Saint Stephen, the first Martyr
Acts 6:8-10,7:54-59 | Psalm 30(31):3-4,6,8,16-17 | Matthew 10:17-22
Today, we think of “martyrs” as people who gave up their lives to preserve their faith, but the original Greek word, martus, simply meant “witness”, a person who testifies to what he knows from personal observation.
The apostles saw and worked with Jesus in the flesh, so their belief came naturally.
St. Stephen may or may not have seen Jesus, but he did see “heaven thrown open, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God” (Acts 7:56), so he was simply describing what he saw and knew.
All of us alive today have not seen, but as Jesus told St. Thomas, “Happy are those who have not seen and yet believe.” (John 20:29)
So are we martyrs? Of course!
But, the doubters cry, how can that be? We weren’t there when Christ ministered, worked miracles, and died for us all. In a mundane court of law, surely we’d be guilty of perjury!
Now, it is true that what we “know” largely comes from the deposit of faith left us by our forefathers, the apostles and their successors, in one unbroken chain of scripture and tradition. By itself, it’s not credible testimony to detractors; anyone can write anything they want, and the farther back we go, the less independent corroborating evidence there is to support our claims.
But we see the presence of God today. We don’t have to dig through the musty and worm-ridden archives of history, when we can point in this modern era to:
the Eucharistic miracles of Santarem and Lanciano,
the incorrupt bodies of several saints,
the many apparitions of Our Lady at Guadalupe, La Salette and other places,
the miraculous healings around the world that still happen to this day, and most importantly,
the continuous stream of people who are invited to inspect the Catholic faith closely, decide that there really is something here, and join the faithful in baptism each year.
So many of us have also experienced God’s work in our own lives, from healing of body and mind, to comfort in spiritual turmoil, to a uncharacteristic burning zeal to share the Truth.
Sharing our faith doesn’t require us to cook up fanciful stories of divine interventions and miraculous rescues. It’s just a matter of demonstrating to others how God has shaped our lives for the better.
We don’t have to die for our faith, but when the time comes for us to leave this earthly realm, would we have given others hope in Christ?
Lord, as we commemorate the courage and willingness of St. Stephen to give his all for You, grant us some small share in that courage to share our hope and faith in You with others, so as to give them hope in an eternity with You and our heavenly Father.
Amen.