7th Sunday
of Easter
Today, the seventh Sunday of
Easter, falls between the Feast of the Ascension of our Lord which we
celebrated last Thursday, and the Feast of Pentecost which we will celebrate
next Sunday. For these nine days we, like the first disciples, are in a kind of
limbo. We commemorate these nine days in our "Novenas," a word taken
from the Latin word for nine.
The theme of today's readings
is martyrdom. Although we commonly associate the word "martyr" with
one who suffers and dies for his or her faith, the word really refers to one
who gives witness to his or her faith. In today's first reading we recall the
death of Stephen, the first martyr to die for his faith in Jesus.
Why do we recall the death of
Stephen today? The feast of St. Stephen is December 26, the day after the
coming of the baby Jesus at Christmas. It seems so strange after that wonderful
day of hope and joy to hear such a sad story. It's like a rude awakening from a
pleasant dream. And now on the first Sunday after Our Lord's departure, we
again have the story of Stephen.
In chapter 6 of the Acts of
the Apostles, St. Luke introduces us to Stephen, one of the group of seven
"deacons" chosen by the Apostles to assist them in their ministry.
Stephen witnessed to the Risen Lord by " working great wonders and signs
among the people," but his activity also provoked opposition. Like Jesus,
Stephen was brought before the Sanhedrin to answer charges. In his defense he
launched into a retelling of the whole history of the Jews from the time of
Abraham down to the prophets. In his conclusion he castigated the present
generation:
Stiff-necked
and uncircumcised in heart and ear, you always oppose the Holy
Spirit;
as your fathers did, so you do also. Which of the prophets have not your
fathers
persecuted? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just
One,
of whom you have now been the betrayers and murderers, you who
received
the Law as an ordinance of angels and did not keep it.
Is it any wonder that they
would be furious at these words and sentence him to death? Would we behave any
differently today, if a similar prophet appeared among us? Not only have we
rejected the "ordinance of angels" and failed to keep it, we have
glorified our failure to keep it. Let's just look at the Ten Commandments. Love
the Lord thy God--we can't even mention His Name in school. Keep holy the
Lord's day. Where? In the Mall? Honor thy father and mother--the very idea of
fatherhood and motherhood has been under attack for decades. Avoid adultery.
Who are you kidding? Isn't adultery a stepping stone to success in the business
and entertainment world? Stealing! Lying! They are only wrong if you get
caught. Killing! Enlightened voices no longer consider abortion a necessary
evil. It has become a positive good that every politician and judge must
embrace in order to attain office.
Isn't it just as difficult to
be a follower of Jesus today as it was in the time of Stephen? Maybe that's the
reason why Jesus in today's gospel prayed not only for the disciples but for
all of us at the Last Supper. Lifting his eyes to Heaven, he said,
Holy
Father, I pray not only for them,
but
also for those who will believe in me through their word...
As the prayer continues we
see that our Lord's wish is that our lives will bear witness to His love and
serve as a lesson to the world--"so that the world may know that you sent
me, and that you loved them even as you loved me."
Most of us are not going to
be asked to suffer and die as Stephen and the Apostles did. But we are all
being asked in one way or another to be a witness--to pass on the love of
Christ to others. Someone once posed a question which should make all of us a
little uneasy. I'll just repeat it. "If someone were to accuse you of
being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?" Again,
"If someone were to accuse you of being a Christian, would there be enough
evidence to convict you?"
We will have to find ways to
bear witness--to become martyrs. Let's look at the commandments or ordinances
again. We can make the Lord's day holy again by making it a day of rest, a day
spent rediscovering our own families. We can honor our father and mother by
refusing to blame them for everything that's gone wrong with our lives.
Stealing at work is a major problem in our society. If we expect to be fairly
compensated for our work, shouldn't we give a full day's work for a full day's
pay? Pornography leads to adultery. Let's keep it out of our homes. As far as
the fifth commandment is concerned, Our Lord saw little difference between
anger and killing.
Like the Apostles we will not
be able to bear witness on our own. We need the Holy Spirit of Christ just as
much as they did. It may not appear to us as tongues of fire, but the Love of
Christ has been given to all of us and it is the strongest force in the world
if only we believe.
It is our choice. We can accept the "ordinance of
angels" or reject it. In today's second reading from the Book of
Revelation, we read,
The
Spirit and the bride say, "Come."
Let
the hearer say, "Come."
Let
the one who thirsts come forward,
and
the one who wants it receive the gift of life-giving water.
###
Reading 1. Acts 7: 55-60
Reading II. Revelation 22: 12-14, 16-17, 20
Gospel. John 17: 20-26 (Jesus prayed).
