Stephen, filled with grace and power, was working great
wonders and signs among the people.
Certain members of the so-called Synagogue of Freedmen, Cyrenians, and
Alexandrians, and people from Cilicia and Asia, came forward and debated with
Stephen, but they could not withstand the wisdom and the spirit with which he
spoke. Acts 6:8-10
When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are
to speak or what you are to say. You
will be given at that moment what you are to say. For it will not be you who speak but the
Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Matthew 10:19-20
Piety
Into
your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.
Psalm 31:6 and Luke 23:46
Study
On
this day after the birth of Jesus is celebrated, there is a certain irony in
hearing the Psalm picking up words which were among the last words uttered by
Jesus on the cross. Words. Words like these have been getting the
prophets into trouble throughout salvation history.
Our
first reading is about how the words of St. Stephen stirred the people to
violence making him the first martyr of the young church after Jesus. From the dawn breaking on the Prince of Peace
as an innocent baby, we see that the more the Church challenges the status quo,
the more defensive its defenders will get.
Pope
Francis and the wisdom and spirit of his words provoked a similar reaction in
his recent exhortation “The Joy of the
Gospel: Evangelii Gaudium,” a critique that pits the Good News against the
excesses of capitalism in the same way that Moses took on those who worshipped
the golden calf. In addition to seeing
the prescription of the Gospel as one remedy, the Holy Father also prayed for
leaders who would seek balance between the needs of the many poor and the needs
of the wealthy: “I
beg the Lord to grant us more politicians who are genuinely disturbed by the
state of society, the people, the lives of the poor! It is vital that
government leaders and financial leaders take heed and broaden their horizons,
working to ensure that all citizens have dignified work, education and
healthcare."
The
title of this latest exhortation reminds us of another writing on the Good News
from the Vatican: “Gaudium et Spes,” the Vatican II Constitution on the Church in the Modern World. More than 50 years ago,
that document proposed that “strenuous efforts must be made, without
disregarding the rights of persons or the natural qualities of each country, to
remove as quickly as possible the immense economic inequalities, which now
exist and in many cases are growing and which are connected with individual and
social discrimination.”
As a society and a Church, we have traveled long and far yet made so little progress. Maybe that is why the Holy Spirit propelled Pope Francis to restate this wisdom.
As a society and a Church, we have traveled long and far yet made so little progress. Maybe that is why the Holy Spirit propelled Pope Francis to restate this wisdom.
Action
Rather than throwing our
spirits into the hands of Target or Toyota, Nike or Nestle, Gucci or the Gap,
consider the direction that the Gospel points us toward. As the song says, “People
Look East. The time is near.”
From the USCCB website,
you can see further evidence that the concern about a just economy is not a new
teaching. According to the USCCB, “The most
effective way to build a just economy is to make decent work at decent wages
available for all those capable of working. When the economy fails to generate
sufficient jobs, there is a moral obligation to protect the life and dignity of
unemployed and underemployed workers and their families.”
The Catholic Campaign for
Human Development has resources to keep the Church and her people focused on
the plight of those whom the economy is leaving behind – the people who are unemployed,
underemployed and/or poor. Sign up today
to get the Action Alerts sent out from the bishops program Poverty USA.
To keep your compass
pointed in the right direction, get ready to make January Poverty Awareness
Month. http://www.povertyusa.org/get-involved/action-alerts/
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