As I was saying goodbye to people after our Feast session, I felt a feeling that I hadn’t felt for some time. I was worried.

I felt I didn’t give my best and the talk I gave didn’t “land” properly. It was a little off, the flow was scattered, and the transition from one point to another wasn’t smooth. I felt short in giving my all. And it was because I prepared a little late as I was too confident that I would deliver the talk well. 

I closed my eyes and asked God for His forgiveness. I prayed that He would humble me.

The following day, I received three random messages from people who watched online or attended onsite. They expressed how blessed they were with my preaching. They said it was one of the most eye-opening sessions they’ve ever had. This brought me to tears.

Everything is truly God’s grace.

The glory is never ours, but always His. He speaks through us.

Mike Ybiernas (mvybiernas@gmail.com)

reflect

God can take the most unfit vessel and fill it with His power and glory. 

Lord, I yield myself to be used by You.

Saint Stephen, protomartyr, pray for us.

First Reading | Acts 6:8-10; 7:54-59

Stephen was one of the deacons that the Apostles chose to distribute food and goods to the poor and care for the widows. He was selected because he was a man filled with the Holy Spirit. In his passion and love for God, Stephen bore bold witness to the Jews that Jesus is the Messiah, the Anointed One of God. The Jews found this impossible to accept. When Stephen had a vision of Jesus at the right hand of God, they were filled with rage and stoned Stephen to death. Yet from his death and blood, a seed of faith was planted in the heart of a zealous Pharisee, Saul, who later on the road to Damascus, was converted and became a great Apostle to the Gentiles. 

⁸ Stephen, filled with grace and power, was working great wonders and signs among the people. ⁹ Certain members of the so–called Synagogue of Freedmen, Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and people from Cilicia and Asia, came forward and debated with Stephen, ¹⁰ but they could not withstand the wisdom and the spirit with which he spoke. ^7:54 When they heard this, they were infuriated, and they ground their teeth at him. ⁵⁵ 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, ⁵⁶ and he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” ⁵⁷ But they cried out in a loud voice, covered their ears, and rushed upon him together. ⁵⁸ 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. ⁵⁹ As they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”

Responsorial Psalm | Psalm 31:3-4, 6, 8, 16, 17

R: Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.

³ Be my rock of refuge, a stronghold to give me safety. ⁴ You are my rock and my fortress; for your name’s sake you will lead and guide me. (R) ⁶ Into your hands I commend my spirit; you will redeem me, O Lord, O faithful God. ⁸ I will rejoice and be glad of your mercy. (R) ¹⁶ Rescue me from the clutches of my enemies and my persecutors. ¹⁷ Let your face shine upon your servant; save me in your kindness. (R)

Gospel | Matthew 10:17-22

Jesus had predicted that His disciples would suffer for bearing witness to Him. He warned them of this and promised that they would be given the wisdom of the Holy Spirit to know how to answer their accusers. We see this fulfilled in the life of Saint Stephen. When we suffer for our faith, let us trust that we have the grace of the Holy Spirit to know how to speak and to bear our trials with joy.

Gospel Acclamation 

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord: the Lord is God and has given us light. 

¹⁷ Jesus said to his disciples: “Beware of men, for they will hand you over to courts and scourge you in their synagogues, ¹⁸ and you will be led before governors and kings for my sake as a witness before them and the pagans. ¹⁹ 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. ²⁰ For it will not be you who speak but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. ²¹ Brother will hand over brother to death, and the father his child; children will rise up against parents and have them put to death. ²² You will be hated by all because of my name, but whoever endures to the end will be saved.”

Reflect:

What trials have you undergone as you follow Jesus? 

How did you overcome them?

Read the Bible in one year! Read SIRACH 21 - 25 today.

Dying Is Living

Today’s feast seems like the ultimate liturgical killjoy. Hardly a day after celebrating the joyful birth of Jesus, the Church invites us to reflect on the grim story of the first Christian martyr, Saint Stephen. After the story of a birth, we now look at the story of a death. Why? Because life and death are intimately intertwined, just as giving and receiving, or gaining and losing.

I remember the story of two kids comparing the gifts they have received after Christmas. The first boy bragged, “You know what I got yesterday? I received a mountain bike from my brother as Christmas gift.” Longingly and with a deep sigh, the other boy said, “How I wish . . .” “That you got a mountain bike too?” the first boy interrupted proudly. “No,” the other boy continued, “how I wish I could give a mountain bike, too, for a present. That would be nice.”

If you were asked to complete that sentence, “How I wish . . .”, will you say, “I also receive” or “I can also give”? In his simple way, the second boy gave us a lesson on the meaning of life. Life is not always about getting but also about giving. It is not only about living, i.e., looking after myself and my welfare, but also about “dying” so that others may live.

As we begin to shed off the pounds we gained from all the eating we did this Christmas season, let us also begin to shed off the pounds of self-indulgence and die to our self a little each day so that the image of God in us may shine forth for all the world to see. 

Fr. Joel Jason

reflection question

Enroll now in the Kingdom’s Fitness Center and begin the daily exercise of prayer, self-denial, and charity.

Lord, help me to begin this day, and the days ahead, with zeal to grow in Christian fitness and health in the Kingdom. Amen.

Today, I pray for: _____________________________________