Daily Mass Gospel Reflection- Feast of Saint Stephen, first martyr

Word on Fire Ministry ^ | 12.26.23 | Bishop Robert Barron

[MurphsLaw]

Matthew 10:17-22

Friends, in today’s Gospel,
Jesus predicts the coming persecution of his disciples.
And we can see his prophetic word realized through the ages.

Think of St. Peter himself,
crucified upside down in the circus of Nero;
of Felicity and Perpetua, thrown to wild animals
because they wouldn’t deny their faith; of Paul Miki, the Japanese Jesuit,
who was crucified for announcing the Christian faith;
of Padre Pro, who was shot to death for defying a repressive Mexican government,
shouting as he was shot, “Viva, el Cristo Rey!”;
of Franz Jägerstätter and Dietrich Bonhoeffer,
whom the Nazi regime put to death; of Maximilian Kolbe,
who died at Auschwitz, willingly taking the place of another man.
And the list goes on and on.

Indeed, the martyrs have come from all corners of the world,
and they have spoken Greek, Latin, French, German, English, Japanese,
Polish, and many other languages besides.
Friends, this, strangely,
is the army that undermines the foundations
of the fallen world through
the centuries. This is the great fighting force that
Jesus has unleashed and continues to unleash.

[MurphsLaw]

+++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."+++

[jackibutterfly]

Just a reminder - whenever you post something from the Bible, would you please include chapter and verse as the source? Thanks much.

[MurphsLaw]

If you look back at the beginning of the post, you'll see that
The Chapter and Verse of the Gospel reading
is noted there, as what is being reflected upon.

The actual Bible verse I print is from the "official" USCCB
Mass Liturgy, and they use the NAB translation.
Admittedly not a favorite translation of most.
When I did note chapter in verse for this second scriptural part
of the post in the past,
reply focus was shifted onto "translational" differences of the text,
[which even I agree do naturally exist]
and so it caused distraction away from the main Reflection idea.
So I put chapter and verse at the very start of the reflection
to let the non-Mass going reader to find the accompanying scripture
for themselves, for their desired translation.
This avoids being concerned with the appearance of trying to
promote the NAB Mass translation I do print,
that which is used by the author,
for better or worse.

[jackibutterfly]

Oh, ok. I didn’t realize it was still part of the previous post. Thanks so much for your explanation.