#Stephen Full of the Holy Spirit

[melvingaines]

Live Stream Sunday School - April 28, 2024

Acts 7:1-13 #acts #apostle #believer #deacon #time #respect #full #Spirit #holyspirit #word #Stephen #glory #God #Israelites #Jews #debate #Sadducees #arrest #accuse #accusation

[bro-god-is-good]

The story of Stephen in Acts Chapter 7 is awe inspiring.

Stephen: a man appointed by the apostles to spread the gospel, who was described as full of grace and power, died a horrible death following God till the end.

As Stephen is spreading the gospel, people are getting angry at him and creating lies forcing him in front of the council to defend himself.

Stephen uses the Holy Spirit and speaks wisdom telling the story of how the Old Testament connects to Jesus, but still he is not believed and is stoned to death.

As Stephen is being killed, his last words are a crying out to God telling Him to not hold the people’s sins against them.

Stephen : the first martyr of Christianity stayed true to Christ till the very end. ♥️

[orthodoxadventure]

Who are the martyrs?

Derived from the Greek word meaning "witness," a martyr is someone who suffers persecution and death for their faith in Christ. Saint Gregory the Theologian, the 4th Century Patriarch of Constantinople, once said that "it is mere rashness to seek death, but it is cowardly to refuse it" in witnessing to our faith in Christ. Over the past two millennia martyrs have been a symbol of strength for the faithful, a sign that God is more powerful than death. All of the Apostles, who experienced the Risen Jesus, except for St. John the Evangelist, were put to death for their faith in Christ. That so many Christians who knew Jesus were willing to die for their claim that "Jesus is Lord" (1 Corinthians 12:3) gives a powerful witness to us about who Jesus is. As St. Justin the Martyr wrote in the 2nd century just before his own execution in Rome for the faith circa 155AD: "for it is plain that, though beheaded, and crucified, and thrown to wild beasts, and chains, and fire, and all other kinds of torture, we do not give up our confession of faith; but, the more these things happen, the more others, in even larger numbers, become faithful." This persecution of Christianity has continued through the centuries. To this day, Orthodox Christians continue to be persecuted under Communism, various dictatorships, and other religions. In fact, more Orthodox Christians died for their faith in the 20th century under Communism in the former Soviet bloc countries than in all the persecutions carried out by the Roman Empire during the first 300 years of Christian history.

St. Stephen (In Greek, stephanos means 'crown') was the first person in history to be executed for being a Christian. His story is told in the New Testament by Luke the Evangelist in the Acts of the Apostles (6:1-7:60). A "man full of the Holy Spirit," he was one of the seven deacons chosen by the Apostles to minister to the Greek-speaking Christians of the first community in Jerusalem. Arrested for his public preaching of Jesus Christ, he was -- like his Master before him -- brought before the Sanhedrin. For his witness before the Sanhedrin to Jesus as the crucified and risen Messiah, he was condemned to death by stoning. Taken outside the city walls, he was brutally stoned to death by an angry mob. Stephen was the first of a long line of many, many men and women who have paid the full price in blood for their faith in Jesus Christ.

[Source of text: The Divine Liturgy of our Father among the Saints John Chrysostom (with Commentary and Notes)]

[culpeppercheckers721]

Hi so in case you couldn’t tell based on the last post, in the spirit of “Abraham Woodhull Appreciation Day” this 7/22 I just re-read THE Abraham Woodhull fic to end all Abraham Woodhull fics, Do Something Revolutionary, so oh my fucking god I need to rant for a second:

I am so emotionally unstable right now IN THE BEST WAY— as I have mentioned I may or may not have made the grave mistake of listening to Twin Sized Mattress, as well as Somewhere Only We Know and This Is Gospel because apparently those can also get me teary-eyed, whilst rereading this fic because sometimes I love music while I read and my Do Something Revolutionary playlist fucking SLAPS OK 🤪

Anyways, oh my god, this fucking riveting fic never fails to make me feel literally every emotion in existence for Abe Woodhull, and I cannot recommend it enough because god, it is something spectacular. As simple as it may seem to the naked eye, it is SO incredibly effective, and it captures Abe’s character wonderfully and gives a much-desired look into what his childhood was like & the dynamic he and the rest of the ring had as friends then, it does a FANTASTIC job exploring his bisexuality which yes, is simply just a headcanon of mine, yet also something I think is way too fitting and intentional to write off but that is a whole other matter—! As said, it hits the childhood friendship dynamic spot-on, to the point where it felt like I was reading fucking Stephen King’s IT again with how strong those vibes were!! 🤡 And, as embarrassed as I usually am to admit it, yes, it makes me feel so many things! It is an all-around inspiring take on our little cabbage, and yes, I’m aware there are many people who often can’t stand Abe, but I swear to god I don’t know how anyone could get through this fic & and it’s beautiful glimpse into Abraham himself and what can be learned from him and not be at least a little appreciative. ❤️

I am aware how ramble-y this is and perhaps one day I will make a better, more coherence recommendation of this fanfiction, but what I am trying to say here is that it is an incredible read full of killer lines, great characterization & emotions, and it utterly shocked me the first time I read it as I was NOT expecting it go so hard!

So yes this was what I had to do on this little Abe appreciation day, once again similarly to Ben to appreciate him in some physical way ahah, but in all seriousness I just have to give this fic so much credit for the EMOTIONS it gets me feeling, and, of course, how absolutely FERAL the Townhull dynamic in it also makes me (because what else is new? ;)) as well as why it is very much worth your time if you’re looking to enjoy a look into Abe, some of the Culper Ring as kids, and that aforementioned side of Townhull.

(And to get back to the music thing, I’d like to note that oh my god, that also fuels the already very strong emotions. I don’t want to say that I’m a stone cold bitch sometimes or anything, but USUALLY it takes quite a lot to get me emotional, and when I tell you that Do Something Revolutionary (especially the ending) accomplished that, it is not praise I take lightly ;))

Anyways, if you actually read this rant holy crap. Thank thank you & apologies for the incoherency, but this fic has utterly captivated me once again, and believe me when I say I am delighted I might be able to make somebody else smile by recommending it.

For now, Happy Abe Appreciation Day once again!!! I’ll see you tomorrow for Townsend Appreciation Day lmao ;)

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

Stephen Is Seized While Doing Miracles And Proclaiming Christ With Irresistible Wisdom

(6) 8 Now Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. 9 But some of the ones from the synagogue being called “of Freedmen”— both Cyrenians and Alexandrians, and the ones from Cilicia and Asia— rose-up, debating with Stephen. 10 And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking. 11 Then they secretly-induced men [to begin] saying that “We have heard him speaking blasphemous words against Moses and God”. 12 And they stirred-up the people and the elders and the scribes. And having suddenly-come-upon him, they seized him and brought him to the Sanhedrin. 13 And they put-forward false witnesses, saying, “This man does not cease speaking words against this holy place and the Law. 14 For we have heard him saying that this Jesus the Nazarene will tear-down this place, and change the customs which Moses handed-down to us”. 15 And having looked-intently at him, all the ones sitting in the council [chamber] saw his face was like a face of an angel.

(7) 1 And the high priest said, “Do these things hold so?”

Stephen Reports Seeing Jesus At The Right Hand of God. The Jews Stone Him To Death

(7) 54 And hearing these things, they were infuriated in their hearts, and were grinding their teeth at him. 55 But being full of the Holy Spirit, having looked-intently into heaven, he saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right side of God. 56 And he said, “Behold— I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing on the right side of God!” 57 And having cried-out with a loud voice, they held-shut their ears, and rushed against him with-one-accord. 58 And having driven him outside of the city, they were stoning him. And the witnesses laid-aside their garments at the feet of a young-man being called Saul. 59 And they were stoning Stephen while he was calling-upon Jesus and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit”. 60 And having put down his knees, he cried-out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not set this sin against them”. And having said this, he fell-asleep. — Acts 6:8-7:1 and 7:54-60 | Disciples’ Literal New Testament (DLNT) Disciples' Literal New Testament: Serving Modern Disciples by More Fully Reflecting the Writing Style of the Ancient Disciples, Copyright © 2011 Michael J. Magill. All Rights Reserved. Published by Reyma Publishing Cross References: Exodus 23:1; Leviticus 24:14; Leviticus 24:16; 1 Kings 21:10; 1 Kings 21:13; Job 16:9; Psalm 31:5; Ezekiel 1:1; Ezekiel 3:23; Daniel 12:2; Hosea 7:4; Matthew 3:16; Matthew 5:22; Matthew 5:44; Matthew 8:12; Matthew 24:15; Matthew 26:61; Matthew 27:32; Mark 8:25; Mark 16:19; Luke 20:1; John 2:19; John 4:48; Acts 2:9; Acts 6:5; Acts 7:2

[orthodoxydaily]

Saints&Reading: Sunday, May 19, 2024

may 6_may 19

Tradition Liturgique: On the Third Sunday of Pascha the Orthodox Church celebrates theMyrrh-Bearing women as well as Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodimius.

