Feast of St. Stephen Acts 6-8

God blesses those who are faithful to him, who trust and love him even in the face of opposition, humiliation and death.

And what is it to be faithful? It is to love God with your whole being, with your life and your death. But also to love your neighbor, and more, to love even your enemy, to pray for them, to forgive them, even as Jesus did. Indeed, to be like Jesus in every way.

And so we pray today to be faithful like Stephen, that we may share the beatific vision he was graced with, and be welcomed into the company of angels and ancestors around the throne. To see heaven in the midst of the ugliest of life.

Stephen saw the spiritual Reality behind the grittiest of the material world. He saw heaven in the most hellish of human experiences. He saw Jesus alive and standing with him as he was buried beneath stones. He saw beloved children of God even in those who were throwing those stones at him.

The beatific vision is not so much seeing into heaven as it is seeing into life here and all its people and seeing there God and his Son Jesus.

Give us that vision please, Lord.