St. Stephen

By Fr. Conor Donnelly

(Proofread)

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

My Lord and my God, I firmly believe that you are here, that you see me, that you hear me. I adore you with profound reverence. I ask your pardon for my sins and grace to make this time of prayer fruitful. My Immaculate Mother, Saint Joseph, my father and lord, my guardian angel, intercede for me.

“Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul” (Matt. 10:28).

The Entrance Antiphon of today’s Mass says, “The gates of heaven opened for Stephen, the first of the martyrs; in heaven, he wears the crown of victory.”

The death of St. Stephen and all the martyrs—how following Christ can lead to many kinds of calumny and persecution. We have just celebrated the birth of Our Lord and already the liturgy presents us with the feast of the first person to give his life for this Baby who has been born.

“Yesterday, we wrapped Christ in swaddling clothes; today, the Church clothes Stephen with the garment of immortality. Yesterday, a narrow manger cradled the Baby,” says one spiritual writer, “today, the infinite heaven has received Stephen in triumph” (St. Fulgentius, Sermon 3).

The Church wants to make us realize that the Cross is always very close to Jesus and His followers.

As the Christian struggles for perfect righteousness—sanctity in this world—he will meet difficult situations and attacks by the enemies of God. Our Lord warned us, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. … Remember the words that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you,” we’re told in St. John (John 15:18,20).

Since the very beginning of the Church this prophecy has been fulfilled. And in our days too, if we really follow Our Lord, we’re going to suffer difficulties and persecutions in one way or another and of different kinds.

“Every age is an age of martyrdom,” St. Augustine says. “Don’t say that Christians are not suffering persecution; the Apostle’s words are always true. … St. Paul says to Timothy, ‘All who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted’ (2 Tim. 3:12). All,” he says, “with no one being excluded or exempted.”

St. Augustine says, “If you want to test the truth of this saying, you have only to begin to lead a pious life and you will see what good reason he had for saying this” (St. Augustine, Sermon 6,2).

At the very beginning of the Church the first Christians in Jerusalem were persecuted by the Jewish authorities. The Apostles were flogged for preaching Christ Jesus and suffered it joyfully. We’re told in the Acts of the Apostles, “Then they left the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name of Jesus” (Acts 5:41).

The Apostles must have remembered the words of Our Lord when He said, “Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so men persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matt. 5:11–12).

St. John Chrysostom comments, “Don’t say that they didn’t suffer, but that they rejoiced to suffer. We can see that by the use to which they instantly put their freedom; immediately after the flogging they gave themselves up to preaching with wonderful zeal” (John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Acts of the Apostles, 14).

A short while afterwards the blood of Stephen was the first to be poured out for Christ. And this has never ceased.

When Paul came to Rome, Christians were already known by the unmistakable sign of the Cross and of contradiction. “With regard to this sect,” the Jews of Rome said to Paul, “we know that everywhere it is spoken against” (Acts 28:22).

Our Lord, when He calls us or asks us for something, knows all about our limitations and the difficulties which we shall meet on the way. When the time of difficulty arrives, Jesus will be at our side, helping us with His grace. We’re told in St. John: “In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

Mother Angelica of EWTN fame used to say that when God sends us tribulations, it’s because He wants us to tribulate. We shouldn’t be disconcerted if sometimes on our journey towards sanctity we have to suffer some tribulation, be it trivial or serious, in a world with so many pagan characteristics. We should ask Our Lord then for the grace to imitate St. Stephen, in his courage, in his joy, and in his zeal for proclaiming the truth of Christ, even in these circumstances.

Persecutions still goes on. It takes many forms. During the first centuries it tried to destroy the Christian faith by physical violence. At other times Christians have also been—and are—deprived of the most elementary rights, or attempts are made to confuse simple people by campaigns aimed at undermining their faith.

Even in countries with a great Christian tradition, every sort of obstacle and difficulty is put in the way of parents who wish to educate their children in a truly Christian way. Or Christians, because they are Christians, are denied a fair chance of advancing in their profession.

