Fr Kevin Kilgore

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Acts: 8: 1-8

There broke out a severe persecution of the Church in Jerusalem,
and all were scattered
throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria,
except the Apostles.
Devout men buried Stephen and made a loud lament over him.
Saul, meanwhile, was trying to destroy the Church;
entering house after house and dragging out men and women,
he handed them over for imprisonment.

Now those who had been scattered went about preaching the word.
Thus Philip went down to the city of Samaria
and proclaimed the Christ to them.
With one accord, the crowds paid attention to what was said by Philip
when they heard it and saw the signs he was doing.
For unclean spirits, crying out in a loud voice,
came out of many possessed people,
and many paralyzed and crippled people were cured.
There was great joy in that city.

The Word of the Lord.

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Throughout the Easter Season, our first reading is taken from the Acts of the Apostles, describing the life of the early Church, which was often riddled with difficulty.

 “There broke out a severe persecution of the Church in Jerusalem, and all were scattered throughout the countryside, except the Apostles. Devout men buried Stephen and made a loud lament over him. Saul, meanwhile, was trying to destroy the Church.”

Although worldly powers, even religious forces, tried stomping out our faith, it grew. The persecution in Jerusalem caused many to flee to new, distant lands, bringing their faith with them. By the end of the first century, the Gospel message spread as far east as India!

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The same forces of opposition and grace are working in our world today.

Pope Leo’s visit to Africa highlights this truth – that in spite of persecution, or even because it, the Church grows due to its attractive message of love, peace, reconciliation, and salvation.

In fact, the Catholic faith is growing faster in Africa than anywhere else in the world!

Offering words of encouragement to our brothers and sisters in Cameroon, Leo said, “How beautiful are your feet, dusty from this bloodstained yet fertile land…Your feet have brought you this far, and despite the difficulties and obstacles, they have remained on the path of goodness.”

Although we may not experience the same level of pain or persecution as the early Church, or our African brothers and sisters today, they all remind us of the role the Church is to play in every age.

To be light where there is darkness, to bear love where there is hatred, to bring peace where there is war, to bring the vigor of salt where there is indifference – not only across nations, but also to every human heart.

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What might that look like for us today?

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Image credits: (1) Harvest Church of God (2) Detroit Catholic (3) The Record Newspaper

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Acts 7:51 – 8:1

Stephen said to the people, the elders, and the scribes:
“You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears,
you always oppose the Holy Spirit;
you are just like your ancestors.
Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute?
They put to death those who foretold the coming of the righteous one,
whose betrayers and murderers you have now become.
You received the law as transmitted by angels,
but you did not observe it.”

When they heard this, they were infuriated,
and they ground their teeth at him.
But Stephen, 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 Stephen 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.”
Then he fell to his knees and cried out in a loud voice,
“Lord, do not hold this sin against them”;
and when he said this, he fell asleep.

Now Saul was consenting to his execution.

The Word of the Lord.

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Saint Stephen is the first known Christian martyr. In our first reading, he’s put to death for fearlessly preaching the truth. Surrounded by the religious authorities, Stephen makes several accusations against them.

First, he calls their entire nation a “stiff-necked people.”

To be “stiff necked” originally referred to an ox unwilling to change direction. In spite of repeated correction, the ox would stubbornly continue moving along its own path. Similarly, Stephen says, Israel was consistently unwilling to repent or change direction.

“Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute?” he laments. And worse, now they’ve put the Son of God to death without a trace of sorrow or remorse in their hearts. 

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Second, Stephen insists that Israel was gifted with the most amazing privileges. God chose them as his people, making multiple covenants with them; they were gifted with the prophets; they received the Law; God even promised to write it on their hearts! 

Although they were highly privileged, Israel was continuously rebellious. And the more privileged a person is, the greater the responsibility they bear, certainly when taking such privileges for granted.

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While Stephen’s rebuke was directed against the “stiff necked” authorities of his day, his words can still provide a note of caution to us today. 

The Church – open to all – has become the chosen people of God, the body of Christ on earth. As Saint John writes, “Beloved, we are God’s children now.” 

As his body, we are not only gifted with the fullness of truth, we also have access to his mercy and grace through the Sacraments.

Still, how many of us, myself included, find ourselves “stiff necked” at times, unwilling to change? In the words of Saint Paul, “I do not do what I want, but what I hate.”

Is the Lord inviting us to soften our “necks,” to amend our lives, to change an attitude, a habit, or a perspective?

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May Saint Stephen intercede for us, that we would come to love God with the same depth that he did – a love so strong that he not only accepted death, he also prayed forgivingly for those who took his life.

Saint Stephen, pray for us!

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Image credits: (1) Catholic365.com (2) The Stoning of Saint Stephen, Rembrandt (3) Jesus Christ – Bible Study

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Gospel: John 6: 22-29

[After Jesus had fed the five thousand men, his disciples saw him walking on the sea.]
The next day, the crowd that remained across the sea
saw that there had been only one boat there,
and that Jesus had not gone along with his disciples in the boat,
but only his disciples had left.
Other boats came from Tiberias
near the place where they had eaten the bread
when the Lord gave thanks.
When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there,
they themselves got into boats
and came to Capernaum looking for Jesus.
And when they found him across the sea they said to him,
“Rabbi, when did you get here?”
Jesus answered them and said,
“Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me
not because you saw signs
but because you ate the loaves and were filled.
Do not work for food that perishes
but for the food that endures for eternal life,
which the Son of Man will give you.
For on him the Father, God, has set his seal.”
So they said to him,
“What can we do to accomplish the works of God?”
Jesus answered and said to them,
“This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Saint Augustine famously wrote, “Our hearts are restless, O LORD, until they rest in you.” 

His words ring true throughout the centuries. Regardless of where a person is born or when, how much fame, fortune, or lack thereof they may have, there remains a restlessness within the human heart which the world cannot satisfy.

Another author described that restlessness as, “a piece of night inside, which can never be filled – not with all the good food or sunshine in the world.”

Christians seek to fill that “night” with the light of Christ.

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In today’s Gospel, thousands of people are looking for Jesus. The Lord just fed them with five loaves of bread and two fish. Now they’re hungry for more.

Peering into their hearts, the Lord gently rebukes them, saying, “Do not work for food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life.”

Otherwise, more bread – more of anything – will never be enough.

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Do we try satisfying the “night” within by indulging in the things of this world? Or do we seek something – Someone – more?

As the Psalmist prays, “Hear my voice, LORD, when I call; have mercy on me and answer me. ‘Come,’ says my heart, ‘seek his face’; your face, LORD, I seek.”

May Christ reveal himself to us in the warmth of intimacy with friends; in the still, silent moments of prayer; and, above all, in the Eucharist, “the bread of life,” our food for the journey.

Because our hearts will remain restless until they rest in Him.

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Image credits: (1) Theraspecs (2) Podbean (3) X.com