SAINTS. MARY AND MARTHA, SISTERS OF ST. LAZARUS (1ST C.)

Icon: Uncut Mountain Supply

The righteous sisters Martha and Mary were believers in Christ even before He raised their brother Saint Lazarus (October 17) from the dead. After the murder of the holy Archdeacon Stephen a persecution against the Jerusalem Church broke out, and Righteous Lazarus was cast out of Jerusalem. The holy sisters then assisted their brother in the proclaiming of the Gospel in various lands.

Saints Martha and Mary are also commemorated on the Sunday of the Myrrh-bearing Women.

VENERABLE JOB, HEGUMEN OF POCHAEV AND WONDERWORKER (1651)

Saint Job, Abbot and Wonderworker of Pochaev (in the world named Ivan Zhelezo), was born around 1551 in Pokutia in Galicia. At age ten he came to the Transfiguration Ugornits monastery, and at age twelve he received monastic tonsure with the name Job. The venerable Job from his youth was known for his great piety and strict ascetic life, and he was accounted worthy of the priestly office.

Around the year 1580, at the request of the renowned champion of Orthodoxy Prince Constantine Ostrozhsky, Saint Job was appointed the head of the Exaltation of the Cross monastery near the city of Dubno, and for more than twenty years he governed the monastery amidst the growing persecution of Orthodoxy on the part of the Catholics and Uniates.

At the beginning of the seventeenth century, Saint Job withdrew to Pochaev hill and settled in a cave not far from the ancient Dormition monastery, famed for its wonderworking Pochaev Icon of the Mother of God (July 23). The holy hermit, beloved by the brethren of the monastery, was chosen as their Igumen. Saint Job zealously fulfilled his duty as head of the monastery, kind and gentle with the brethren, he did much of the work himself, planting trees in the garden, and strengthening the waterworks at the monastery.

Saint Job was an ardent defender of the Orthodox Faith against the persecution of the Catholics. Following the Union of Brest (1596), many Orthodox living in Poland were deprived of their rights, and attempts were made to force them to convert to Catholicism. Many Orthodox hierarchs became apostates to Uniatism, but Saint Job and others defended Orthodoxy by copying and disseminating Orthodox books. Prince Ostrozhsky was also responsible for the first printed edition of the Orthodox Bible (1581).

In taking an active part in the defense of Orthodoxy and the Russian people, Saint Job was present at the 1628 Kiev Council, convened against the Unia. After 1642, he accepted the great schema with the name John.

Sometimes he completely secluded himself within the cave for three days or even a whole week. The Jesus Prayer was an unceasing prayer in his heart. According to the testimony of his disciple Dositheus, and author of the Life of Saint Job, once while praying in his cave, the saint was illumined by a heavenly light. Saint Job reposed in the year 1651. He was more than 100 years old, and had directed the Pochaev monastery for more than fifty years.

The uncovering of Saint Job’s relics took place on August 28, 1659. There was a second uncovering of the relics on August 27-28, 1833.

Source: Orthodox Church in America_OCA

ACTS 6:1-7

1 Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists, because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution. 2 Then the twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, "It is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables. 3 Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business; 4 but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word. 5 And the saying pleased the whole multitude. And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch, 6 whom they set before the apostles; and when they had prayed, they laid hands on them. 7 Then the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith.

MARK 15:43-16:8

43 Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent council member, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, coming and taking courage, went in to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 44 Pilate marveled that He was already dead; and summoning the centurion, he asked him if He had been dead for some time. 45 So when he found out from the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph. 46 Then he bought fine linen, took Him down, and wrapped Him in the linen. And he laid Him in a tomb which had been hewn out of the rock, and rolled a stone against the door of the tomb. 47 And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses observed where He was laid.

1 Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him. 2 Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. 3 And they said among themselves, "Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?" 4 But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away-for it was very large. 5 And entering the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. 6 But he said to them, "Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him. 7 But go, tell His disciples-and Peter-that He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you. 8 So they went out quickly and fled from the tomb, for they trembled and were amazed. And they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

[frmartinshomiliesandreflections]

8th December >> Fr. Martin's Gospel Homilies / Reflections on Luke 1:26-38 for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary: ‘Greetings favoured one! The Lord is with you’.

Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Gospel Luke 1:26-38 'I am the handmaid of the Lord'.

The angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. He went in and said to her, ‘Rejoice, so highly favoured! The Lord is with you.’ She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean, but the angel said to her, ‘Mary, do not be afraid; you have won God’s favour. Listen! You are to conceive and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David; he will rule over the House of Jacob for ever and his reign will have no end.’ Mary said to the angel, ‘But how can this come about, since I am a virgin?’ ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you’ the angel answered ‘and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow. And so the child will be holy and will be called Son of God. Know this too: your kinswoman Elizabeth has, in her old age, herself conceived a son, and she whom people called barren is now in her sixth month, for nothing is impossible to God.’ ‘I am the handmaid of the Lord,’ said Mary ‘let what you have said be done to me.’ And the angel left her.

Gospel (USA) Luke 1:26–38 Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.

The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming to her, he said, “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.” But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his Kingdom there will be no end.” But Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?” And the angel said to her in reply, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God.” Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

Reflections (10)

(i) Feast of the Immaculate Conception

John Henry Newman was canonized four years ago. One of the people that he received into the church was the poet, Gerard Manley Hopkins, in 1866. Hopkins became a Jesuit two years later; he went on to teach in the Jesuit run University College that Newman had started on Saint Stephen’s Green. It was there Hopkins died in 1889. Hopkins wrote a poem on Mary entitled, ��The Blessed Virgin compared to the air we breathe’. He speaks of air as the nursing element of the universe. What he calls ‘the world-mothering air’ speaks to him of Mary. The poem was composed a couple of decades after Pope Pius IX proclaimed the dogma of Mary’s Immaculate Conception. In his poem, Hopkins makes reference to Mary’s Immaculate Conception. He writes, ‘Mary Immaculate, merely a woman, yet whose presence, power is great as no goddess’s was deemed, dreamed, who this one work has to do – Let all God’s glory through’. Today’s feast celebrates Mary as one who, from the moment of her conception, let all God’s glory through. A teacher in a primary school once asked the children, ‘What is a saint?’ One of the children, thinking of the stained glass windows in her church, said, ‘A saint is someone who lets the light through’. If saints are people through whom shines the light of God’s glorious presence, this is especially true of Mary. There was no sin in her to block the light of God’s glorious, loving, presence. She was the greatest of all the saints, always totally open to God’s love.

The Pope’s proclamation of Mary’s Immaculate Conception in 1854 gave formal expression to what had been the faith of the church since earliest times. It was always understood by the faithful that Mary was preserved by God from sin from the first moment of her conception because she was destined by God to become the mother of God’s Son. She was favoured by God, chosen to carry God’s Son in her womb, give birth to him, nurture him with a mother’s love and, then, let him go as an adult to do God’s work. Mary was greatly favoured by God and, yet, at that moment of the annunciation, she had to respond to God’s favour. The gospel reading shows that her response to God’s favour was complete, ‘I am the servant of the Lord. Let what you have said be done to me’. She gave a total ‘yes’ to the unique grace that God gave her. She was completely open to God’s call. Her surrender to God’s purpose for her life was total and enduring. Her response to God at the annunciation anticipated her own son’s response to God in the garden of Gethsemane, ‘Not my will but yours be done’. 

While attracted by Mary’s goodness and holiness, perhaps we can more easily recognize something of ourselves in Adam’s story in the first reading. Like him, we go against what God desires for us, reaching for what is out of bounds. Like him, we blame others for our own failings. Like him, having gone against God’s desire for our lives, we hide from God, and God has to call after us, ‘Where are you?’ All of that may be true of us, and, yet, it is never our full story; the story of our lives is also a graced story. God’s question, ‘Where are you?’ is not an accusing question. It springs from a heart of love. Jesus revealed this seeking heart of God to the full. He said of himself that he came to seek out and to save the lost. He wanted to find those who were hiding from God out of fear of God’s displeasure. He wanted to reveal to them God’s faithful and enduring love, and to call them back into a loving relationship with God and with the community of believers. There are times in our lives when we simply need to allow ourselves to be found by God. The Lord is always calling on us to step out into the light of God’s loving presence and to open our hearts to God’s light which never ceases to shine upon us. This is a light that no darkness in our lives can overcome. God has a wonderful purpose for all our lives, which he never gives up on, no matter how often we turn from God. Saint Paul in today’s second reading expresses God’s purpose for our lives very eloquently. God ‘chose us in Christ, to be holy and spotless, and to live through love in his presence’. God’s purpose for our lives is that his Son would be formed within us, so that we can live through love in God’s presence, so that we can live in the same loving way that Jesus did. 

