Feast of St. Stephen, first martyr

Today's Mass Readings

At the bottom of the center stairs at Conception Abbey, we have a set of two very heavy brass house chimes. They are rung by hand with a mechanism using two large wooden hammers. When the chimes are struck, their rich melodious sound travels throughout the house but after the sound dies down the chimes continue to resonate quietly.

This could be an image of these liturgical days following the feast of Christmas. From the deep stillness of night, the Word of God was born as a new sound of hope. From that moment onward, all who choose to listen can continue to hear and feel the power of that moment.

St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr, is set before us today because he not only chose to hear the Word of God resonating through the early Christian community, but he also absorbed the spiritual resonance throughout his mind, body, and spirit. He was a deacon first of all by his compassionate service to his brothers and sisters, and then in fearless debate, he taught the astonishing news that Jesus had indeed come as the Messiah.

The challenge for us today is to penetrate the various levels of meaningless noise that bombard us and seek out the stillness that connects us to the source of life and hope. So often we forget that we have the unique ability to seek out the sound and the resonance of silence. This is not simply a luxury or a relief from oppressive noise, but a necessary choice in communicating with the person of Jesus. The martyrs such as St. Stephen could talk about Jesus with authority because they had first come to know him in the silence of personal conversation.

The early Christians had the advantage of meeting and knowing people who had seen and listened to Jesus, and yet, we the latecomers still have a marvelous connection. So often we feel that we have to “do the work” of reaching out through the noise and across the distance to connect with the Lord. But really, if we are open and deeply desire it, the Lord through his Spirit comes to us in gentle ways. Those gentle sounds come to us wherever we may be in His house. It may be in places of happiness and joy, or in pain and suffering. And after the sound dies down, always there is still the resonance.

Reflection by Fr. Daniel Petsche, OSB