In societies which describe themselves as ‘free’ it’s not unusual for a Christian to have to live in an obviously hostile atmosphere. Doctors who refuse to prescribe the contraceptive pill, or to refer patients for abortion, or take part in euthanasia, or lawyers who refuse to participate in divorce cases, or pharmacists who refuse to stock the contraceptive pill which is doing so much damage to so many women—all these people can suffer in some way.

There can be hidden persecution by a sarcastic ridiculing of Christian values or by pressure of opinion which tries to frighten the ‘weaker brethren’ into conformity. To stand up for one’s rights, to speak out as a Christian, to defend what is right and true can take a lot of courage and virtue.

St. Augustine says, “In former times, Christians were incited to renounce Christ; now they are taught to deny Christ. Then they were forced, now they are taught; then violence was used, now it is deception; then one heard the shouts of the enemy, now when he prowls around, gentle and insinuating, it can be difficult to recognize him.

“Everyone knows how he tried to force Christians to deny Christ. The devil tried to attract them to himself so that they would renounce him. But they confessed Christ and were crowned by him” (St. Augustine, Commentaries on the Psalms 39 [40]).

St. Augustine, in commenting on the Psalm, says, “Now they are taught to deny Christ by trickery because he doesn’t want them to realize that he is drawing them away from Christ” (ibid.).

St. Augustine could be talking about our own times: children subjected in classrooms to all sorts of anti-Christian propaganda and mistruths about marriage, about the family, about sex, about gender.

Our Lord warned His followers not to be disconcerted when they were misjudged, not only by the heathens or the pagans, but sometimes by their own brothers in the faith, who often, because of envy, or stereotyped reactions, or lack of rectitude of intention, would think that they were “offering service to God” (John 16:2) by this unjust behavior.

All contradictions, especially these ultimate ones, must be endured in the company of Our Lord in the Tabernacle. There the apostolate in which we are working will acquire a special fruitfulness. Circumstances like these mean that Our Lord is calling us in a special way to be united with Him in prayer.

At the moment in Ireland, there was an investigation a couple of years ago into some mother and baby homes run by religious orders. These nuns took in young mothers with babies, looked after them. There was a whole government investigation into this because there were some complaints made.

The government report came out very much in favor of the good works that were done by these religious orders—exemplary charity, providing a roof over their heads for these destitute women. But what came out in the media was something completely different. Complete rejection of the truth. Total calumnification of that government investigation. A complete reversal of the public opinion that should have been there.

This can happen in many countries. We shouldn’t be surprised when we see these things happening.

Circumstances like these can mean that Our Lord is calling us in a special way to be united with Him through prayer. They are times when we have to display great courage and patience, without ever returning evil for evil. Always charity. Charity to correct, charity to be patient.

And often our interior life has need of contradictions and obstacles in order to grow strong and consistent. With the help of Our Lord the soul comes out of these trials purified and more humble. We taste the joy of the Lord in a special way, and we could say,as St. Paul said to the Corinthians, “I am filled with comfort. With all our affliction, I am overjoyed” (2 Cor. 7:4).

Lord, grant me the grace to imitate your martyr St. Stephen, who prayed for his executioners “so that we may learn to love our enemies.” This is a prayer from the Opening Prayer of the Mass.

We can be sure that if ever we suffer any kind of persecution for the sake of Our Lord, our reward will be there. We can strengthen our hope of heaven.

The Christian who is persecuted for following Jesus can draw from that experience a great capacity for understanding other people and a firm resolution never to wound them, never to offend them, never to treat them badly.

Our Lord asks us as well to pray for those who persecute us (Matt. 5:44), “speaking the truth in love,” as St. Paul said to the Ephesians (Eph. 4:15). These words of St. Paul can show us how to teach the doctrine of the Gospel without losing the charity of Christ.

The last Beatitude finishes with a firm promise from Our Lord: “Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven” (Matt. 5:11–12). Our Lord is always a generous paymaster.