In Mary, we can see clearly this person we are called to become. She wasn’t just the mother of Jesus, but his first and finest disciple. God’s Son was formed in her, not just physically, but spiritually. She lived through love in God’s presence, giving herself in love to God and to others, like her Son. At no point did Mary ever hide from God. God never had to address the question to her, ‘Where are you?’ In today’s gospel reading, God seeks out Mary through his messenger, the angel Gabriel. Mary does not hide from God’s messenger. Yet, the gospel reading suggests that Mary’s wholehearted response to God’s purpose for her life did not come without a struggle. We are told that when God first greeted her through Gabriel, ‘she was deeply disturbed’ and wondered what the greeting could mean. When God then made clear to her what was being asked of her, she was full of questions, ‘How can this come about?’ She had difficulty in trying to grasp the ways of God in her own regard, as we all do sometimes. God’s presence will always be, to some extent, a disturbing presence; it will often leave us with questions. Even in this cloud of unknowing, Mary remained open to God’s presence. Once assured of God’s help, the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit, she surrendered to God’s desire, God’s purpose, for her life, ‘let what you have said be done to me’. In doing so, she allowed God’s purpose for all humanity to come to pass. The remainder of her life was a constant ‘yes’ to God’s will, even as she bore the pains of the human condition. A sword would pierce her heart; she would be puzzled at times by her son’s mission and actions; she would suffer the horrible pain of a mother watching the brutal execution of her son.

The Holy Spirit who overshadowed Mary at the annunciation overshadowed all of us at our baptism and continues to overshadow us all through life. What was said to Mary in today’s gospel reading is said to all of us, ‘The Lord is with you’. The risen Lord is present with all of us, through the Holy Spirit. The season of Advent calls on us to open our hearts to the Lord’s presence to us, his daily coming. In striving to respond to that call, Mary can be an inspiration to us all. She is our motherly companion on our own pilgrim way, which is why we can always ask her to ‘pray for us, sinners, now and at the hour of our death’. In the words of Hopkins’ poem, she ‘mantles the guilty globe, since God has let her dispense her prayers, his providence’.

And/Or

(ii) Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary

In this morning’s gospel reading Mary is addressed by the angel Gabriel as ‘so highly favoured’. In the very next verse Luke says ‘she was deeply disturbed by these words’. She was highly favoured and deeply disturbed. Sometimes being highly favoured can be deeply disturbing. We wonder, ‘Why I am being highly favoured?’ We can struggle to receive the favour of others because we feel we don’t deserve it, and, at a deeper level, we can struggle to receive the favour of God. How can I be favoured by God when I have done so little? Yet, like Mary, although in a way that is unique to each of us, we have all been highly favoured by God. Our coming to birth was the work of God’s favour; our baptism into Christ was the work of God’s favour. As Saint John put it in one of his letters, ‘God loved us first’. As Paul puts it at the beginning of today’s second reading, ‘Blessed be God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with all the spiritual blessings of heaven in Christ’.

Among all human beings, Mary was uniquely favoured by God. She was chosen by God to be the mother of God’s Son. Today’s feast proclaims that she was uniquely favoured by God from the moment of her conception in her own mother’s womb. From that first moment of her life, God was preparing her to be the woman from whose womb Jesus, the Son of God, would be born. The gospel reading this morning suggests that Mary struggled to receive this extraordinary favour of God, and all it would entail for her. Initially, she was deeply disturbed, and then she questioned, ‘But how can this come about?’ Finally, she surrendered, ‘Let what you have said be done to me’. From that moment of her surrender to God’s favour of her, she became a source of blessing to all of humanity, the one through whom Jesus came to us. By her complete surrender to God’s desire for her life, she gave birth to Jesus in her heart, before she gave birth to him in her womb. In the garden of Gethsemane Jesus prayed to God, ‘Not my will but yours be done’. Luke presents Mary as entering into that prayer of Jesus before Jesus was even conceived, ‘Let what you have said be done to me’.

If we are like Mary in being highly favoured by God, we are also called to be like her in the way that we respond to God’s favour of us. We are to surrender our lives to God who has so favoured us, allowing God to work in and through us according to his purpose for our lives. Then, like Mary, we too will give birth to Christ in our lives. We too will be a source of blessing for others.

And/Or

(iii) Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary

Children’s games have become a lot more sophisticated in recent years, especially those games that are computer based. A lot of such digital games will be purchased as Christmas presents in the weeks to come. Many of them are very expensive. Yet, there are some games that never seem to go out of fashion with children and have no financial cost attached to them. One such game is that of hide and seek. A child hides somewhere and other children have to find him or her. The thrill of the search and the joy of discovery holds an attraction for children. Perhaps this game has an appeal to children because we are all seekers at heart regardless of our age. Saint Augustine said that our hearts will always be restless until they rest in God. In that sense, all our searching is, ultimately, a search for God.

There are times when we might be tempted to think that God is playing hid and seek with us. We seek God but we struggle to find God. God appears to be in hiding. Many of the psalms in the Jewish Scriptures seem to spring from the experience of God seeming to ‘hide his face’, in the language of the Psalms. The person praying calls out to God to show his face, to make himself known, to stop hiding. When Jesus cried out on the cross in the language of one of the psalms, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’, he was asking God, ‘Where are you?’ It is a question that some of us may have addressed to God at some time.

In today’s first reading, however, it is God who asks the question, ‘Where are you?’ It is God who is seeking Adam and Adam who is hiding from God. There is a sense in which the story of Adam and Eve, and it is a story, is the story of every human being. The author was portraying humankind in its relationship with God. We may, at heart, be people who seek God continually. Yet there are times when we hide from God and God becomes the seeker, crying out to us, ‘Where are you?’ In the case of Adam, it was shame and guilt that caused him to hide from God. God had given Adam and Eve all the beauty and goodness of the garden of Eden. There was only one tree in the garden that God had placed out of bounds, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Yet, the couple could not resist the temptation to eat of this tree, sensing that in eating of its fruit they would become like God. In the immediate aftermath of this act, they hide from God who had given so generously to them. The sense that all is not well in our relationship with God can cause us to hide from God too. We are reluctant to face God. Yet, the first reading suggests that whenever we hide from God out of shame or guilt, God continues to seek us out. God continues to pursue us in his love. God’s question, ‘Where are you?’ springs from a heart of love. Jesus, Mary’s Son, revealed this seeking heart of God to the full. He said of himself that he came to seek out and to save the lost. He wanted to find those who were hiding from God out of fear of God’s displeasure. He wanted to reveal to them God’s faithful and enduring love, and to call them back into a loving relationship with God. There are times in our lives when we simply need to allow ourselves to be found by God. God is always calling on us to step out into the light of God’s love and to open our hearts to God’s light which continues to shine upon us through Jesus, his Son, a light no darkness in our lives can overcome.

Today’s feast celebrates the good news that Mary was always open to the light of God’s love, from the first moment of her conception in the womb of her mother. At no point did Mary ever hide from God, because she had no reason to do so. God never had to address the question to her, ‘Where are you?’ In today’s gospel reading, God seeks out Mary through his messenger, the angel Gabriel. Mary does not hide from God’s messenger. Yes, we are told that she was ‘deeply disturbed’ by Gabriel’s greeting. Yes, her response to Gabriel’s subsequent message was initially a questioning one, ‘How can this come about?’ God’s presence will always be, to some extent, a disturbing experience; it will always leave us with questions. Yet, despite these uncomfortable feelings, Mary stood her ground. She remained open to God’s presence. She surrendered to God’s desire for her life, ‘let what you have said be done to me’, thereby allowing God’s desire for all humanity to come to pass. On this, the feast of the Immaculate Conception, we ask Mary to pray for us sinners now, so that we may be as open and responsive to God’s presence to us and to God’s desire for our lives as she was.

And/Or

(iv) Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary

The annunciation of the angel Gabriel to Mary has inspired artists down the centuries, stained glass artists, painters, carvers. Somehow they sensed the significance of this event in God’s dealings with humanity. This was the moment when God needed Mary’s consent to become the mother of his Son. A great deal would depend on how Mary responded to this choice that God was making of her. At that moment, the whole human race desperately needed her to say ‘yes’ to God’s choice and God’s call. The gospel reading speaks of Mary as being ‘deeply disturbed’ by this visitation from God and full of questions, and, yet, in the end she lived up to humanity’s expectations, surrendering wholeheartedly to God’s choice of her. She said ‘Yes’ to God, on all our behalf.

We are celebrating today Mary’s complete responsiveness to God’s call. To say that Mary was immaculately conceived is to say that there was no sin in her life from the first moment of her existence. Her life was one constant ‘Yes’ to God’s choice and call from her conception to her final breath. She allowed herself to be touched by God’s grace in a very complete way. She was ‘full of grace’, full of God. She was a woman of God, and this made her a woman for others. According to the scene that follows today’s gospel reading, she gave herself in love to Elizabeth her older cousin for several months. As a woman of God for others, we see in her the human person we were designed to be. In our second reading, Paul declares that God ‘chose us in Christ to be holy and spotless, and to live through love in his presence’.

