Scripture readings for this reflection can be found at Friday of the Third Week of Easter | USCCB
As we continue to read about the early church from the
book of the Acts of the Apostles in our first reading, we today hear of the
conversion of Saul (who will later become Paul). Earlier in the week we heard
of the stoning to death of St. Stephen because of him proclaiming that Jesus
was the Righteous One of God. Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit, had a
vision of the glory of God and Jesus, the Son of Man, sitting at the right hand
of God. This infuriated the religious leaders, who considered it blasphemous,
and they started to stone him to death. As he was about to die, Stephen prayed
two things, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” and “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” Stephen, in imitation of Jesus on the cross, was forgiving those
putting him to death. And one of those that participated in stoning Stephen was
Saul. After Stephen was stoned to death, we read “Now Saul was consenting to his execution.”
In today’s reading from Acts, we hear of how our Lord
responded to Stephen’s prayer of forgiveness by helping Saul to turn from being
a persecutor of these followers of Jesus, to being a believer in Jesus Christ
as his savior. Saul would become Paul and would become one of the greatest apostles
and leaders in this new faith that he tried to kill.
We also hear in today’s reading from Acts of Ananias,
a follower of Christ, having a vision of the Lord, who then instructed him to
go and lay hands on Saul so that Saul can receive his sight. Ananias was at
first afraid to go because of the persecution Saul was doing towards the new
Christian community, but then he overcame his fear and brings the healing touch
of God and forgiveness to Saul.
Today’s reading from Acts helps us to understand of
how we are to live out our faith as followers of Jesus Christ. We are called to
share our faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior no matter the cost and we
are to be forgiving of those who may disagree with us or wish to do us harm because
of our faith. St. Stephen had that relationship with God, and was willing to
share it with others, though it cost him his life. But he was also forgiving of
those who put him to death, and because of his prayers, St. Paul received faith
in Jesus Christ. Then Ananias was called by God to share his faith in Jesus
Christ with St. Paul, though he feared what Paul possibly could do to him. We,
too, are called, like Ananias and St. Stephen, to share our faith in God, no
matter the cost and to be forgiving of those who disagree with us or wish us
harm because of this faith.
Lord Jesus, give us the courage to share our faith
with those in our lives, and may the Holy Spirit come upon them so they may
also receive the gift of faith in you and to have eternal life. Amen.
The example of St. Stephen demonstrates that we may never known in this life what the influence of our efforts to share the Gospel by the witness of our verbal testimony & of our Christ/Gospel centered lives may have on others. St. Stephen tried his best to persuade others to believe in Our LORD JESUS CHRIST,but it appeared that his efforts were in vain & he was killed. He died like CHRIST in praying for & forgiving those who were responsible for his death. It was only a short time later that the fruit of his prayers were used by GOD to convert his persecutor, Saul of Tarsus, into the great & zealous Apostle Paul, who converted many to CHRIST in his lifetime & whose many letters instruct us & bring many people to CHRIST even today.
ReplyDeleteIn the 20th century a little known evangelist named Mordecai Ham preached in North Carolina and prayed to the LORD for greater fruit for his efforts that had recently borne little fruit. But one night a young man whose ambitions were to become a baseball player went to Mordecai Ham's crusade & gave his life to CHRIST. That young man was Billy Graham, perhaps the greatest & best known Christian evangelist of the 20th & early 21st centuries.
So God calls us to be prayerful & faithful & only He knows the impact our lives & testimony will have.