say, "Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit." This is our response to God's redemptive power in today's responsorial Psalm. It's also the final words of St. Stephen as he was becoming the first Christian martyr (see today's first reading). And of course we recognize these words as Jesus' last words on the cross.
It's the words of true faith. It's complete trust in God.
In the Gospel passage, Jesus describes this kind of trust. He says: Do not worry about how you will handle any difficulty, any persecution, any challenges in your life. No matter how bleak the future seems, God holds you in the palm of his hand. No matter how troubled you feel, God holds you in the palm of his hand. No matter how unlovingly others treat you, no matter how rejecting or how unhelpful they are, God holds you in the palm of his hand.
God is holding you tenderly, securely, lovingly, protectively. Do you have faith in this?
Why don't we always feel his strong hand tenderly holding us? It's because we don't pay attention to it. We're too busy wanting to be protected from trials by having them stop. We want God to intervene quickly so that our lives will become easy and happy. But God's protection goes much deeper than that.
We could be killed for the faith, like St. Stephen, and still we are being protected by God, because no one can steal from us what belongs to God. Our hearts belong to him, and our minds, our souls, our salvation. These are held tightly and securely in God's hands for all eternity.
When we place our faith in this, fear and hopelessness dissolve away. "Into your hands, oh Lord, I entrust my spirit" is a cry of victory and glory in the midst of suffering.
Sometimes we might say it quite differently: "Okay God, you can stop this suffering now. Into your hands, oh Lord, I commend what I want you to STOP!"
Either way, it's a vocalization of surrendering our problems to God. It's an expression of, "I give up, I can't do this on my own. I need you, oh Lord."
When we entrust ourselves to God, it's our deepest effort of humility. Thank God we don't have to wait until we're dying before commending our spirit into his hands. In fact, every form of dying to self - giving up our pride, or our insistence on having things our way, or our impatience, or any particular sins we confess - is a moment of entrusting our spirits to the Lord.
Take time today to reflect on what you want to commend to the Lord. What about anger or disappointments that were triggered on Christmas day? Do you need to give up any fears about the future? Do you need to give up plans that are not working out anyway? Do you need to give up the illusion that you don't need to be dependent upon God for everything?
For every letting go, tell the Lord, "Into your hands, I entrust my spirit" or "... I entrust this matter" or "... I entrust this relationship." You will find that in this humility, relief comes, peace grows, and your spirit rests.
Today's Prayer
Thank You, Lord, for the trials I must go through on the road that leads me to You. Give me the strength I need so I will not quit but remain faithful to the end. Amen.
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God Bless You.....
Rosary Family
The mother of Jesus promised St. Dominic that, “one day through the rosary & the scapular I shall save the world!”
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