†Quote of the Day
"In a world gone astray from God there is no peace, but it also lacks charity, which is true and perfect love... Nothing is more beautiful than love. Indeed, faith and hope will end when we die, whereas love, that is, charity, will last for eternity."
–Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati †Today's Meditation
"We might say the whole mystery of our redemption in Christ, by his incarnation, his death and his resurrection, consists of this marvelous exchange: in the heart of Christ, God has loved us humanly, so as to render our human hearts capable of loving divinely. God became man so that man might become God—might love as only God is capable of loving, with the purity, intensity, power, tenderness, and inexhaustible patience that belong to the divine love. It is an extraordinary source of hope and a great consolation to know that, by virtue of God's grace working in us (if we remain open to it by persevering in faith, prayer, and the sacraments), the Holy Spirit will transform and expand our hearts to the point of one day making them capable of loving as God loves."
—Fr. Jacques Philippe, p. 67-68 An Excerpt From
Interior Freedom †Daily Verse
"But whoever is made to suffer as a Christian should not be ashamed but glorify God because of the name."
–1 Peter 4:16 | St. Stephen St. Stephen (1st. c.) was one of the Church's first deacons in Jerusalem and an eloquent preacher of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. According to Sacred Scripture he was "a man full of faith, and of the Holy Ghost" and "full of grace and fortitude." The account of his martyrdom is recorded in the Acts of the Apostles. After boldly preaching against the Jewish leaders for their rejection of the promised Messiah, he was accused of blasphemy and stoned to death by an angry mob. The man who would later become St. Paul the Apostle, while he was persecuting the Church before his conversion, was among the mob as an approving witness. St. Stephen's name comes from the Greek word meaning 'crown,' fitting as he was the first Christian to earn the martyr's crown. St. Stephen's feast day is celebrated on December 26th. | Feast of Saint Stephen, first martyr Lectionary: 696
Reading 1 Acts 6:8-10; 7:54-59 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. When they heard this, they were infuriated,
and they ground their teeth at him.
But he, 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 he said,
"Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man
standing at the right hand of God."
But they cried out in a loud voice, covered their ears,
and rushed upon him together.
They threw him 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." Responsorial Psalm Ps 31:3cd-4, 6 and 8ab, 16bc and 17 R. (6) Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.
Be my rock of refuge,
a stronghold to give me safety.
You are my rock and my fortress;
for your name's sake you will lead and guide me.
R. Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.
Into your hands I commend my spirit;
you will redeem me, O LORD, O faithful God.
I will rejoice and be glad because of your mercy.
R. Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.
Rescue me from the clutches of my enemies and my persecutors.
Let your face shine upon your servant;
save me in your kindness.
R. Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit. Alleluia Ps 118:26a, 27a R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD:
the LORD is God and has given us light.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel Mt 10:17-22 Jesus said to his disciples:
"Beware of men, for they will hand you over to courts
and scourge you in their synagogues,
and you will be led before governors and kings for my sake
as a witness before them and the pagans.
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.
Brother will hand over brother to death,
and the father his child;
children will rise up against parents and have them put to death.
You will be hated by all because of my name,
but whoever endures to the end will be saved." | Daily Meditation: Acts 6:8-10; 7:54-59 Stephen, filled with grace and power . . . (Acts 6:8) As we continue to celebrate the great feast of Christmas, we aren't just focusing on the actual circumstances that led to Jesus' birth. The meaning of his Incarnation goes much deeper. This is especially evident in today's feast of St. Stephen, the first martyr. When Jesus came to earth, he became the model for his followers. Jesus shows us how to live so that we can be pleasing to his heavenly Father. But he didn't only show us. Through his Incarnation, death, and resurrection, he dwells in us. Now the Holy Spirit offers us the same "grace and power" that was so apparent in Stephen (Acts 6:8). Now we can be "other Christs" to the world. In the account of Stephen's life found in the Book of Acts, we clearly see "another Christ." For example, Stephen was selected to serve the Christian community as a deacon because, like Jesus, he was "filled with faith and the Holy Spirit" (Acts 6:5). Like Jesus, he worked "great wonders and signs among the people" (6:8). He also preached the good news like Jesus (6:9-10), and was unafraid to face the Sanhedrin when they sought to kill him (6:12; 7:1-53). Finally, like Jesus, he was put to death—but not before forgiving his persecutors (7:60). As a Christian, you, too, are called to "incarnate" Jesus as Stephen did. Most likely you won't be called to be a martyr. But you will be called in a myriad of ways to die to self and your own selfish desires. You may not be ordained as a deacon, but you will be called to serve your brothers and sisters in need. You may not work great signs and wonders, but you can be a sign of Jesus' love and mercy to a hurting world. And finally, though you may never have to forgive persecutors trying to destroy you, you will be called to forgive—in both big and small ways. The Incarnation reverberated through time and space, changing the world—and our hearts—forever. Like Stephen, may we, too, become Christ to the world in all the ways God is calling us. "St. Stephen, pray that I may have the courage to be another Christ in the world today." Psalm 31:3-4, 6, 8, 16-17
Matthew 10:17-22 |  click to hear 2cents | Reflections with Brother Adrian:
Audio English | From today's 1st Holy Scripture:
"Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God."
But they cried out in a loud voice, covered their ears,
and rushed upon him together.
