Stephen

Stephen, filled with grace and power,
was working great wonders and signs among the people.
Certain members of the so-called Synagogue of Freedmen,
Cyrenians, 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.”
They stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes,
accosted him, seized him,
and brought him before the Sanhedrin.
They presented false witnesses who testified,
“This man never stops saying things against this holy place and the law.
For we have heard him claim
that this Jesus the Nazorean will destroy this place
and change the customs that Moses handed down to us.”
All those who sat in the Sanhedrin looked intently at him
and saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

Stephen's face was like the face of an angel. Many people in his position could not have been so serene.  What is not said is that Stephen was on trial for his life.  These men that sat in judgment of him were powerful men, all of them skilled politicians. They were not used to having culprits remaining serene and calm while they railroaded him to a guilty verdict. Stephen stood accused of blasphemy and there was only one punishment for that crime and that was death.  Stephen was not upset because he knew the truth and the truth was that these men of power, these politicians, these religious hypocrites had no power over him at all for they could only destroy his body and not his soul. 

So it is for us as well.  God has created this world for all of us. Unfortunately, some of us become full of ourselves and we do not take God and His law to heart. That is where we find ourselves today. Christian morals and the family are under attack by people who want nothing to do with God.  They have substituted their passions for God's law.  There will be times when the Children of God will step up and have their say and they will be firmly beaten down by the voices of evil. It happened before our generation, it will continue to happen after our generation turns to dust.  While today it is possible for any man or woman to receive God's mercy, at the end time there will only be God's justice to be found.  But no matter what, if we remain true to God we shall have nothing to fear from the justice of God for we will have already been clothed in His mercy because of our love of God and His ways. 

On this Monday, please remember and pray for all of the Protestant dead who are today in Purgatory.  Remember that because of the beliefs of their tradition they have no one at all to pray for them.  Pray for their release as hard as you pray for those of your relatives and friends.