The Charity of Saint Stephen and the Love of God
Offertory
"Out of the depths I have cried to thee, O Lord: Lord, hear my voice..."
Summary of Headings
- Introduction: The Warning of Persecutions
- The Martyrdom of Saint Stephen
- Seeking God's Approval
- The Life of God: Charity and Love
- Demonstrating God's Love Through Charity
- The Role of Courtesy and Mutual Charity
- Conclusion: Learning to Love from Saints and Our Lady
Introduction: The Warning of Persecutions
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. Our Lord said these words to the Apostles, warning them of the coming persecutions, warning them that people would think they would serve God by killing, first by ostracizing, and later even by killing the Apostles at the Last Supper.
The Martyrdom of Saint Stephen
But only a few years later, St. Stephen, the first martyr, proclaimed before a tribunal of the Jews, the princes of the people, he proclaimed that he saw the heavens open up, and he saw our Lord Jesus Christ standing at the right hand of God the Father. And in a rage, they stopped their ears from listening to what he was saying, they dragged him out into the street, and they stoned him. And his last words on this earth were a plea to God to not let those, that crime, that injustice, and that murder, be laid to their guilt.
Seeking God's Approval
He begged that they would accept, he begged that our Lord Jesus Christ would accept his soul, but also forgive the sins of these men in the process of killing him. How on earth could someone have that kind of, not just the courage, and fortitude, and joy to be able to do that, but the charity also, to look upon people who are rabid with their fury at what he had just said, at his testimony, which is his mission to preach, and were actually dragging him out to kill him. Stopping their ears so they could not hear the message.
The Life of God: Charity and Love
How on earth could someone be charitable to people doing such horrible things? Well, turn to the intro, and you can see. Hear, O Lord, my voice, which I have cried to thee. My heart hath said to thee, I have sought thy face, thy face, O Lord, I will seek. Turn not away thy face from me. It's from Psalm 26. Because for Saint Stephen, as for so many others, the great saints, especially the martyrs, what they sought and what they pursued was only our Lord Jesus Christ. They sought his approval. They served him, as Saint Peter said, not long before the assassination and martyrdom of Saint Stephen. We must obey God rather than men.
Demonstrating God's Love Through Charity
Because we choose God. Why? Because he loves us. His gaze upon us, as the Psalm mentions, we ask him to turn his face upon us. This means we ask for his approval. We ask for his blessing. We ask for his attention. We ask for his grace. He gives us all of these things because we have the faith. By some miracle of love that we will never appreciate or fully understand, God took us, wretched creatures as we are, sinners as we are, and he elevated us to share in his very charity. His very life. His very nature.
The Role of Courtesy and Mutual Charity
So we are no longer simple humans. We are heirs to the kingdom of God itself. We are his adopted sons. We are the adopted brothers of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is who we are now. And so that is what we must live. And so God himself is gazing upon us lovingly as his own children. In a very different way that he gazes upon others as his creatures. He has elevated us and so therefore we are bound bound. To live the life of God himself. Because that is what grace is.
Conclusion: Learning to Love from Saints and Our Lady
But what is this life of God? Well, Saint Peter says it in the epistle. Be prudent in watching prayers but before all things have a constant mutual charity. Because that is the very life and essence of what God is. Deus caritas est. God is charity. God is love. And so when we know that God is looking upon us and gazing upon us with love. When we know that he is dwelling within us in grace because of love. When we know that he is sacrificing himself on the altar because of love. When we know that he is coming to us in confession. When he is absolving us of our sins. Washing us clean with his very blood. We know it is because of love.
When he comes to us humbly in the form of food and brings himself to us. We know that it is because of his love for us. He is drawing us closer. He is uniting us more perfectly. He is possessing us more completely. He is doing everything in his power short of robbing us of our free will to get us into heaven. To give us all the tools we need to get into heaven. That is how much he loves us. That he has humbled himself to this extent for our sake. That is what the cost of our faith is. That is the price of the salvation of our souls. This is why the month of the sacred heart is so important. Because we can see clearly marked on his heart how much he loved us. That he was willing to sacrifice so much. That he was willing to give so much.