The story of Adam and Eve tells a very different story to the story Luke tells in the gospel reading. Adam had said ‘no’ to God’s call, eating of the tree that was out of bounds. The break in his relationship with God led him to hide from God, and God had to cry out after him, ‘Where are you?’ In hiding from God, he also hid from himself. Refusing to take responsibility for his actions, he blamed his wife Eve, ‘it was the woman’, and she in turn blamed the serpent. The story of Adam and Eve is the story of us all. We are all prone to going out own way, turning away from God’s call, hiding from God, and, as a result, losing touch with our true selves and damaging our relationship with others. Yet, when that happens, the Lord continues to call after us in love, ‘Where are you?’ Mary’s adult son declared that he had come to seek out and save the lost, which is all of us.

Today’s feast reminds us that we have someone we can look towards in our efforts to respond to the Lord’s call to us. Mary, the mother of Jesus, is also our mother. She knows the power of sin and what it can do to human lives; she saw what it did to her Son. She surrounds us with her intercessory prayer so that we can become the human person God desires us to be. That is why we can ask her with confidence to pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.

And/Or

(v) Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary

The scene in today’s gospel reading is very beautifully depicted in one of our stained glass windows in the sanctuary and also on the front of the altar below the stained glass. The annunciation of the angel Gabriel to Mary is one of those gospel scenes that has inspired artists down the centuries, such as stained glass artists, painters, carvers. They sensed the significance of this event in God’s dealings with humanity. This was the moment when God needed Mary’s consent to become the mother of his Son. God had chosen Mary for this hugely significant role. A great deal would depend on whether or not Mary consented to the choice that God was making of her. Out of all the women in history, God chose this young teenage woman from a small village Galilee during the reign of the Roman Emperor Augustus. God’s choice of this woman was a wonderful privilege for her but would also make great demands on her. At that moment, the whole human race desperately needed her to say ‘yes’ to God’s choice and God’s call. The gospel reading speaks of Mary as being ‘deeply disturbed’ by this visitation from God and full of questions, and, yet, in the end she lived up to humanity’s expectations. She surrendered wholeheartedly to God’s choice of her, God’s call on her, ‘I am the handmaid of the Lord, let what you have said be done to me’. She said ‘Yes’ to God, on all our behalf, for all our sakes. It was because of her ‘yes’ to God’s desire for her life that we would receive the gift of Jesus from God.

The story in our gospel reading expresses the meaning of today’s feast of Mary’s ‘Immaculate Conception’. We are celebrating today Mary’s total responsiveness to God’s call, her complete openness to God’s will. To say that Mary was immaculately conceived is to say that Mary was untouched by sin. There was no sin in her life from the first moment of her existence. Her life was one constant ‘Yes’ to God’s choice and call, from her conception to her final breath. She allowed herself to be touched by God’s grace in a very complete way. She was ‘full of grace’, full of God. God’s will was done in her, as it is in heaven. She was, truly, a woman of God, and this made her a woman for others. According to Luke’s gospel, after her annunciation, Mary immediately gives herself in love to Elizabeth her older cousin, staying with her for several months. She went on to give herself to Jesus, her son, and she let go of her precious Son so as to give him to us all. After her Son’s death and resurrection, she gave herself in love to his followers, the disciples. She was present with them at Pentecost when the Spirit of the risen Lord, the Holy Spirit, came down upon them. As a woman of God for others, we see in her the human person we are all called to become. In our second reading, Paul declares that God ‘chose us in Christ to be holy and spotless, and to live through love in his presence’. Mary is the person God desires us all to be.

The story of Adam and Eve tells a very different story to the story Luke tells in the gospel reading. Adam had said ‘no’ to God’s choice and call, eating of the tree that was out of bounds. The break in his relationship with God led him to hide from God, and God had to call out after him, ‘Where are you?’ In hiding from God, he also hid from himself. Refusing to take responsibility for his actions, he blamed his wife Eve, ‘it was the woman’; she in turn blamed the serpent, ‘the serpent tempted me’. For the author of the Book of Genesis, the story of Adam and Eve is the story of us all. We are all prone to going out own way, turning away from God’s presence, God’s call, and, then, hiding from God, and, as a result, losing touch with our true selves and damaging our relationship with others. Yet, when that happens, the Lord continues the same question he asked Adam, ‘Where are you?’ The Lord asks this question not in an accusing way but in a loving way. Jesus, Mary’s Son, came to seek out and save the lost, which is all of us. Adam hid from God out of fear, but the Lord in the gospels constantly says to people, ‘Do not be afraid’. As Saint John says in his first letter, perfect love casts out fear.

Today’s feast reminds us that we have someone we can look to and be inspired by in our efforts to respond to the Lord’s choice of us and his call to us, his searching love. Mary, the mother of Jesus, is also our mother. She knows the power of sin and what it can do to human lives; she saw what it did to her Son. She surrounds us with her intercession and prayer so that we too can become the human person God desires us to be. That is why we can ask her with confidence to pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.

And/Or

(vi) Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary

Mary’s freedom from sin was widely proclaimed in the early church. However, the formal declaration of Mary’s freedom from sin was made by Pius IX in 1854 when he declared that Mary ‘from the first moment of her conception was preserved from all stain of sin, by the singular grace and privilege of God and by the merits of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world’.

If the essence of sin is turning away from God, today’s feast proclaims that Mary has always been totally turned towards God, completely open to God’s love and to God’s presence. Her openness is captured in her final words in today’s gospel reading, ‘I am the handmaid of the Lord. Let what you have said be done to me’. The greeting of Gabriel to Mary in this morning’s gospel, ‘Hail, full of grace’, captures the meaning of today’s feast. Mary is full of God’s gracious love.

We live in a world where at times sin and evil seem to reign supreme. The first reading presents the human tendency to go against what God asks of us and, then, resulting from that, to hide from God. That portrayal of Adam in the first reading stands in contrast to the portrayal of Mary in the gospel. They are at opposite ends of a spectrum. Most of us find ourselves somewhere in between both. We are aware of our tendency to hide from God and to do our own thing, like Adam. Yet we also sense a call to turn towards God and to open ourselves completely to God’s presence, like Mary. Paul refers to this call in today’s second reading, when he tells us that God has chosen us in Christ to be holy and spotless and to live through love in God’s presence.

Today we celebrate the good news that at least one human being, Mary, has responded fully to that call of God. As we strive to answer that same call, we look to Mary for inspiration and for help. We ask her to pray for us, sinners, now and at the hour of our death, so that the grace and love of God that embraced Mary from the first moment of her existence would also touch our own lives.

While today’s feast celebrates Mary’s unique sinlessness, it does not for a moment suggest that she was any less human than we all are. Her holiness was lived amidst the struggles and sorrows of this world. Her son was a sign of contradiction, a sword pierced her own soul; she often puzzled over the words and actions of her son, and she suffered the unique agony of a parent who sees an offspring die. She knew the darker side of life, and, yet, in the midst of it all she remained completely open to God and to God’s will for her life. Her humanity makes her holiness in some way accessible to us.

What was said to Mary in today’s gospel reading is said to all of us, ‘The Lord is with you’. The Lord is with all of us; he is present to all of us. Mary was completely open to the Lord’s presence to her. Because of her openness, her responsiveness, God’s Son was formed within her. The season of Advent calls on us to be as open to God’s presence as Mary was, so that God’s Son may also be formed in our own lives too. Writing to the Galatians, Paul told them that he was in the pains of childbirth ‘until Christ is formed in you’. This Advent may Christ grow more fully within us, and be formed in us. .

And/Or

(vii) Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary

We have some very nice stained glass windows in our church, especially in the sanctuary area here behind me. Various Irish saints are depicted in the stained glass. There is a story told of a teacher who asked the question in class, ‘Who are the saints?’ One of the pupils in the class, thinking of the stained glass images of the saints in her own church, said that the saints were people who let the light in. That is a good way of thinking about the saints - people who let the light of God into the world in a special way. Through them, the light of God’s love shines on others. If the saints are people who let God’s light shine through them, Mary is the person who lets God’s light shine through her more than anyone else does. That is the meaning of today’s feast. We celebrate today the good news that from the beginning of her life there was no darkness in Mary, no sin in her. God’s light filled her life and shone through her from the first moment of her existence.

If the essence of sin is turning away from God, today’s feast proclaims that Mary has always been totally turned towards God, completely open to God’s call and to God’s presence. Her openness to God’s call is captured in her final words in today’s gospel reading, ‘I am the handmaid of the Lord. Let what you have said be done to me’. The greeting of Gabriel to Mary in this morning’s gospel, ‘Hail, full of grace’, captures the meaning of today’s feast. Mary is full of God’s gracious love, full of God’s light.

We live in a world where at times sin and evil seem to reign supreme. The first reading presents Adam going against what God had asked of him and, then, hiding from God out of fear of facing him. That portrayal of Adam in the first reading stands in contrast to the portrayal of Mary in the gospel. They are at opposite ends of a spectrum. Most of us find ourselves somewhere in between both. We are aware of our tendency to do our own thing and to then hide from God, like Adam. Yet we also sense a call to turn towards God and to open ourselves completely to God’s presence, like Mary. Paul refers to this call in today’s second reading, when he tells us that God has chosen us in Christ to be holy and spotless and to live through love in God’s presence.

Today we celebrate the good news that at least one human being, Mary, has responded fully to that call of God. As we strive to answer that same call, we look to Mary for inspiration and for help. As we do in the Hail Mary, we ask her to pray for us, sinners, now and at the hour of our death, so that the grace and love of God that embraced Mary from the first moment of her existence would also touch our own lives.

While today’s feast celebrates Mary’s unique sinlessness, it does not for a moment suggest that she was any less human than we all are. Her holiness was lived amidst the struggles and sorrows of this world. Her son was a sign of contradiction, a sword pierced her own soul; she often puzzled over the words and actions of her son, and she suffered the unique agony of a parent who sees an offspring die tragically at a relatively young age. She knew the darker side of life, and, yet, in the midst of it all she remained completely open to God’s call and to God’s will for her life. She remained full of God’s light in the midst of the trials and struggles of life.

What was said to Mary in today’s gospel reading is said to all of us, ‘The Lord is with you’. The Lord is with all of us; he is present to all of us. Mary was completely open to the Lord’s presence to her. Because of her openness, her responsiveness, God’s Son was formed within her. The season of Advent calls on us to be as open to God’s presence as Mary was, so that God’s Son may also be formed in our own lives, and so that we too can offer God’s Son to the world as she did.

And/Or

(viii) Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary

This morning we celebrate the good news that from the beginning of her life there was no darkness in Mary, no sin in her. God’s light filled her life and shone through her from the first moment of her existence. She always did what God wanted; she was full of goodness. If sin is turning away from God, today’s feast celebrates how Mary has always been totally turned towards God, completely open to God’s call and to God’s presence. Her openness to God’s call is shown especially in her final words in today’s gospel reading, ‘I am the handmaid of the Lord. Let what you have said be done to me’. She declares that she lives to serve God, to do whatever God asks. That is why the angel Gabriel greeting her with the words, ‘Hail, full of grace’. Mary is full of God’s gracious love, full of God’s light.

We live in a world where we are very aware of the presence of sin and evil. The first reading presents Adam refusing to do what God had asked of him. That portrayal of Adam in the first reading stands in contrast to the portrayal of Mary in the gospel. They are at opposite ends of a spectrum. Most of us find ourselves somewhere in between both. We know that we sin, we fail to live as God wants us to live. Yet we also sense a call to turn towards God and to open ourselves completely to God’s presence, like Mary; we know that in the words of today’s second reading, God has chosen us in Christ to be holy and spotless and to live through love in God’s presence.

Today we celebrate the good news that at least one human being, Mary, has responded fully to that call of God. As we strive to answer that same call, we look to Mary for inspiration and for help. In the words of the Hail Mary, we ask her to pray for us, sinners, now and at the hour of our death, so that the grace and love of God that embraced Mary from the first moment of her existence would also touch our own lives.

Today’s feast celebrates Mary’s great holiness and goodness. This holiness was lived in the midst of all the struggles and sorrows of this world. Mary was honoured in being the mother of Jesus, yet that very honour brought her a special suffering. She often puzzled over the words and actions of her son, and she suffered the very special agony of a parent who sees her own child, her own flesh and blood, die tragically and painfully in the prime of life. She knew the darker side of life, and, yet, in the midst of it all she remained completely open to God’s call and to God’s will for her life. She remained full of God’s light in the midst of the darkness and struggles of life.

What was said to Mary in today’s gospel reading is said to all of us, ‘The Lord is with you’. The Lord is with all of us; he is present to all of us. Mary was completely open to the Lord’s presence to her. Because of that openness, God’s Son was formed within her. The season of Advent calls on us to be as open as Mary was to the Lord’s presence to us, so that God’s Son may also be formed in our own lives, and so that we too can offer God’s Son to the world as she did.

And/Or

(ix) Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary

This morning we celebrate the good news that from the beginning of her life there was no darkness in Mary, no sin in her. The light of God’s grace filled her life and shone through her from the first moment of her existence. She was full of goodness, full of grace in the words of Gabriel’s greeting in today’s gospel reading, from the beginning of her life in the womb. If sin is turning away from God, today’s feast celebrates how Mary has always been totally turned towards God, completely open to God’s call and to God’s presence. Her openness to God’s call is shown especially in her final words in today’s gospel reading, ‘I am the handmaid of the Lord. Let what you have said be done to me’. She not only physically gave birth to Jesus, the Word of God, but she gave birth to the Word in her whole life. She was the perfect representative of the seed that fell on good soil who, in the words of Luke’s gospel, ‘hear the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patient endurance’. If we speak of the holiness of Mary, that is what her holiness consists in.

We live in a world where we are very aware of the presence of sin and evil. The first reading is part of the story of Adam and Eve given to us in chapters 2 and 3 of the Book of Genesis. In the story God placed Adam in a beautiful garden with all kinds of delights, trees that were pleasant to the sight and good for food. There was only one tree of which God asked Adam not to eat, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. That was the only tree in the garden that was out of bounds to Adam. Yet, Adam and Eve were tempted to eat from this tree that was out of bounds and they could not resist the temptation. In spite of all the many ways that God had blessed them in the garden, they looked for more, more than they were entitled. Rather than surrendering to God’s word and to God’s desire for their lives they sought to satisfy their own selfish desires. We know that at times we can all be like Adam; we fail to give ourselves over to doing what God asks of us. Yet we also sense a call to turn towards God and to open ourselves more completely to God’s word and God’s will for our lives. In the words of today’s second reading, God has chosen us in Christ to be holy and spotless and to live through love in God’s presence. That vision for human living attracts us and draws us. Deep within us we have this yearning to become the person that God desires us to be and calls us to be.

Today, on this feast of the Immaculate Conception, we celebrate the good news that at least one human being, Mary, has responded fully to God’s call to be holy and to live through live in God’s presence. As we strive to answer that same call, we look to Mary for inspiration and for help. In the words of the Hail Mary, we ask her to pray for us, sinners, now and at the hour of our death, so that the grace and goodness of God that embraced Mary from the first moment of her existence would also touch our own lives. Her story can become our story. In her we see the person we are called to be. She was full of grace and we too have been greatly graced. The Holy Spirit that came upon Mary has come upon us. God now only calls us to a certain way of life but empowers us to live that life through his grace, through his gift of the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who enables us to be holy in the way that Mary was. We need to keep praying for a fresh outpouring of the Spirit in our lives, and Advent is a good time to make such a prayer.

Today’s feast celebrates Mary’s great holiness and goodness. This does not in any way make Mary remote from us. Her holiness, he goodness, her complete fidelity to God’s word, was lived out in the midst of all the struggles and sorrows of this world. Because of her special relationship to Jesus, a sword pierced her heart. This morning’s gospel reading portrays her as disturbed by the greeting of Gabriel and full of questions. Yet, in spite of her doubts and question, she acted in response to God’s word. She would often puzzle over the words and actions of her son. She suffered the agony of a parent who sees her own child die tragically and painfully in the prime of life. Mary plumbed the darker depths of human experience, and, yet, in the midst of it all she remained completely open to God’s life-giving word and to God’s presence and call. She remained full of God’s light in the midst of the darkness and struggles of life.

The season of Advent calls on us to be as open as Mary was to the Lord’s presence to us, even in our times of struggle and confusion. If we are, then our lives, like the life of Mary, will be a source of blessing for others.

And/Or

(x) Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary

Gerard Manley Hopkins, in his poem, ‘The Blessed Virgin compared to the air we breathe’, concludes with a prayer to Mary, ‘Be thou then, O thou dear Mother, my atmosphere; My happier world, wherein To wend and meet no sin’. Today’s feast celebrates Mary as that happier world wherein we meet no sin. In the Lord’s Prayer we pray ‘Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven’. Mary’s life was a constant ‘yes’ to God’s will. God’s will was done in and through her life on earth, as it is in heaven. God ruled in her life. The fullness of God’s love and grace touched Mary from the first moment of her conception. She was untouched by that sin of Adam referred to at the beginning of today’s first reading. Because Adam rebelled against God’s will for his life, he was uncomfortable in God’s presence. He hid from God and God had to call out to him, ‘Where are you?’ Mary had no reason to hide from God because she was always open to doing God’s will. She lived her life in the light of God’s presence. She was, in that sense, full of God, or in the words of the angel Gabriel ‘full of grace’. It was because Mary was so full of God from the first moment of her conception that she could respond to God’s call to her through the angel Gabriel with the words, ‘Let what you have said be done to me’.

