Pentecost, the end of the Easter season, is only a week away, and today\u2019s readings remind us that, like the first apostles and disciples, we must let ourselves be shaped by the Word and his Spirit. That may involve taking a new direction in life, drawing closer to the fount of grace in order to achieve a glorious life through giving witness, even unto death, of the glories Our Lord has worked in us and will work through us.<\/p>\n
In today\u2019s First Reading St. Stephen, the first martyr, is speaking in a language that his persecutors understand. It is a message that comes with the power of the Holy Spirit, who\u2019s coming on Pentecost to energize the budding Church for her mission that we\u2019ll celebrate in a special way next week. He bears Our Lord\u2019s own words: \u201cSon of Man standing at the right hand of God.\u201d Those words brought death to Jesus as well, because they were a testimony that Our Lord was the Messiah. Stephen\u2019s testimony went to martyrdom, and that martyrdom bore fruit: Saul became the great apostle St. Paul.<\/p>\n
In today\u2019s Second Reading St. John reminds us that Jesus\u2019 Word is above all an invitation to enjoy eternal life. The Spirit and the bride say, \u201cCome.\u201d\u2014the Church, that bride described by St. John\u2014in the power of the Holy Spirit extends that invitation that Christ may come into her life and the life of all believers. Let the hearer say, \u201cCome.\u201d\u2014he wants that invitation to be repeated on our lips as well. He wants Christ to come into our lives, and to come into the lives of those to whom we give witness. That invitation is to satisfy a deep need in man that mankind can satisfy in no other way: \u201cLet the one who thirsts come forward, and the one who wants it receive the gift of life-giving water.\u201d That life-giving water is grace, the love and life of God, which unites us to God and to each other and lets the glory of God shine within us.<\/p>\n
In today\u2019s Gospel Our Lord prays for those who will believe in him through the words of his disciples. Like St. Stephen, we must bear the word of Jesus so that others can believe. It means giving witness, it means taking the blows of ridicule, misunderstanding, contempt. We may not suffer a physical martyrdom, but there may be a character assassination, ridicule, and scorn. Through Jesus\u2019 word, he prays that we will be united as he is united to his heavenly Father. Through Jesus\u2019 word, he prays that we will share the same glory that his heavenly Father has given him, and through that unity and glory he prays that the world will know that he was sent by his heavenly Father and that the heavenly Father loves them as much as he loves Jesus.<\/p>\n
Irenaeus described the glory of God as being man truly living his life: Gloria Dei vivens homo<\/em>. Man glorifies God by living his life in truth and love to the maximum degree, bolstered by the grace and love of God. Not just passing things, so many toys that are new, then boring, then discarded\u2014money, career, pleasure, power. Not just surviving in an evil and troubled world. Living the Gospel in all its fullness. Eternal life started in our hearts the day of our baptism and wants to grow, to take hold of us and transform us. That growth is made possible by Christ in the power of his Spirit. His word must become our word. His Spirit must become our Spirit, and through faith and prayer and sacrifice we make his words our own, and his Spirit will fill us and transform us.<\/p>\n Readings:\u00a0Acts 7:55\u201360;\u00a0Psalm 97:1\u20132, 6\u20137, 9;\u00a0Revelation 22:12\u201314, 16\u201317, 20;\u00a0John 17:20\u201326.\u00a0<\/em>See also 7th Sunday of Easter, Cycle C<\/a>, 7th Week of Easter, Thursday<\/a>,\u00a0St. Stephen, First Martyr<\/a>, and\u00a03rd Week of Easter, Tuesday (2)<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Pentecost, the end of the Easter season, is only a week away, and today\u2019s readings remind us that, like the first apostles and disciples, we must let ourselves be shaped by the Word and his Spirit. That may involve taking a new direction in life, drawing closer to the fount of grace in order to … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[121,5,41,15],"class_list":["post-3323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-cycle-c","tag-easter","tag-seventh-week","tag-sunday"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p65qtw-RB","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fathernikola.org\/liturgy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3323","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fathernikola.org\/liturgy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fathernikola.org\/liturgy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fathernikola.org\/liturgy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fathernikola.org\/liturgy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3323"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/fathernikola.org\/liturgy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3323\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3324,"href":"https:\/\/fathernikola.org\/liturgy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3323\/revisions\/3324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fathernikola.org\/liturgy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fathernikola.org\/liturgy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fathernikola.org\/liturgy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}