{"id":470,"date":"2023-07-18T01:00:33","date_gmt":"2023-07-18T01:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/orthoscopy.net\/?p=470"},"modified":"2026-02-24T01:00:30","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T01:00:30","slug":"st-stephens-example","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orthoscopy.net\/index.php\/2023\/07\/18\/st-stephens-example\/","title":{"rendered":"St. Stephen’s Example"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Homily, 4-24-23; Monday of the 3rd Week of Easter:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I mentioned last week, Jesus told the disciples: \u201cWhen they lead you away and hand you over, do not worry beforehand about what you are to say. But say whatever will be given to you at that hour. For it will not be you who are speaking but the holy Spirit\u201d<\/em><\/strong> (Mk. 13:11).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

St. Stephen gives us an example of following Jesus\u2019 instruction. In our first reading from the Acts of the Apostles, we hear: \u201cCertain members of the so-called Synagogue of Freedmen, Cyreneans, and Alexandrians, and people from Cilicia and Asia, came forward and debated with Stephen, but they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke.\u201d<\/em><\/strong> Stephen kept his composure. He was apparently an educated man, but relied on the Holy Spirit to guide his speech. He spoke clearly and logically, and it appears vey calmly. We hear that his face was like the face of an angel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Catholics, we have many occasions where we will be confronted for our beliefs. And these confrontations can be expected to increase. And it is good for us to follow Stephen\u2019s example. We need to educate ourselves on the facts of the issues\u2014we will be guided by the Spirit, but we need to give the Holy Spirit something to work with. And we should stay calm and keep our composure, not being confrontational when under attack for defending Church teaching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us pray for that strength and the peace that comes with trusting in God\u2019s will. May Christ\u2019s peace be with you as you follow His will for you in this world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Homily, 4-24-23; Monday of the 3rd Week of Easter: As I mentioned last week, Jesus told the disciples: \u201cWhen they lead you away and hand you over, do not worry beforehand about what you are to say. But say whatever will be given to you at that hour. For it will not be you who… Continue reading St. Stephen’s Example<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-weekday-homilies","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/orthoscopy.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/orthoscopy.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/orthoscopy.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orthoscopy.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orthoscopy.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=470"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/orthoscopy.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":471,"href":"https:\/\/orthoscopy.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470\/revisions\/471"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/orthoscopy.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orthoscopy.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orthoscopy.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}