But when you are arrested, do not worry about what you are to say, or how you are to say it; when
the hour comes, you will be given 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 his brother to death, and a father his child; children will turn against their
parents and have them put to death. Everyone will hate you because of me, but whoever stands
firm to the end will be saved.
Reflect:
In the narrative of Stephen’s death – the protomartyr of the Church – there is an extraordinary
moment (which, incidentally, is left out in today’s first reading, but which we must consider).
Verse 60 tells us that Stephen died asking God on his knees to forgive his murderers! This was
extraordinary, because until then, no figure in the Old Testament had done so. Even the last
prophet murdered in the OT, Zechariah, died cursing his enemies (cf. 2 Chr 24:22; Lk 11: 50-51).
What caused such a Copernican 1800 shift in Stephen, and thereafter in every martyr of the
Church who would do the same? Nothing but the grace of the Crucified who modelled for the
entire world how to confront human evil with the powers of love. “Martyr” means “witness”:
witness to this revolution of love Christ brought about. As Jesus promised, at such moments,
it is the Holy Spirit himself witnessing to Christ, through them.
© Copyright Bible Diary 2022