Catholic Caucus; Daily Mass Readings, 12-26-05, Feast of Saint Stephen, first martyr

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[Salvation]

December 26, 2005
Feast of Saint Stephen, first martyr

Psalm: Monday 3

Reading I
Acts 6:8-10; 7:54-59

Stephen, filled with grace and power,
was working great wonders and signs among the people.
Certain members of the so-called Synagogue of Freedmen,
Cyrenians, 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.

When they heard this, they were infuriated,
and they ground their teeth at him.
But he, 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,
and he said,
“Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man
standing at the right hand of God.”
But they cried out in a loud voice, covered their ears,
and rushed upon him together.
They threw him out of the city, and began to stone him.
The witnesses laid down their cloaks
at the feet of a young man named Saul.
As they were stoning Stephen, he called out
“Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 31:3cd-4, 6 and 8ab, 16bc and 17

R. (6) Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.
Be my rock of refuge,
a stronghold to give me safety.
You are my rock and my fortress;
for your name’s sake you will lead and guide me.
R. Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.
Into your hands I commend my spirit;
you will redeem me, O LORD, O faithful God.
I will rejoice and be glad because of your mercy.
R. Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.
Rescue me from the clutches of my enemies and my persecutors.
Let your face shine upon your servant;
save me in your kindness.
R. Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.

Gospel
Mt 10:17-22

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Beware of men, for they will hand you over to courts
and scourge you in their synagogues,
and you will be led before governors and kings for my sake
as a witness before them and the pagans.
When they hand you over,
do not worry about how you are to speak
or what you are to say.
You will be given at that moment what you are to say.
For it will not be you who speak
but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
Brother will hand over brother to death,
and the father his child;
children will rise up against parents and have them put to death.
You will be hated by all because of my name,
but whoever endures to the end will be saved.”

[Salvation]

For your reading, reflection, faith-sharing, comments, questions, discussion.

[Ohioan from Florida]

Thank God for the example of St. Stephen! I have lots of favorite saints, and Stephen is one of them!

[Salvation]

Alleluia Ping!

Please notify me via FReepmail if you would like to be added to or taken off the Alleluia Ping List.

[Baraonda]

Catholic Bump.

Hope you and your family had a wonderful Christmas.

[Salvation]

I celebrated Christmas with my family last weekend, so that this weekend I could help with our Christmas meal for the needy and lonely. We served over 1150 meals at our sit-down Christmas dinner.

Also had a Coat Closet where each family could get two free items of warm clothing, long underwear, mittens, jackets, etc.

Also had a toy giveaway for the children!

[Salvation]

Then a friend and I went to see Chronicles of Narnia. We could pick out the Christian allegories easily........................but I'm not too sure about the general public. Theater was fairly well-packed.

[Salvation]

St. Stephen, the Martyr

Dec. 26 - Saint Stephen, First Martyr

A thoughtful sermon for St. Stephen's Day

[Baraonda]

God bless you for helping our brothers and sisters in need.

I like this direct approach to helping our people.

Too many people nowadays send money to charities not knowing whether the funds will be used to help our people or the enemy of our people.

[Salvation]

It is so amazing to look at these people and see the face of Christ in each! Wow!

[Salvation]

Monday, December 26, 2005
St. Stephen, First Martyr (Feast)

First Reading: Psalm: Gospel:

Acts 6:8-10; 7:54-59  Psalm 31:3-4, 6, 8, 17 Matthew 10:17-22 The Lord hath said to me: Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee. -- Ps. Ii. 7

[Baraonda]

"Then a friend and I went to see Chronicles of Narnia."

I don't go the movies often. The last time I went was to watch Mel Gibson's The Passion of Christ (article 'The' intentionally left out). Saw it twice. Once alone and once with my nieces and nephews. I don't go the the movies unless it's a movie that benefits our people.

Is the Chronicles of Narnia a Christian movie?

[Salvation]

Catholic Culture

Collect:
Lord, today we celebrate the entrance of Saint Stephen into eternal glory. He died praying for those who killed him. Help us to imitate his goodness and to love our enemies. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Recipes:

• » Saint Stephen's Scrambled Eggs
• » St. Stephen's Day Stew
• » St. Stephen's Horns
• » Whiskey Punch

Activities:

• » "Boxing" Day
• » Acting St. Wenceslas' Story at Preschool Age
• » Celebrating St. Stephen's Day
• » Christmas and the Eucharist

more

• » Christmas Play
• » Day Two ~ Activities for the Feast of St. Stephen
• » Feast of St. Stephen
• » Namedays
• » Origin of the Twelve Days of Christmas
• » Religion in the Home for Elementary School: December
• » Religion in the Home for Preschool: December
• » St. Stephen's Day
• » St. Stephen's Day Customs
• » Story of St. Wenceslaus
• » What is a Nameday?
• » Boxing Day — St. Stephen

less

Prayers:

• » Christmas Morning Prayers
• » Christmas Evening Prayers
• » St. Stephen's Day Night Prayers
• » December Devotion: The Immaculate Conception

more

• » Litany of St. Stephen, Protomartyr

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December 26, 2005

Feast of St. Stephen, first martyr

Old Calendar: St. Stephen

Today is the second day in the octave of Christmas. The Church celebrates the Feast of St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr. Stoned outside Jerusalem, he died praying for his executioners. He was one of the seven deacons who helped the apostles; he was "filled with faith and with the Holy Spirit," and was "full of fortitude." The Church draws a comparison between the disciple and his Master, emphasizing the imitation of Christ even unto the complete gift of self. His name is included in the Roman Canon.

The Second Day of Christmas

St. Stephen
The deacon Stephen, stoned in Jerusalem two years after the death of Christ, has always been the object of very special veneration by the faithful. He is the first martyr. The account in the Acts of the Apostles relating his arrest and the accusations brought against him emphasize the parallel with our Saviour's trial; he was stoned outside the city wall and died, like his Master, praying for his executioners.

Stephen belongs to the group of seven deacons whom the Apostles associated with their work in order to lighten their load. He was "filled with faith and with the Holy Spirit", "full of grace and strength" he showed himself as a man of God, radiating divine grace and apostolic zeal. As the first witness to Christ he confronted his opponents with quiet courage and the promise made by Jesus (Mark 13.11) was fulfilled: ". . .Disputing with Stephen they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit that spoke".

In St. Stephen, the first martyr, the liturgy emphasizes the imitatior of Christ even to the extent of the complete gift of self, to the extent of that great charity which made him pray in his suffering for his executioners. By establishing the feast on the day after Christmas the Church draws an even closer comparison between the disciple and the Master and thus extends his witness to the whole mission of the redeeming Messias.

Patron: Casket makers; coffin makers; deacons; headaches; horses; masons; diocese of Owensboro, Kentucky; stone masons.

Symbols: Deacon carrying a pile of rocks; deacon with rocks gathered in his vestments; deacon with rocks on his head; deacon with rocks or a book at hand; stones; palm of martyrdom.

Things to Do:

• Read Pope John Paul II's 2003 Angelus Message for the Feast of St. Stephen.

[Knitting A Conundrum]

The fire in his eye
was like a beacon,
and his face glowed
with a love they did not understand,
these angry young men
with rocks in their hands,
insulted by a light they did not want to understand.

And he talked,
and the tension heightened
and the circle around him tightened,
and the murmuring
broke out into yells,
and he moved into that new reality
and he knew the path
and he realized the way
and he said yes in his heart
to his master's call
and he looked up,
and the love he had,
and the love of his Master
transcended time and place,
and Heaven called him home,
opening wide its gates,
and Jesus beckoned.

No one remembers
who threw the first stone.

But we all remember
how Stephen taught us
how much the love of God was worth.

[Salvation]

I think the general public would say it was a nice story.

But my friend and I were able to pick out many allegories, the faithful (fawn), Mary, the mother, Mary Magdalene, Chrisit of course, the Lion, devil, The Witch, someone who betrays and repents -- St. Peter.

Also the allegory of dying and rising from the dead, battle with the evil forces, final triumph.

None of these things are pointedly mentioned, but a Christian can definitely pick them out.

[Salvation]

Very poignant, especially the circle tightening about him.

[Salvation]

Homily of the Day

Homily of the Day

Title:	Have You Seen the Opening in the Sky?!
Author:	Monsignor Dennis Clark, Ph.D.
Date:	Monday, December 26, 2005

Acts 6:8-10, 7:54-59 / Mt 10:17-22

Graduations, no matter what the level, seem to follow a prescribed course, and there seems no escaping the ponderous speeches from both young and old, and the endless role call of those who tromp onto the stage. But invariably there are compensations for enduring the tedium: The graduates themselves are so filled with hopes and aspirations to do so much better what their forebears have only done well.

We can only imagine what St. Stephen must have been like at that earlier stage in his life, but the book of Acts gives us a clue in describing him as a man "filled with grace and power, who worked great wonders and signs among the people." What a fine young man he must have been to give birth to such an adult!

Yet, despite all his goodness and all his good works across many days, Stephen found himself confronted with jealous and angry men who hated him and all he stood for, men who indeed intended to kill him. And he knew it. This was the defining moment for him. Would he flee, or defect, or deny his Lord?

He would not. Instead, his faith enabled him to see beyond the pain and death that were about to be his lot. "I see an opening in the sky, and the Son of Man standing at God's right hand...." And confident in that vision, he met his death.

Few of us will ever face challenges like those that Stephen faced, but we have our own troubles in abundance, troubles that can easily overwhelm us if we give in to them. Only one thing stands between hope and the despairing surrender to oblivion and that is faith: The ability to see that opening in the sky.

The opening is there. It remains for us to see it and trust it!

 

[kindred]

First, Stephen was a Christian, not a Catholic. The Catholic religion does not teach the scriptures and portrays the early Christians as Catholics, which they were not. Stephen was a saint, as all saved by grace through faith in the finished work of Christ at the cross sinners are when they believe how that God's Christ died for our sins and rose the third day for our justification. The book of Acts states that those who believed God's Christ (the Word of God who became flesh) "were first called Christians at Antioch'.
Second, the Catholic religion started centuries after the early church fathers were dead and buried, the heresies of the early church , especially gnosticism, became the vehicle that Satan used to divide Christians into the first sects of orthodox Christianity and Catholic's (the church of Rome). The fallacy and revisionist history of the roots of the Catholic religion is heretical and eventually became Apostate by using traditions and false doctrines, their final apostasy being the council of Trent, where they first denied and continue to deny the scriptures of Paul the apostle and revelations he received of the Lord Jesus Christ concerning the Gospel of Salvation. These are found in the Pauline Epistles and no where else because Paul was the apostle God chose to bring in the body of Christ, those bible believers who worship God and his Christ only, believe scriptures only, and will not follow false doctrine or anti Christ apostasy.

1 Corinthians 15
1Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;
2By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
3For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
4And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

Those who add works to this doctrine of salvation are those who should read the two scriptures below ;

Ephesians 2:
2Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
3Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
4But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
5Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
6And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
7That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
8For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9Not of works, lest any man should boast.
10For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
11Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;

and the following, a verse of warning against those who labor to change the gospel of scriptures into the gospel of any given denomination, church or cult. Christianity is for all who will believe the Holy Bible is true and infalliable and that men or women who try to change the scriptures to fit their personal of denomination beliefs are heretics at best, apostate at worst.

Galatians 1
1Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;)
2And all the brethren which are with me, unto the churches of Galatia:
3Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ,
4Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:
5To whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
6I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:
7Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.
8But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
9As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
10For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.
11But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.
12For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.

In closing, you choose what to believe; but remember, God will bring all these things into judgment. I believe God's Christ Holy Word only, written by holy men of old who were inspired by the Holy Ghost. All else is deceitful.

[lightman]

Good King Wenceslaus is a wonderful carol de jour, but the second verse of this hymn tells of the Martyrdom of good Deacon Stephen:

"The Son of God Goes Forth to War"
by Reginald Heber, 1783-1826)

1. The Son of God goes forth to war
A kingly crown to gain.
His blood-red banner streams afar;
Who follows in His train?
Who best can drink His cup of woe,
Triumphant over pain,
Who patient bears his cross below--
He follows in His train.

2. The martyr first whose eagle eye
Could pierce beyond the grave,
Who saw His Master in the sky
And called on Him to save.
Like Him, with pardon on His tongue,
In midst of mortal pain,
He prayed for them that did the wrong--
Who follows in his train?

3. A glorious band, the chosen few,
On whom the Spirit came,
Twelve valiant saints; their hope they knew
And mocked the cross and flame.
They met the tyrant's brandished steel,
The lion's gory mane;
They bowed their necks the death to feel--
Who follows in their train?

4. A noble army, men and boys,
The matron and the maid,
Around the Savior's throne rejoice,
In robes of light arrayed.
They climbed the steep ascent of heav'n
Thro' peril, toil, and pain.
O God, to us may grace be giv'n
To follow in their train!

Hymn #452
The Lutheran Hymnal
Text: 1 Timothy 6:12
Author: Reginald Heber, 1827
Composer: Henry S. Cutler, 1872
Tune: "All Saints New" The metre also fits the Christmas tune Carol

[annalex]

Mt 10:17-22
#	Douay-Rheims	Vulgate
17	But beware of men. For they will deliver you up in councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues.	cavete autem ab hominibus tradent enim vos in conciliis et in synagogis suis flagellabunt vos
18	And you shall be brought before governors, and before kings for my sake, for a testimony to them and to the Gentiles:	et ad praesides et ad reges ducemini propter me in testimonium illis et gentibus
19	But when they shall deliver you up, take no thought how or what to speak: for it shall be given you in that hour what to speak:	cum autem tradent vos nolite cogitare quomodo aut quid loquamini dabitur enim vobis in illa hora quid loquamini
20	For it is not you that speak, but the spirit of your Father that speaketh in you.	non enim vos estis qui loquimini sed Spiritus Patris vestri qui loquitur in vobis
21	The brother also shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the son; and the children shall rise up against their parents, and shall put them to death.	tradet autem frater fratrem in mortem et pater filium et insurgent filii in parentes et morte eos adficient
22	And you shall be hated by all men for my name's sake: but he that shall persevere unto the end, he shall be saved.	et eritis odio omnibus propter nomen meum qui autem perseveraverit in finem hic salvus erit

[annalex]

The Stoning of Saint Stephen

Vittore Carpaccio
1520
Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart