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| “The Sermon of St Stephen” by Vittore Carpaccio 1514 |
Readings and Commentary:[3]
Reading 1: Acts 6:8-15
Stephen, filled with grace and power,
was working great wonders and signs among the people.
Certain members of the so-called Synagogue of Freedmen,
Cyreneans, 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.
Then they instigated some men to say,
"We have heard him speaking blasphemous words
against Moses and God."
They stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes,
accosted him, seized him,
and brought him before the Sanhedrin.
They presented false witnesses who testified,
"This man never stops saying things against this holy place and the law.
For we have heard him claim
that this Jesus the Nazorean will destroy this place
and change the customs that Moses handed down to us."
All those who sat in the Sanhedrin looked intently at him
and saw that his face was like the face of an angel.
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Commentary on Acts 6:8-15
The first deacon, St. Stephen, through his zeal had angered the Jewish community in Jerusalem (as if the Apostles were not enough). The witnesses testified that Stephen placed Jesus above Moses which was, in fact, true and there would have been no defense possible. There were two other charges: Stephen also disputed the centrality of the temple (“saying things against this holy place “), including its destruction. He also reminded them that through Jesus’ revelation, Mosaic customs would be transformed. With the introduction of false witnesses, St. Luke draws a parallel between St. Stephen and the fate of Jesus in the hands of the Sanhedrin.
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 119:23-24, 26-27, 29-30
R. (1ab) Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
or:
R. Alleluia.
Though princes meet and talk against me,
your servant meditates on your statutes.
Yes, your decrees are my delight;
they are my counselors.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
or:
R. Alleluia.
I declared my ways, and you answered me;
teach me your statutes.
Make me understand the way of your precepts,
and I will meditate on your wondrous deeds.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
or:
R. Alleluia.
Remove from me the way of falsehood,
and favor me with your law.
The way of truth I have chosen;
I have set your ordinances before me.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
or:
R. Alleluia.
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Commentary on Ps 119:23-24, 26-27, 29-30
This psalm extols those who follow the Law of Moses. The response praises those who are steadfast in its observance. Psalm 119 takes the form of an acrostic poem. (Each of the eight verses of the first strophe begins with the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet (aleph). Each verse of the second strophe begins with the second letter (beth) and so on.) The psalm is one of the longest, and while its genre is somewhat mixed between wisdom, hymn, and lament, the entire work is in praise of the Law. In this instance, that is ironic; in the reading from Acts, St. Stephen has just pointed to the fact that Jesus redefines Mosaic Law.
CCC: Ps119:30 2465
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Gospel: John 6:22-29
[After Jesus had fed the five thousand men, his disciples saw him walking on the sea.]
The next day, the crowd that remained across the sea
saw that there had been only one boat there,
and that Jesus had not gone along with his disciples in the boat,
but only his disciples had left.
Other boats came from Tiberias
near the place where they had eaten the bread
when the Lord gave thanks.
When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there,
they themselves got into boats
and came to Capernaum looking for Jesus.
And when they found him across the sea they said to him,
"Rabbi, when did you get here?"
Jesus answered them and said,
"Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me
not because you saw signs
but because you ate the loaves and were filled.
Do not work for food that perishes
but for the food that endures for eternal life,
which the Son of Man will give you.
For on him the Father, God, has set his seal."
So they said to him,
"What can we do to accomplish the works of God?"
Jesus answered and said to them,
"This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent."
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Commentary on Jn 6:22-29
This dialogue with the people begins St. John’s great discourse on the bread of life. In this selection Jesus begins by telling the crowd, which had just been witness to the feeding of the multitude with the barley loaves, that they should focus on spiritual food rather than filling their stomachs. The use of the word “bread” in this entire section is a metaphor for “doctrine.” His reference here is that through their belief in him as the Son of God, they are doing God’s will.
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Reflection:
Heavenly Father, we humbly pray that those suffering from the coronavirus be returned quickly to full health by the power of your Son’s healing presence, and those in fear be calmed through the Holy Spirit.
In Christ’s name we pray. – Amen.
The Acts of the Apostles speak of the ministry of St. Stephen, the first deacon (and first martyr of the Church). He is doing more than he was ordained to do if you will remember earlier. His initial call was to make sure the widows and orphans of the Greek Christians were getting what they needed. Yet, here he is, filled with grace and power, working great wonders and signs among the people. It is instructive that the actions he performed on behalf of those widows and orphans should feed his spirit and cause him to appear suddenly, filled with the Spirit, performing signs among the people.
As we have seen in other parts of scripture, Christians must believe that faith without action is empty. “For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his own face in a mirror. He sees himself, then goes off and promptly forgets what he looked like.” (James 1: 23-24) We believe that true faith must manifest itself in the world through the actions of believing individuals and a believing community. These actions not only do good things for others, but also proclaim our belief in the Father. We are instructed to do this by Christ in St. John’s Gospel as he tells us: “This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent.”
As we see in St. Stephen, deep faith in Christ, coupled with the gift of the Holy Spirit, is a powerful thing. It cannot be hidden or contained. It must shine forth in various ways. In many cases, the person in whom this Spirit resides, and in whom it shines out, does not even realize that they are a beacon.
Discerning what God wants us to do and be is a lifelong process. Many holy people have recommended that if we do the simple, inwardly focused, building of our own faith, those actions which glorify the Father naturally result.
Just in case a person new to the faith reads these words and thinks, “Gosh, that’s easy enough,” watch carefully what happens next to St. Stephen. There are people in his story that do not appreciate what he is doing and saying, even if it is coming from God. Like our Lord, all but one of the Apostles discovers that being filled with faith is not a safe road for our earthly bodies.
In this strange year where many of us will not be able to receive the Blessed Sacrament or celebrate as a community in our houses of worship, we must be prepared to receive spiritual communion in prayer:
My Jesus,
I believe that You
are present in the Most Holy Sacrament.
I love You above all things,
and I desire to receive You into my soul.
Since I cannot at this moment
receive You sacramentally,
come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as if You were already there and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You.
Amen.
Pax
[1] The picture used is “The Sermon of St Stephen” by Vittore Carpaccio 1514.
[3] The readings are taken from the New American Bible, with the exception of the psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
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