A day after we celebrated the birth of the light of the world, our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ, we celebrate the feast day of St Stephen our first Martyr. For truly he was filled with the light of Christ.
Through the Holy Spirit he stood fast attempting to illuminate the minds of those who rejected Jesus, to see that the saviour, the Messiah had indeed come. And when their darkness surrounded him, St Stephen saw the light and glory of our Lord which he articulated with such zeal. For he knew that our Lord will never abandon His faithful and so with his dying breath he prayed for his persecutors as he cried out to Jesus to receive his spirit. Do we have such faith? For we are all called to bear witness to Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen
St Stephen pray for us….
First reading
Acts 6:8-10,7:54-59 ·
The martyrdom of Stephen
Stephen was filled with grace and power and began to work miracles and great signs among the people. But then certain people came forward to debate with Stephen, some from Cyrene and Alexandria who were members of the synagogue called the Synagogue of Freedmen, and others from Cilicia and Asia. They found they could not get the better of him because of his wisdom, and because it was the Spirit that prompted what he said. They were infuriated when they heard this, and ground their teeth at him.
But Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at God’s right hand. ‘I can see heaven thrown open’ he said ‘and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.’ At this all the members of the council shouted out and stopped their ears with their hands; then they all rushed at him, sent him out of the city and stoned him. The witnesses put down their clothes at the feet of a young man called Saul. As they were stoning him, Stephen said in invocation, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’
Gospel
Matthew 10:17-22
The Spirit of your Father will be speaking in you
Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Beware of men: they will hand you over to sanhedrins and scourge you in their synagogues. You will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the pagans. But when they hand you 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 the father his child; children will rise against their parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by all men on account of my name; but the man who stands firm to the end will be saved.’
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