Feast of Saint Stephen, First Martyr
Readings: Acts 6:8–10; 7:54–59; Psalm 31; Matthew 10:17–22
Note: I let Chat GPT format the reflection. Do you prefer his style to mine?
Summary
“Into your hands I commend my spirit;
you will redeem me, LORD, God of truth.”
(Ps 31:6)
We are in the Christmas Octave, the eight-day celebration of the Nativity, which concludes with the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God—your Blessed Mother too. Even then, the Christmas Season continues until the Baptism of the Lord.
Christmas Day.
The Christmas Octave.
The Christmas Season.
I suppose we could say the Church considers the birth of Jesus to be rather important.
At first glance, the celebration of Saint Stephen, Deacon and Martyr, with his love of the Lord unto death, may seem oddly placed within this joyful octave.
But it is not.
Stephen echoes—in paraphrase—the words of Jesus on the Cross:
“Into your hands I commend my spirit.”
Reflection
Into your hands, Lord of the universe,
I commend my spirit,
because you will redeem me,
LORD, God of truth.
The best Christmas gift ever.
Personal Reflection
Stephen’s visible and dramatic love for the Lord is something we all admire.
Love for love’s sake.
Forgiveness at the depths of humanity.
Holiness in action.
We admire it—and hope we would match such steadfast faith in circumstances we pray to be spared.
And at its core, what makes Stephen’s martyrdom so profoundly human is his final cry:
“Into your hands I commend my spirit;
you will redeem me, LORD, God of truth.”
This is what we share with Stephen.
Sacred Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/122625.cfm
Peace be with you,
Deacon Gerry
“I suppose we could say the Church considers the birth of Jesus to be rather important.” Chat GPT did not serve you well with this line.
Lololol. It was mine. Humor is not much on chatgpt.
ChatGPT is good for formatting text. I don’t use it to write. I do let it give opinions.