From the responsorial psalm: “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. Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.”
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 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.”
Jesus describes to the disciples the truth about discipleship, which Saint Stephen experiences as the first martyr in the reading from the Acts of the Apostles. In saying “Beware of men,” Jesus contrasts human sin with supernatural grace. People would hand you over to death; the Holy Spirit would raise you to new life. When certain people confront Stephen but cannot withstand his divine wisdom, they become infuriated and kill him. “But he,” we hear in Acts, “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.” Jesus tells the disciples how to behave when they are attacked because of his name, and he tells them not to worry about finding words but placing trust in the Spirit of his Father who would speak through them.
God, help me see the profound connection between Saint Stephen and the warning of Jesus. Through the Holy Spirit and in proclaiming the Gospel, Stephen saw beyond present suffering, instead beholding your glory and Jesus at your right hand. At the hands of his persecurtors, Jesus accomplished your will perfectly in his life, death, and resurrection as the the Word Incarnate. Each trusted in you, their heavenly Father. As Saint Augustine said of Saint Stephen’s martyrdom: “Watching from above his soldier battling down below, Jesus was supplying him with invincible strength so that he should not fall.” Give me the grace, Lord, to trust that when persecution comes, I will have all the divine assistance needed in proclaiming the Gospel. Saint Stephen, pray for us!
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.