Jesus said to his disciples: “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.”
In today’s reading from Matthew, Jesus speaks about the persecution that results from sharing the Gospel. “Brother will hand over brother to death,” he says, “and the child his father.” The kind of persecution that Jesus speaks of has taken place throughout all of Church history but today focuses on the most extreme form of persecution: martyrdom. Saint Stephen debated with members of a synagogue who could not withstand his wisdom and the spirit with which he spoke. When Saint Stephen said he could see the heavens opened and the Son of Man, Jesus, standing at the right hand of God the Father, they became enraged and stoned him to death. As they stoned him, Stephen cried out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Although real martyrdom and persecution continues throughout the world, I myself will not likely face that. So the question becomes, how will I face the little persecutions of the day and allow the Spirit of the Father to speak through me?
Help me understand, God, that great things are at stake even in seemingly trivial matters. Give me the wisdom to see the events of the day as they are and to be able to witness to the Gospel by speaking your truth. As Jesus said it would be to his disciples, so it was with Saint Stephen. The Spirit of the Father spoke through him. Sometimes it is so hard to find time to hear your word even as I struggle intently to take it in. Because of this, I ask you for the gift of awareness of your presence and knowledge of your will.
Thank you, Lord, for sending Jesus your Son, for every good you give me. The day after Christmas, it feels strange to celebrate the feast of Saint Stephen, the first martyr. As in the Our Father’s “kingdom come,” Jesus’ words are comforting: “Do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say.” Holy Spirit, let me be at peace with the day and receive the Father’s guidance. It is not mine to worry about the rest.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.