Stephen was Christianity’s first martyr and died for proclaiming the truth. We also have been called to spread Christ’s truth without fear or concealment: “Do not fear those who kill the body,” we’re told in St. Matthew, “but cannot kill the soul” (Matt. 10:28).

The immortality of the soul is one of the most powerful truths of our faith. The business of the formation of our soul is a work in progress. Difficult moments for the soul can be times of great spiritual bonanza.

Because of this, if it’s a question of proclaiming Christ’s saving doctrine, we cannot give in when we come up against obstacles. Rather we must follow the saying, “Do not be afraid of the truth, even though the truth may mean your death,” quoting St. Josemaría in The Way (Josemaría Escrivá, The Way, Point 34).

I heard a story of a pharmacist in Dublin in the 1970s who went to a meeting which was going to address the contraceptive pill. The purpose of the meeting was to encourage pharmacists to stock this pill. And of course, many of them were not in favor.

Among the speakers was a professor of Moral Theology in the major seminary who was a dissenter on Humanae Vitae, which means he was not teaching what the Church is teaching on these matters.

He stood up and said a number of things. But one man, a Christian who was taking his Christian life seriously and was trying to grow in formation—when he heard this priest saying wrong things, he felt he had to do something. He’d never spoken in public before, but he knew he had to say something.

So he invoked the Holy Spirit, and he went to the microphone. Very politely, very clearly, but also very briefly, he said to this mature priest, “Well, Father, I think the teaching of the Church on this issue is more like this, this, and this.” Then he went and sat down.

People came to him afterwards and said, “That was fantastic. You should speak more often.” The following year he was elected the chairman of the Association of Pharmacists in the whole country, and they kept the contraceptive pill out of the country for the next thirty years.

So sometimes we have to speak out. We have to take the baton in our hands and run with it. Great moments to grow in our soul. We can’t give in when we come up against obstacles. “Do not be afraid of the truth, even though the truth may mean your death”(ibid.).

The day on which Christians are persecuted, or slandered, or ill-treated for being disciples of Jesus Christ, is for them a day of victory and profit. Sometimes we hear stories of ladies at the moment in the United Kingdom silently praying outside abortion centers, giving great witness.

I was waiting for somebody at Nairobi airport some years ago, waiting for a plane to land, and an American man came up to me and started talking to me. He wasn’t a Catholic, but he was interested to talk to a Catholic priest.

He told me, “I used to participate in counseling people outside abortion centers in the city I lived in in the United States.” He said, “You know, my group and we people, we used to go there whenever we could. But,” he said, “the Catholics were always there.”

I was rather struck by that statement. He was a man that I never met before in my life, haven’t met him since, saying such a wonderful thing about the witness that Catholics were giving outside those abortion centers. “The Catholics were always there.” What wonderful example.

Lord, we give you thanks for all those people giving witness. We pray for their fortitude and their courage. May you bless them a million times for whatever they may have suffered, including when they’re arrested unjustly. Help them to think of the great reward that’s awaiting them in heaven for all those times when they gave witness for you and for your truth.

Even in this life Our Lord pays with interest. But it’s also in the next that we can hope, if we are faithful, for that enormous reward.

St. Josemaría used to say, “Foster in your heart the glorious hope of heaven” (J. Escrivá, The Way, Point 668). Here, our joy can never be perfect; but when we come close to Our Lord through prayer and the sacraments, we enjoy a foretaste of eternal happiness.

St. Paul said to the first Christians in Rome, “The sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Rom. 8:18).

The history of the Church shows us that at times, tribulation can make someone grow cowardly and cold in their relationship with God. But at other times, on the contrary, it ripens sanctity in souls which take up the cross every day and follow Christ, becoming identified with Him.

We always see this double possibility: the same difficulty—illness, misunderstandings—has different effects according to the dispositions of the soul. If we want to be saints it’s obvious that our disposition has to be that of always following Our Lordclosely, in spite of the obstacles.