The principal church in our Diocese is in Marlborough Street. We usually call it the Pro-Cathedral. However, its official title is Saint Mary’s (the Immaculate Conception). We don’t often speak of Mary as Saint Mary. We have other ways of referring to her. Yet, today’s feast celebrates Mary’s sainthood, her sanctity, her holiness. We consider her the greatest of all the saints because we believe that she was holy or saintly from the first moment of her conception. In some mysterious way that we do not fully understand, Mary was completely open to God’s love and God’s will from the first moment of her existence in her mother’s womb. We do not make this claim about any other saint in the church. The church has always been careful not to make a kind of goddess out of Mary. She is simply the greatest of the saints. This belief in Mary’s holiness or sinlessness from her conception in her mother’s womb has ancient roots in the church, even though it was not officially proclaimed by the church until 1854 when on the 8th of December Pope Pius IX promulgated the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception.

No more than any of the other saints, Mary was not removed from the struggles and sufferings of the human condition. Something of her struggle comes through in today’s gospel reading She was initially deeply disturbed by the words of the angel Gabriel. She was full of questions in response to Gabriel’s good news, ‘How can this come about, since I am a virgin?’ Luke goes on to tell us in his gospel that Simeon announced to her that a sword would pierce her soul. Luke also tells us that when she and Joseph found their son in the Temple after much searching they did not understand what he said to them. The evangelist Mark has Mary coming with other members of her extended family to take Jesus back home, away from his ministry, because people were saying that he is out of his mind. The evangelist John has Mary standing at the foot of the cross with some other women and the beloved disciples, suffering the agony of watching her only Son die a slow and painful death. There is a very human picture of Mary in the gospels. It was in the midst of all the struggles and pains of life that she lived out her ‘yes’ to God’s will for her life.

Mary’s holiness from her conception does not remove her from us. She is our companion on our pilgrim journey. She is given to us as a perpetual help. That is why we ask her to pray for us ‘sinners’ now and at the hour of our death. We may be sinners but Paul reminds us in the second reading that before the world was made God ‘chose us in Christ to be holy and spotless and to live through love in his presence’. Paul spells out there our calling from the beginning of time, a calling that is worthy of our identity as people made in the image of God. Mary has lived that calling to the full; she was holy and lived through love in God’s presence. We look to her to help us to live out that same calling. In the words of the Preface of today’s Mass, she is an advocate of grace for God’s people, for all of us. She prays for us for the grace we need to be as generous as she was in responding to God’s purpose for our lives.

Fr. Martin Hogan.

[fr-martin-gospel-reflections]

6th May - ‘And you too will be witnesses’, Reflection on the readings for Monday, Sixth Week of Easter (John 15:26 - 16:4)

Monday, Sixth Week of Easter

The gospel reading today refers to people who will kill Jesus’ disciples while thinking that they are doing a holy duty for God. It is hard to imagine someone thinking they were doing God’s holy duty by killing others. Yet, we know from our own times that there are such people around who think like that. Even Saint Paul, while still a zealous Pharisee, approved the killing of Stephen, the first Christian martyr, because he believed that Stephen’s death by stoning was what God would have wanted. He said himself that he persecuted the church of God, and he did so thinking he was doing God’s will. It was Paul’s meeting with the risen Christ on the road to Damascus that made him realize that in persecuting the members of the church he was persecuting the Son of God. His meeting with the risen Lord led him to preach the gospel of the risen Lord. This is what we find Paul doing in the city of Philippi in today’s first reading. This gospel was a gospel of life, a gospel of love. As Paul says in his letter to the Romans, ‘bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them… Do not repay anyone evil for evil… overcome evil with good’. In the gospel reading, Jesus promises to send the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, to his disciples and he declares that the Holy Spirit will empower his disciples to be his witnesses. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the God’s love, the Spirit of Jesus’ love. The Holy Spirit empowers us to love others with the love of God and in that way to witness to Jesus. Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit and his life, death and resurrection was the fullest possible revelation of the life-giving love of God for all humanity. The Holy Spirit at work in our lives helps us to love others with the love of Jesus, the love of God, a love that brings life to others. That is the Christian understanding of doing a holy duty for God.

[albertfinch]

GAZING INTENTLY INTO HEAVEN

Matthew 6:22 :  "The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light."

MIRRORS OF THE SOUL

The eyes are the literal mirrors of a person's soul and reveals much about a person's deep inner man.

In that deep place of the heart, the eye of the body that is full of light, can also reveal secrets into the unseen realm depending upon a person's intimate connection or transparency with God. Our eyes are portals of Heaven that we many times overlook within ourselves and within others.

THE FACE OF AN ANGEL

In the case of Steven in the New Testament, he was a man who was full of faith and of the Holy Spirit (Acts 6:5). He was so full of grace and power that he performed great wonders and signs among the people during his day (Acts 6:8). In the synagogues of Asia, they disputed with Stephen because of their own stubborn misperception and blindness of spiritual sight (Acts 6:9).  Stephen preached with boldness and they were not able to resist the wisdom and spirit by which he spoke (Acts 6:10).  Even to the point of death, he had no fear to speak God's truth because his "eye" saw something beyond this natural world.

All that sat in the council, looking steadfastly and intently at him, saw his face and countenance "as it had been the face of an angel" (Acts 6:15).

 Seeing that Stephen was "full of the Holy Spirit… he gazed intently into Heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God," saying, 'Behold, I see the Heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God'" (Acts 7:55-56).

A LIFESTYLE OF GAZING

When Stephen "gazed" (NAS) or "looked up steadfastly" (KJV) into Heaven, the Greek definition and meaning of this was not only that he fixed his "eyes" but also purposed his "mind" into Heaven. The eyes of his mind and the eyes of his heart went into auto-focus by the power of the Holy Spirit, as in the sense of stretching his eye sight towards the face of God that gave him the supernatural power to endure the kind of death he was about to experience.

This reveals that Stephen had a "lifestyle of gazing" into the eyes and heart of God and is the reason why he was so filled with the glory of God and the power of the Holy Spirit. He gave himself over to locking his eyesight on the Lord Jesus Christ, and it caused everything else to either become dim or disappear in his perception of reality. He was so overtaken by the Holy Spirit that the unseen realm at that moment was more real to him than the seen realm of the excruciating pain of being stoned to death.

In these last days we are going to need this kind of supernatural strength and power to be able to endure the days ahead of us with a lifestyle of gazing.

CAUSE OF SPIRITUAL BLINDNESS

The enemy continues to try to bring disgrace and discredit the people of God through spiritual blindness – blindness that is caused by the lack of looking and gazing into the face of God as a regular exercise of intimate worship or the lack of CONFESSING and MEDITATING on the Christ identity Scriptures to find food for the soul and nourishment for the spiritual eyes.

Ephesians 1:18 - " I pray that your inward eyes may be illumined, so that you may know what is the hope to which He calls you..."

Ephesians 6:17 - "And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God."

Because of life's distractions, sin, and self-righteous pride, this was one of the stumbling blocks of Believers today that prevents them from seeing and understanding their Christ calling so they can bear fruit that remains for God’s Kingdom.

THE EYE OF THE LORD IS MOVING

So now the Lord is reminding us in 2 Chronicles 16:9 which says, "For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His." God is on the move, running and eagerly searching with the laser beam of His eyes, looking for those who are filled with His light to see that He is ready to strongly support those whose eye lenses of the heart and mind are turned completely towards Him. He is inviting us into the journey of His heart – into the journey of the unseen realm. God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth (John 4:24). No one has seen God at any time (John 1:18), yet Jesus tells us in the beatitudes that the pure in heart will see God (Matthew 5:8).

If God is wanting us to look and gaze intently at Him, isn't it because He is looking and gazing intently at us? The eyes of God reveal intimacy and longing and a strong desire to be with us now and forevermore. God is longing for those who are longing for Him.

If you are experiencing an indescribable longing in your heart toward God, that means He is drawing you.

PRAYER OF RESTORATION AND VISION:

God, thank You for saving my life and thank You for restoring my soul. God, open my eyes to see You like never before. Help me to see and perceive through Your eyes. Restore my vision that may have become dull or blinded through discouragement, circumstances, sin, hardship, or even neglect. Forgive me for not responding to Your voice when You are calling me.  Draw me, God, and I will run to You. Open the eyes of my heart, God, that I may see You face to face.  I  come boldly to Your throne to worship You in Spirit and in truth and to love You sincerely with all my heart, mind, soul, and strength by CONFESSING and MEDITATING on your Word.  I  thank You for hearing my prayer and my heart's cry to be closer to You. I give You honor and glory and praise this day, in Jesus name I pray, Amen!

ALBERT FINCH MINISTRY

[psalmonesermons]

The presence of God Part 6

Can make your face to shine

The skin of Moses' face shone

Many wonderful stories and testimonies are told of the Lewis revival in 1949.

One such story is about an unconverted woman who went along to a prayer meeting and after queuing to get in, she experienced something immensely powerful.

There was a child in the house and the presence of God was so strong that the child`s face shone.

The unconverted woman was convicted of sin and her need for the Saviour. She received salvation and was baptized in the Holy Spirit by just looking at the child`s

face.

This is a fascinating story about the presence of God making a person's face to shine, but is it biblical?

The story of Moses

Exodus 34:29-35

29 And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses' hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him.

