Homily: May 6, 2025, Tuesday of he Third week of Easter (Daily -Martydom)

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 "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." Then he fell to his knees and cried out in a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them."

The courage of St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr, always amazes me. Where did he get such strength? How was he able to withstand the big solid stones being thrown at him? 

Imagine the heavy and harsh hits on the face, the head, the chest, everywhere on the body – breaking skin, damaging flesh and smashing the bones.

Pain aside, how could he still pray for them who were hurting and killing him at that moment?

What gave him such strength?

It was what he believed, his firm and steadfast faith. Stephen knew who was waiting for him in heaven. As we heard at the beginning of the reading:

“Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked up intently to heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.”

He saw Jesus, the King of Martyrs, waiting for him in glory. Jesus was waiting to receive Him. Surely Stephen’s soul could not wait to be united with Christ too. He would be so eager and might even wish for more stones to hit him dead fast. 

And he would not want anything to delay him, nor prevent him from reaching Jesus immediately, not anger or unforgiveness. Thus he was able to pray for his attackers, because he would not want any unforgiveness to hold him back from flying to Jesus fast.

Now, if you or I were to have such a welcoming vision when facing our death, we too would have the courage to die for our faith. But here’s the truth: this kind of holiness doesn’t happen overnight.

Martyrs like Stephen didn’t decide to die for Christ only at that fatal moment. They had been living for Christ and dying to self in daily situations. They would have had many moments of little acts of sacrifice, for the sake of the kingdom, for the purpose of their mission to preach Christ, for their intense love for the Lord.

So, when the big moment came, they were ready to give it all to Jesus.

What would I do if I were caught in the same situation? Would I stand firm in my faith and risk persecution, accept physical suffering or even mental torture? Or would I take the easy way out and deny Jesus? Would I choose to be realistic and run away, or would I be idealistic and stay on to die?

We will not be able to decide there and then. The decision should be made every day. We give witness to Christ daily by embracing our hardship and sufferings in life. If we offer them up to the Lord with joy and firmly allow God’s will to reign despite difficulties, we are exercising martyrdom.

Let us be faithful in little things, and we will be ready when the big moments come. May we all receive this grace: To see Jesus in glory, waiting for us, when our own final hour comes.

Amen.


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