At times of setback, it can be helpful to foster the hope of heaven. It will help us to be firm in the faith when we’re faced with any kind of persecution or attempts to confuse us.

St. Teresa of Ávila says, “If you always pursue this determination to die rather than to fail to reach the end of the road, the Lord may bring you through this life with a certain degree of thirst but in the life that never ends, he will give you great abundance to drink and you will have no fear of its failing you” (Teresa of Ávila, The Way of Perfection).

In times of difficulty, we have to help our brothers and sisters in the faith to put up a firm resistance to opposition. We can help them a great deal with our example, with our words, with our cheerfulness, with our faithfulness, and with our prayer.

And we can take special care to show them real brotherly love at such times, because “a brother that is helped by another brother,”we’re told in Scripture, “is like a strong city” (Prov. 18:19). He cannot be shaken by the storm.

We can ask St. Stephen to help us to stir up our hope in heaven, and to stir up our trust in God. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says that hope leads us to “place our trust in Christ’s promises, relying not on our own strength, but on the help of God’s grace” (Catechism, Point 1817).

Hope makes it possible for us to struggle on serenely, to sanctify the difficult moments, to sanctify the calumnies and the persecutions and the injustices. Hope translates into a willingness to begin and begin again as often as necessary in our apostolate, in the apostolate of public opinion, in seeking justice and charity.

In spite of our sins, Christ continues to seek us out. We should be wary of thinking that perseverance implies never making mistakes, never having any difficulties. Instead, it means starting over after some failure or when we come up against some contradiction. Christ is there in the moments of the Cross.

Hope helps us to reject discouragement when faced with those difficulties and contradictions. It helps us to seek our strength in God.

In The Forge we’re told, “Lazarus rose because he heard the voice of God and immediately wanted to get out of the situation he was in. If he hadn’t wanted to, he would just have died again.

“A sincere resolution: to have faith in God always; to hope in God always; to love God always. … He never abandons us, even if we are rotting away as Lazarus was” (J. Escrivá, The Forge, Point 211).

And also in The Forge: “‘My God, my God! All of them were equally loved, through you, in you, and with you, and now they are all scattered.’ Thus you complained when you saw yourself once again all alone and lacking in human resources.

”—But Our Lord immediately made you feel sure in your soul that he would sort it out. And you said to him: ‘You will fix everything!’ —And so he did. God solved everything sooner, more fully, and better than you expected” (ibid., Point 284).

St. Josemaría says, “Seek union with God and buoy yourself up with hope–that sure virtue!—because Jesus will illuminate the way for you with the gentle light of his mercy, even in the darkest night” (ibid., Point 293).

And so, hope. Lord, because you, God, are my strength (Ps. 59:9). Help me to see that this hope is a consequence of my being a child of God. Help me to see that this virtue keeps us looking up, even in those situations of persecution and calumny, situations that otherwise might lead to sadness. On the contrary, they can lead to joy, to a supernatural outlook in times of sickness or pain or contradiction.

Therefore, that virtue can give us great peace and serenity, the sort of peace and serenity that St. Stephen had that led him to pray for his persecutors: “Forgive them, Lord, for they do not know what they are doing” (Acts 7:60).

Lord, help us to grow in this virtue of hope. Teach us not to be afraid. Fill our youthful hearts with hope, to have a greater priestly soul, to bring to our mind those words you tell us in the Psalm: “You are my Son; this day I have begotten you” (Ps. 2:7).

In all those moments, Our Lady will always be present for us. Mary Our Mother is especially close to us in all those difficult circumstances.

Today, Mary, we entrust ourselves in a particular way to the first martyr, who gave his life for Christ, in order that we may be strong in all moments of tribulation.

I thank you, my God, for the good resolutions, affections, and inspirations that you have communicated to me during this meditation. I ask your help to put them into practice. My Immaculate Mother, Saint Joseph, my father and lord, my guardian angel, intercede for me.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

EW