30 And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come nigh him.

31 And Moses called unto them; and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned unto him: and Moses talked with them.

32 And afterward all the children of Israel came nigh: and he gave them in commandment all that the Lord had spoken with him in mount Sinai.

33 And till Moses had done speaking with them, he put a vail on his face.

34 But when Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he took the vail off, until he came out. And he came out, and spake unto the children of Israel that which he was commanded.

35 And the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face shone: and Moses put the vail upon his face again, until he went in to speak with him.

Verse 29; Moses did not know that his face was shining

Verse 30; Others were afraid to even approach Moses

Verse 33; Moses kept a veil over face when talking to men but took the veil off when

talking to God.

Moses’ face shone showing he had been in the very presence of the Living God. In the

New Testament some people baptized in the Holy Spirit may have shown evidence on their faces.

The story of Stephen

Acts 6:8-10,15

8 And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people.

9 Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen.

10 And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake.

15 And all that sat in the council, looking steadfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel.

Acts 6 Verse 3; Men full of the Spirit

Verse 4; Stephen the martyr

Verse 15; Face like the face of the angel, suggesting a glorious shining since holy

angels have direct access to the presence of God.

A manifestation that is less commonly recognized of baptism in the Holy Spirit can be the presence of joy on the face of the candidate.

Many of us have experienced moves of the Holy Spirit which have brought immense joy and even laughter to those affected.

Have you heard or read about such meetings during the Welsh Revival in 1904-1905?

Many people claimed that the Welsh evangelist Evan Robert`s face shone as he preached.

What do you think?

During a revival in Scotland in the late 1830`s -1840`s when the Rev. Robert Murray M'Cheyne entered the pulpit, before he said a single word people began to weep and were convicted of sin. Something of the presence of God shone on his face.

How would you like to see that?

How would you like to experience that?

Do you think God would be glorified by it?

So, what has this to do with us today?

2 Corinthians 3:7-18

13 And not as Moses, which put a veil over his face, that the children of Israel could not steadfastly look to the end of that which is abolished:

14 But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ.

15 But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart.

16 Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away.

Comments

Verse 8; How shall the ministry of the Spirit to be even more with glory by us as we bring the

good news.

Verse 12; We are not required to cover God`s glory on our faces when we speak his love or

when we preach his Gospel. Believers have a new and better covenant

Verse 18; As God`s face shines, so should our faces so shine increasingly each day.

My conclusion is that the presence of God`s glory can be so strong that he can cause your face to shine.

This is not an abstract idea, so let us pray today for such a presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives that our faces will shine and bring conviction of sinners by the Holy Spirit.

What effect is God having on your face today?

Amen

Personal Prayer

[melvingaines]

Sunday School Live Stream - April 28, 2024

https://www.facebook.com/akronalliancefellowship/videos/765792622331190 Asst. Pastor Melvin Gaines Acts 7:1-13 #acts #apostle #believer #deacon #time #respect #full #Spirit #holyspirit #word #Stephen #glory #God #Israelites #Jews #debate #Sadducees #arrest #accuse #accusation

[childofchrist1983]

Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word. - Acts 6:3-4 KJV

And so the first deacons were selected! The word for "Deacon" in Greek means "to serve". The deacons were chosen so that they could take care of the everyday needs of the people while the Apostles prayed and preached. The deacons, such as Stephen, also preached as they still do today.

In some denominations, such as Anglican, Episcopalian, Roman Catholic and Orthodox, there are two kinds of deacons. Some deacons go on to become priests while others remain deacons for the rest of their lives. These "permanent" deacons are usually more involved in service to the communities they serve. Sometimes, they will oversee food pantries, or other services to the poor or the elderly, or they will counsel those who need help, and sometimes, they take a job within the church such as business manager or Sunday School principal. Their main focus is on serving in whatever capacity is needed. The earliest deacons were chosen to help with the distribution of food to the widows. There arose a complaint that the widows of the Jewish converts were receiving a greater amount than the Greek widows. The diaconate was established to end this issue.

In some denominations, women as well as men now serve as deacons in their communities, but the qualifications are still the same. They need to be in good standing in the community, and faithful in every aspect of their lives. Not all of us are called to be deacons or to hold other positions within a church community, but we are all called to serve, to be good witnesses of our faith, and faithful to the law of God. God knew that there would be many needs that the Apostles alone could not take care of, and so, the diaconate was established. Although most of us are not deacons, we still need to serve God and His people. May He help us to live out our vocation in whatever way you want.

Thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for His mercy and grace. May we all accept Him and His eternal gift of salvation and ask that He would transform our hearts and lives and give us a new direction according to His will and ways. Thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for His Holy Spirit who saves, seals and leads us. May we always thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for His almighty power and saving grace. For He is our strength, and He alone is able to save us, forgive our sins and gift us eternal salvation and entry into His Kingdom of Heaven.

May we make sure that we give our hearts and lives to God and take time to seek and praise Him and share His Truth with the world daily. May the LORD our God and Father in Heaven help us to stay diligent and obedient and help us to guard our hearts in Him and His Holy Word daily. May He help us to remain faithful and full of excitement to do our duty to Him and for His glorious return and our reunion in Heaven as well as all that awaits us there. May we never forget to thank the LORD our God and our Creator and Father in Heaven for all this and everything He does and has done for us! May we never forget who He is, nor forget who we are in Christ and that God is always with us! What a mighty God we serve! What a Savior this is! What a wonderful Lord, God, Savior and King we have in Jesus Christ! What a loving Father we have found in Almighty God! What a wonderful God we serve! His will be done!

Thanks and glory be to God! Blessed be the name of the LORD! Hallelujah and Amen!

[bernardo1969]

Stephen is considered the first martyr of the Church, and the Book of the Acts of the Apostles tells us that Stephen was a blessed person and full of the sanctifying grace: "Now Stephen, a man full of God's grace and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people" Acts 6:8. But Stephen had enemies and he was accused of blasphemy before the Sanhedrin, brought to this court to be judged, and knowing the intentions of this court, Stephen made a long speech and accused them of assassins, for which Stephen's fate was decided. In the last moments of Stephen's life, the Book of Acts tells of the vision of God that this extraordinary person had. This mysterious spiritual gift that Stephen manifested is a form of the eternal life, that is, of the knowledge of God. The gift of eternal life in essence are all those blessings that God grants to the saints as a preview of the life in the glory of God, and in the case of Stephen this perception of the divine glory. Eternal life is not a fruit of the spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), but accompanies and perfects them. This is how the Book of Acts tells us how the last moments of Esteban's life were and how this Saint saw Jesus glorified: "But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. ´Look,´ he said, ´I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.´ At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, ´Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.´ Then he fell on his knees and cried out, ´Lord, do not hold this sin against them.´ When he had said this, he fell asleep." Acts 7:55-60.

[thesynaxarium]

Today we also celebrate the Holy Apostle Nikanor of the Seventy. Saint Nicanor was among the first deacons in the Church along with Stephen, Philip, Parmenas, Prochorus, Timon and Nicholas. Although they died at various times and in various places, they are commemorated together on July 28. St. Nicanor is also commemorated on January 4 with the Synaxis of the 70 Holy Apostles. In the Acts of the Apostles (6:1-6) it is said that the twelve Apostles chose seven men full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, and appointed them to serve as deacons. Although St. Nicanor suffered on the same day that the holy Protomartyr Stephen (December 27) and many other Christians were killed by stoning. May he intercede for us always + Source: https://orthodoxwiki.org/Apostle_Nicanor (at Jerusalem Palestine) https://www.instagram.com/p/CmsJCWDPWbd/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

Devotional Hours Within the Bible

by J.R. Miller

Isaiah's Call to Service (Isaiah 6:1-13)

Isaiah knew the very day and hour when he saw this wonderful vision. It was in the year that king Uzziah died. The vision had made such an impression on his mind that he never could forget it. It had meant so much to him as an experience, that he could never cease to look back to the day as his spiritual birthday.

That was a memorable year. Uzziah was one of the greatest of Judah’s kings. He had reigned fifty years with high honor, and then suddenly he was smitten with leprosy. He had gone into the temple and attempted with his own hands to burn incense. On his forehead appeared at once the white spot which was the mark of divine judgment, and the king was thrust out and dwelt in a leper house until his death. The year in which king Uzziah died, was therefore more than a date. That was the year of Isaiah’s vision .

There are one or two dates in nearly every earnest life, which are always remembered. Sometimes it is a loss or a sorrow which has made its indelible record. Sometimes it is the coming of a great joy into the heart the first meeting with a new friend, for example. Sometimes it is the day when Christ was revealed too the heart. We may be very sure that Andrew and John never forgot the day when they first saw Jesus and when He took them to His own lodgings for a long talk. It is good for us to keep records of the great days in our life.

