St Stephen, the first martyr
St Stephen, the first martyr : Thursday 26th December 2019
Acts 6:8-10,7:54-59; Ps. 31(30);3-4,6,8,16,17;
Mt. 10:17-22 (Ps Wk IV)
It has been noted that in the New Testament, there is no major passage dealing with the virtue of hope. St Paul frequently speaks of faith, hope and love. Faith and love are deeply reflected on in various passages, whereas hope seems to have been almost set aside But of course Jesus came to bring us hope.
These various facts teach us not to confine our search for doctrine and revelation in the Bible to specific words, but to learn to seek the truth more widely in different words and even in different images.
It has been suggested that the doctrine of the virtue of hope was mostly expressed in the early Church in the Acts of the Martyrs, as the story of Stephen shows how Saul was converted: an event that must certainly have brought tremendous hope to the early Church.
Come, Holy Spirit, and enlighten our hearts so that we may garner the full truth which Jesus reveals in countless ways in the New Testament writings.
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