“The Signs and Scars of Faith” By Colleen O’Sullivan
Tuesday of the Third Week of Easter
Gabriel-Jules Thomas, The Stoning of St. Stephen,
1863, Saint-Etienne du Mont, Paris, Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons
But Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked up intently to heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and Stephen said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” They threw (Stephen) out of the city and began to stone him. The witnesses laid down their cloaks at the feet of a young man named Saul. As they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he fell to his knees and cried out in a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them,”; and when he said this, he fell asleep. Now Saul was consenting to his execution. (Acts 7:55-56, 58-8:1a)
Into your hands, I commend my spirit; you will redeem me, O LORD, O faithful God. My trust is in the LORD; I will rejoice and be glad of your mercy. (Psalm 7:6, 7b, 8a)
Piety
O Lord, grant us the courage of St. Stephen in proclaiming our faith.
Study
Before today’s first reading, Stephen, a deacon in the early church, spoke before the Sanhedrin. I’m surprised the members of the Sanhedrin listen as long as they do before they attacked him. Stephen talks about earlier times in the history of the Jews and reminds them of the many prophets God sent over the centuries to speak truth to the people of Israel. Did they listen to what the prophets said? No, they killed them. Even back then, Stephen says, your bodies may have borne the mark of the faith, but your hearts certainly did not. Now, this deacon tells them they have executed the greatest prophet of all, Jesus.
Stephen is unfazed by the growing anger on their faces. At that very moment, he looks up to heaven and says he sees the Son of Man standing at the Father’s right hand. It is as if they stand ready to welcome Stephen into heaven. The members of the Sanhedrin have had enough of Stephen’s preaching. What blasphemy to refer to that miserable wretch they put to death on the Cross with a Messianic title!
The Jews whom he addressed are more than ready for some bloodletting. With Saul’s consent, they stone Stephen to death, and he becomes the first Christian martyr. As Stephen saw in his vision, Jesus and the Father were waiting with open arms to embrace him and receive him into heaven.
Two Sundays ago, our Gospel reading was about Thomas seeing the Risen Lord for the first time. The homily I heard that day depicted Thomas and his intentions in a very different light from how I had ever seen them before. Thomas was the only one of the disciples willing to question Jesus during his farewell discourse. He spoke for all the disciples when he stated they didn’t know where Jesus was going or the way to get there. Jesus’ reply was an enigmatic “You know the way to the place where I am going.” Perhaps on Good Friday, Thomas realized that the Cross was the way to resurrection. If Thomas had seen no sign of the wounds on Jesus’ body, he would have found it difficult to believe that this was indeed his friend and Lord. But Jesus showed him the wounds where the nails went in and the place where the soldier’s sword pierced his side.
I would imagine that when he entered heaven, Stephen likewise wore the visible bloody scars where each of those stones found their mark.
Action
Suffering leaves its marks on us. All around the world, in the past year, people have lost loved ones to COVID-19. Churches lost priests. Patients died without the comforting presence of family. Some survivors still endure long-term health issues. Men and women lost jobs. The pandemic forced businesses to close. Families that remain are hungry. I am confident that eventually, things will get better. And I am equally confident we will never be the same again. Even those who never got sick and never missed a paycheck will bear the effects of having spent at least a year in relative isolation from others.
Whether from the pandemic or anything else, the scars we bear can be a source of bitterness, or they can become the means to greater compassion for others’ suffering. St. Stephen responded to the blows from the stones by praying for forgiveness for his attackers.
How have your life experiences marked you? What have you done with those wounds? When you pray today, talk to Jesus about this.
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