The prophet in his vision, saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up. It is a great thing when such a vision as this fills one’s life. Too often it is this world which most largely blocks the soul’s view. Men see visions of wealth, power, fame, or pleasure but see not a gleam of heaven nor a hint of the shining of God’s face. But earthly visions do not exalt our life. They make us no better. When we have visions like Isaiah’s, in which God fills all our field of view we are lifted up in spirit, in character, in hope and joy. One who sees God is never the same man afterwards. He is set apart now for holy life and service. He is dominated ever after by a new influence. He has seen God he must therefore be holy; he must walk softly and reverently; he must be true to God.

There is something unusual and very impressive in the description of the seraphim in this vision. “Each one had six wings!” Wings are for flight it is the mission of angelic beings to fly on God’s errands. The six wings would seem to signify special readiness to do God’s will. But they suggest here, more than their normal use to fly.

The modern Christian would probably use them all for flying and would be intensely active. We live in an age when everything inspires to activity. We are apt to run, perhaps too greatly, with our ‘wings’.

But we should notice that two of the seraphim’s wings were used in covering his face when before God teaching reverence. Two of them also were used in covering his feet humility. The other two were used in flying activity. Reverence and humility are quite as important qualities in God’s service as activity!

The song of the seraphim, as they veiled their faces and covered their feet, indicated praise, worship. One choir sang, “Holy, holy, holy, is Almighty Jehovah!” and the other responded, “The whole earth is full of His glory!” What we owe to God always is holiness, for everywhere is His glory. Yet many people never see any of God’s glory in the earth. They think of glory as something bright and dazzling, like the burning bush, the pillar of fire, or the transfiguration. But there is as much glory in a tree laden with sweet blossoms as there was in the flaming bush at Horeb; and as much glory in a face shining brightly with love as there was in Stephen’s. We read of Christ’s first miracle that He thus “manifested His glory.” It was the glory of kindness and helpfulness which this miracle showed. Everywhere God’s glory shines in all nature and in all true Christian living, in lowly homes where prayer is offered.

The prophet stood now face to face with God, and the effect on him was a sense of his own sinfulness. “Then said I: Woe is me I for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips! For my eyes have seen the King, Almighty Jehovah!” We do not know our own unworthiness until we have had a glimpse of God. In the light of the divine holiness we see our own unholiness!

One of the most remarkable incidents in the Gospels, is that in which Peter begged Jesus to depart from him. It was after a great miracle. Peter was awed by the manifestations of power in Jesus. Only a divine being could do such work. The effect on him was that he shrank away from the presence of such a holy being! He was not worthy to stand before Christ. “Depart from me for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” When the light of God’s face shines into our heart we see how unworthy we are. All pride and self-conceit vanish when we stand in the presence of the divine glory.

The mercy of God is ever instant in its response to human penitence and confession. “Then one of the seraphim flew unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar; and he touched my mouth with it, and said: Lo, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away, and your sin forgiven!” The act of bringing the coal and touching the prophet’s lips, was very suggestive. The altar was the place of sacrifice. It was holy fire that burned there. All this must be kept in mind as we think of the meaning of this act. Not any common coal of fire would have done. It represented fire from heaven, the fire of the Holy Spirit. As the coal touched the lips of the prophet they were made pure and clean.

No sooner had the prophet’s lips been cleansed than the call for service came. “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” God is always wanting errand - runners. Angels fly swiftly and eagerly. There is not an angel in glory, who would not gladly come to earth on any mission, however lowly.

A legend tells of one of the highest angels sent to earth one day with two commissions to deliver a king from the power of some temptation; and to help a little struggling ant home with its burden of food. The latter errand was done just as dutifully and joyously by the great angel as the former. But God wants men as well as angels for messengers in this world. He is always asking this question, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?”

[troybeecham]

Today, the Second Day of Christmas, the Church remembers St. Stephen, proto-Deacon and proto-Martyr.

Ora pro nobis.

Stephen (Greek: Στέφανος Stéphanos, meaning "wreath, crown" and by extension "reward, honor", often given as a title rather than as a name, Hebrew: ‫סטפנוס הקדוש‬‎), (c. AD 5 – c. AD 34) traditionally venerated as the protomartyr or first martyr of Christianity, was according to the Acts of the Apostles a deacon in the early church at Jerusalem who aroused the enmity of members of various synagogues by his teachings. Accused of blasphemy, at his trial, he made a long speech denouncing the Jewish authorities who were sitting in judgment on him and was then stoned to death. His martyrdom was witnessed by Saul of Tarsus, a Pharisee who would later become a follower of Jesus and known as Paul the Apostle.

The only primary source for information about Stephen is the New Testament book of the Acts of the Apostles. Stephen is mentioned in Acts 6 as one of the Greek-speaking Hellenistic Jews selected to participate in a fairer distribution of welfare to the Greek-speaking widows.

Saint Stephen is first mentioned in Acts of the Apostles as one of seven deacons appointed by the Apostles to distribute food and charitable aid to poorer members of the community in the early church. According to Orthodox belief, he was the eldest and is therefore called "archdeacon". As another deacon, Nicholas of Antioch, is specifically stated to have been a convert to Judaism, it may be assumed that Stephen was born Jewish, but nothing more is known about his previous life. The reason for the appointment of the deacons is stated to have been dissatisfaction among Hellenistic (that is, Greek-influenced and Greek-speaking) Jews that their widows were being slighted in preference to Hebraic ones in the daily distribution of food. Since the name "Stephanos" is Greek, it has been assumed that he was one of these Hellenistic Jews. Stephen is stated to have been full of faith and the Holy Spirit and to have performed miracles among the people.

It seems to have been among synagogues of Hellenistic Jews that he performed his teachings and "signs and wonders" since it is said that he aroused the opposition of the "Synagogue of the Freedmen", and "of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of them that were of Cilicia and Asia" (Acts 6:9). Members of these synagogues had challenged Stephen's teachings, but Stephen had bested them in debate. Furious at this humiliation, they suborned false testimony that Stephen had preached blasphemy against Moses and God. They dragged him to appear before the Sanhedrin, the supreme legal court of Jewish elders, accusing him of preaching against the Temple and the Mosaic Law.[Acts 6:9–14] Stephen is said to have been unperturbed, his face looking like "that of an angel"

In a long speech to the Sanhedrin comprising almost the whole of Acts Chapter 7, Stephen presents his view of the history of Israel. The God of glory, he says, appeared to Abraham in Mesopotamia, thus establishing at the beginning of the speech one of its major themes, that God does not dwell only in one particular building (meaning the Temple). Stephen recounts the stories of the patriarchs in some depth, and goes into even more detail in the case of Moses. God appeared to Moses in the burning bush [Acts 7:30–32], and inspired Moses to lead his people out of Egypt. Nevertheless, the Israelites turned to other gods [Acts 7:39–43]. This establishes the second main theme of Stephen's speech, Israel's disobedience to God. Stephen faced two accusations: that he had declared that Jesus would destroy the Temple in Jerusalem and that he had changed the customs of Moses.

Benedict XVI stated that St. Stephen appealed to the Jewish scriptures to prove how the laws of Moses were not subverted by Jesus but, instead, were being fulfilled. Stephen denounces his listeners as "stiff-necked" people who, just as their ancestors had done, resist the Holy Spirit. "Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him."[Acts 7:51–53]

Thus castigated, the account is that the crowd could contain their anger no longer. However, Stephen looked up and cried, "Look! I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God!" He said that the recently executed Jesus was standing by the side of God. [Acts 7:54] According to Orthodox belief, the "Sanhedrin shouted and covered their ears, and rushed at him. They dragged him out of the city and stoned him, but the holy martyr prayed for his murderers." The people from the crowd, who threw the first stones, laid their coats down so as to be able to do this, at the feet of a "young man named Saul". However, according to the "Aramaic Bible in Plain English" and the "Weymouth New Testament" (Acts 22:20) through , St. Paul, earlier known as Saul admits he was not only standing by, he was holding the garments of those stoning St. Stephen. This has significance. The possible reason for this may be that many of the members of the Sanhedrin were wealthy. (See Luke 18:9-14) Some, who may have been wearing expensive garments may have been hesitant to throw or place them on the ground. Saul's willingness to hold the garments of those stoning Stephen might signify that he considered it an honor to do so at the time. Having held the garments, rather than just watching over them, would have made Saul much more of an accomplice. This could have added greatly to St. Paul's sense of guilt later on and illuminate why he considered himself to be the worst sinner of all. "Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners--of whom I am the worst." 1 Timothy 1:15 (New International Version) Approving of, and assisting in, the killing of a disciple that Christ himself had chosen, was an unforgettable act, which St. Paul regretted for the rest of his life. "But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life." 1 Timothy 1:16

Stephen prayed that the Lord would receive his spirit and his killers be forgiven, sank to his knees, and "fell asleep" [Acts 7:58–60]. Saul, a witness to the stoning, "approved of their killing him".[Acts 8:1] In the aftermath of Stephen's death, the remaining disciples fled to distant lands, many to Antioch.

We give you thanks, O Lord of glory, for the example of the first martyr Stephen, who looked up to heaven and prayed for his persecutors to your Son Jesus Christ, who stands at your right hand; where he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.