For 24 April 2007, Tuesday of the Third Week of Easter, based on Acts 7:51-8:1a
â€You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you are forever opposing the Holy Spirit, just as your ancestors used to do. Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute? They killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, and now you have become his betrayers and murderers. You are the ones that received the law as ordained by angels, and yet you have not kept it.â€
When they heard these things, they became enraged and ground their teeth at Stephen. But filled with the Holy Spirit, he gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. “Look,†he said, “I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!†But they covered their ears, and with a loud shout all rushed together against him. Then they dragged him out of the city and began to stone him; and the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. While they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.†Then he knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.†When he had said this, he died.
And Saul approved of their killing him. That day a severe persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria.
Scripture passage from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright 1989, 1993, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
About Don Goergen, O.P.
Don Goergen is a Dominican friar of the Chicago, USA Province. He is a preacher, lecturer, teacher and author. Don has written and taught primarily in the areas of christology and spirituality in the United States as well as in Africa and Asia. He has been a member of a Dominican Ashram community from its beginning in 1999 and continues to teach and preach. His most recent writing is Fire of Love: Encountering the Holy Spirit.
24 Apr 2007
Stephen: From Challenging to Forgiving
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â€You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you are forever opposing the Holy Spirit, just as your ancestors used to do. Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute? They killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, and now you have become his betrayers and murderers. You are the ones that received the law as ordained by angels, and yet you have not kept it.â€
When they heard these things, they became enraged and ground their teeth at Stephen. But filled with the Holy Spirit, he gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. “Look,†he said, “I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!†But they covered their ears, and with a loud shout all rushed together against him. Then they dragged him out of the city and began to stone him; and the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. While they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.†Then he knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.†When he had said this, he died.
And Saul approved of their killing him. That day a severe persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria.
Scripture passage from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright 1989, 1993, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
About Don Goergen, O.P.
Don Goergen is a Dominican friar of the Chicago, USA Province. He is a preacher, lecturer, teacher and author. Don has written and taught primarily in the areas of christology and spirituality in the United States as well as in Africa and Asia. He has been a member of a Dominican Ashram community from its beginning in 1999 and continues to teach and preach. His most recent writing is Fire of Love: Encountering the Holy Spirit.