They threw him out of the city, and began to stone him......" end of verse.
All they had to do is accuse someone of "blasphemy" and they could have them killed.
The same thing happens with the other side. They have gods too, and all they have to do is say you are being blasphemous to call for your head.
What is blasphemy anyway? Do people even care today? It can be said that it is "the act or offense of speaking sacrilegiously about God or sacred things; profane talk."
Nowadays, they make cartoons with blasphemous talk all the time on national public television and even on the internet, and social media. People mock our Lord in all sorts of ways, even depicting sacrilegious scene and call it "freedom of speech" and "libertarian art".
Christians do not act with violence against such sacrilegious acts. But once we say something against other beliefs, they immediately resort to death with vile hatred and animosity.
How do we allow blasphemy in our lives?
Pretty simple really. We just don't care.
We allow evil in our lives. People used to die for their faith, now people let their faith die.
How? Little by little. That's all evil needs, not even an inch, just a millimeter, a doubt.
What sacrilege are we allowing again?
The greatest one is of not caring. We just see bad things happen and wag our heads and tongues.
St. Stephen wasn't one of those. He was right there, right in the middle of all the action...in the Synagogue, and just like our Lord, he was thrown out, not only of the Synagogue, but out of town, and not only thrown out, but stoned to death.
Suddenly, we can see it wasn't the Romans that were the only bloodthirsty people. This is why I say, it isn't a nation that is evil, or a certain religion, but evil itself is evil. Darkness. Where are the children of the light?
All that Christmas stuff was to make us open our hearts and homes, and the home of our hearts to Christ the light! | We pray today:
"Into your hands I commend my spirit;
you will redeem me, O LORD, O faithful God.
I will rejoice and be glad because of your mercy......." end of psalm. | In the Gospel today we heard:
"Jesus said to his disciples:
"Beware of men, for they will hand you over to courts and scourge you in their synagogues,
and you will be led before governors and kings for my sake as a witness before them and the pagans.
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......" end of Gospel verse.
. . . | From Bishop Barron:
"Friends, in today's Gospel, Jesus predicts the coming persecution of his disciples. And we can see his prophetic word realized through the ages.
Think of St. Peter himself, crucified upside down in the circus of Nero; of Felicity and Perpetua, thrown to wild animals because they wouldn't deny their faith; of Thomas More, who resisted King Henry VIII and paid for it with his head; of Paul Miki, the Japanese Jesuit, who was crucified for announcing the Christian faith; of Padre Pro, who was shot to death for defying a repressive Mexican government, shouting as he was shot, "Viva, el Cristo Rey!"; of Franz Jägerstätter and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, whom the Nazi regime put to death; of Maximilian Kolbe, who died at Auschwitz, willingly taking the place of another man. And the list goes on and on.
Indeed, the martyrs have come from all corners of the world, and they have spoken Greek, Latin, French, German, English, Japanese, Polish, and many other languages besides. Friends, this, strangely, is the army that undermines the foundations of the fallen world through the centuries. This is the great fighting force that Jesus has unleashed and continues to unleash."
Is it right that the innocent have to die? Like the martyrs for the faith in Christ.
And was St. Stephen the first to die for the Lord?
I say the first to die were the Holy Innocents. Those that King Herod put to death when Christ was born, all those 2 years of age and under that he ordered their assassination. And for what? Power. Greed. All things other gods offer to be their own gods. You see, back in the day, Kings were supposed to be seen as gods. Sadly, many rulers today still want to see themselves as gods, or even movie stars or singers. And in order to be the top gods, they have to fight and kill any "enemy" they perceive.
Sounds horrible right?
Let me bring drive this closer to home.
We too put ourselves above others with pride.
We too desire the death of the King when we sin.
Sounds horrible right? Sin is directly opposed to God the King.
The Synagogue of Freedmen opposed the truth by death.
Today there are temples of freedmen that are designed to opposed the Catholic church too. These men have ordered the killing of Catholics and priests in countries not even 100 years ago in Mexico. They call themselves the architects of the world, and it is those who call themselves above all else. It can be anybody. All are welcome into this hate group.
But those do not concern our Lord as much as the ones going to church and are obstinate in their sin. Those that don't believe in confession. Those that don't believe in having to pray. Those that ridicule others within the church. Those that produce animosity and hatred, even of the Pope himself, a clear division inside their heart called duplicity. And it is happening until today. And this hurts our Lord even more. Sin hurts our Lord. What we call blasphemy is not all necessarily what He may see as blasphemy.
I am praying every day and I invite you to pray too, that we make our Lord Jesus King and center of our hearts. And not only make Him King, but to love Him, and do as He tells us.
St. Stephen did everything as if Christ were to have been reincarnated. And He is literally reincarnated in us in the Holy Eucharist. Watch out for sacrilegious acts in our hearts. We too can die to the world and show the world that Christ is the Light. Pray with me:
Lord, they beat the living daylight out of St. Stephen, and this we see as good, in a dark world starving for light, we should let our lights shine, help us Lord! Help us shine Your Light in this cold world. Help us with the Truth that You Reign! |  Click To Hear | Random Bible Verse 1
Psalm 55:17 17 Evening and morning and at noon I utter my complaint and moan, and he hears my voice. | If one day you don't receive these, just visit Going4th.com
God Bless You! Peace | | |
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