Scripture for April 19, Lectionary # 273.

Scripture: April 19, Lectionary # 273. Acts 6:8-15. Psalm
119:23-24,26-27,29-30. John 6:22-29.

Stephen now enters the Acts of the Apostles as a vibrant, dynamic preacher
and witness to the Paschal Mysteries of Jesus. He is confronting the
people from the Diaspora and their leaders with a speech that takes them
through the history of salvation up to the Resurrection of Jesus. It was
not the length of the speech, though it will be the longest, but the fact
that he confounds the listeners with the content and challenge to repent
that is found in his sermon. He most likely is speaking to the Diaspora in
Greek for he was chosen as a deacon to help distribute things equally to
both the Jewish Christians and the Hellenists. Stephen was not only
capable of preaching with zeal but also was enlightened by the Holy Spirir
thus no one could really confront what he was saying except by violence.
This would ensue at the end of his talk and Stephen would be counted as the
proto-martyr of first martyr of the newly formed Christian community in
Jerusalem.

Psalm 119 gives us the inner feelings of a Stephen who is faithful to the
God of mercy and love and who expects the Torah to be kept fully in its
spirit as well as in the letter of the law. Stephen who learned of Jesus'
words and deeds was doing exactly that speaking in the name of the Lord and
doing so in the spirit of the longest Psalm in the Bible, Psalm 119. The
zeal for the Torah was burning within his heart as he addressed the leaders
and the people of the Diaspora(those Jewish people living outside of the
Land of Israel).

Jesus continues to speak about the Bread of Life but we have a short
digression from the great wisdom discourse of 6:35-50 and that of 6:51-70
in John. The topic is the work of God which Jesus is doing. For us that
work is to continue in his spirit as we learn it from the Gospels, the
Church, and from our pastoral leaders. Jesus' advice is addressed at the
end of the pericope for today: "This is the work of God, that you believe
in the one He sent." That means that Jesus is "the Apostle" in this Gospel,
the one who has been sent from the Father. "God so loved the world that He
sent his only begotten Son..." We are to learn from his example and his
mission how to be apostles and how to do the works of God today. Jesus is
inviting us to share in this mission which is God's plan for the world. We
can ask ourselves today, "To what work of God am I being called to
participate?" Amen. Alleuia.