The first reading for today's liturgy presents us with the beginning of the passion of St. Stephen. Once again, St. Luke uses parallelism in relating this story, for Stephen is brought before the same tribunal which had condemned Jesus and he is accused of the same "crime" as was Jesus. As they gazed upon him, the sacred author tells us that his face was like that of an angel. Undoubtedly Stephen understood what was happening. He was walking the very same path that had been trod by Jesus himself. In that realization he, like the other disciples, found joy in the knowledge that he had been found worthy to suffer as Jesus had suffered.
The men who reported Stephen to the Sanhedrin are guilty of envy. “Certain members of the so-called Synagogue of Freedmen, Cyreneans, 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. Then they instigated some men to say, “We have heard him speaking blasphemous words against Moses and God” (Acts 6:9-11) Once again, let us remember that this society and culture were driven by the need to preserve individual honor. Bested by Stephen in public, they try to reclaim their honor by denouncing Stephen to the chief priests and their council and claiming that he has spoken against Moses and the Law.
When the council takes up the trial of Stephen, they display their lack of faith and their complete misunderstanding of the Law. They fail to understand that Stephen's faith has been acted out by feeding the widows and orphans in their midst as the Law dictates. They fail to realize that Stephen is simply fulfilling the dictates of the Sinai covenant by placing his faith in the words of his Master. His faith had found expression in his deeds; but he was being tried for his faith rather than for his deeds. Like Jesus, they accuse him of claiming that Jesus would destroy the Temple and destroy the customs of Moses. Yet all that Stephen had been doing was exactly what Moses had dictated. The Sinai covenant asked that the people place their faith only in God and that they care for the widows and orphans in their midst. The irony of the trial is astounding.
Stephen is the true believer whose actions, rather than his words, exemplify his faith. It isn't what he does that it is important so much as what he believes.
Jesus has commissioned all of us to live out the Gospel counsels and virtues. We do not fulfill the commission in order to earn a place in heaven. Rather, we act because we believe; it is our faith which will save us. Throughout the Gospels, Jesus has reinforced this message; for whenever he heals or cures someone, he contends that it is their faith which has wrought the healing.
Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator