13 April 2027 · Latin Rite
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“I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” John 6:35
Yesterday we saw Stephen accused; today we see him die. At the end of a long speech in which he retells the whole history of Israel, from Abraham to Solomon's Temple, Stephen speaks with the burning voice of the prophets: “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you are forever opposing the Holy Spirit.” These are hard words, but they are the words Moses and the prophets themselves had used in calling their own people back to God (Exodus 33:5; Jeremiah 9:26). Stephen speaks as a son of Israel to his brothers, not as an outsider passing judgment on a nation, and the Church reads his words in that light (Nostra Aetate 4). His hearers are enraged and grind their teeth. But Stephen stands firm: “filled with the Holy Spirit, he gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.” Elsewhere the risen Christ is seated at the Father's right hand; here he stands, as if rising to welcome his first witness, or standing as advocate for the one who is being condemned. They drag Stephen out of the city and stone him, and the witnesses lay their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. Stephen's last two prayers are an echo of the cross: “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit,” and then, on his knees, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” Luke ends gently: “When he had said this, he died”; the Greek says he “fell asleep.” The Psalm is the prayer Jesus himself made his own on the cross: “Into your hand I commit my spirit.” And the last line of the reading quietly opens the next chapter of the story: “And Saul approved of their killing him.” Stephen prayed for his killers, and one of them would become the Apostle of the nations.
In the Gospel the crowd that has eaten the loaves now asks Jesus for a sign: “What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you?” They remind him of the great sign of the desert: “Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” Jesus corrects them gently: it was not Moses who gave that bread, “but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” The crowd, like the Samaritan woman at the well asking for living water, says: “Sir, give us this bread always.” And Jesus answers with one of the great sayings of the Gospel: “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” The manna fed bodies for a day and spoiled by morning; Jesus is bread that gives the life of God and does not spoil. Today the Church also remembers St Martin I, pope from 649 to 655. He defended the truth, against the emperor's policy, that Christ has a true human will as well as his divine will, freely united to the will of the Father. For this he was arrested in Rome, taken to Constantinople, humiliated and condemned, and exiled to the Crimea, where he died in 655 of hunger and hardship. In his letters from exile he wrote of being short of bread. Deprived of the bread that perishes, he lived on the bread of life, and the Church honours him as a martyr.
Theme: “I am the bread of life.”
The first martyr's vision and forgiveness, the true bread from heaven, and a pope who hungered for the truth.
“Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O LORD, faithful God.” Psalm 31:5
““Look,” he said, “I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”” Acts 7:56
Apply: When trouble comes this week, stop for one moment and lift your eyes: Jesus is standing for you.
“Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he poured out himself to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.” Isaiah 53:12
“Then he knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he died.” Acts 7:60
Apply: Pray Stephen's words every day this week for the person you find hardest to forgive.
“When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the LORD has given you to eat.”” Exodus 16:15
“I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” John 6:35
Apply: Prepare for your next Holy Communion by praying the crowd's words: Lord, give us this bread always.
Stephen died seeing Jesus and forgiving his killers, and his prayer won Saul.
The Father gives us his Son as the true bread from heaven; St Martin I lived on that bread when all else was taken from him.
Take-home resolution: Pray Stephen's prayer daily this week for someone who has hurt you.
Dear friends, today we stand with Stephen at the moment of his death. Stones are flying, but he is looking somewhere else: he gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God (Acts 7:55). Jesus stands up for his witness. No one who suffers for him suffers alone.
Listen to Stephen's last prayers. Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. Then, on his knees: Lord, do not hold this sin against them (Acts 7:59–60). He has learned to pray from the cross. And his prayer was heard in a way no one expected: the young man holding the coats was Saul. St Augustine said, in substance, that if Stephen had not prayed, the Church would not have had Paul.
In the Gospel the people ask Jesus for a sign like the manna. Jesus says: it was not Moses but my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. And then: I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry (John 6:35). The manna lasted one day. Jesus is the bread that gives the life of God for ever.
Today we also remember St Martin I, a pope who would not change the truth about Jesus to please an emperor. He died in exile, hungry for bread, but fed with the bread of life. Let us ask for their courage and their forgiving hearts, and receive with faith today the bread that never fails. Alleluia. Amen.
Children, Stephen was hurt by angry people, but he did not hate them. He prayed: Jesus, forgive them. Jesus is happy when we forgive. And Jesus said: I am the bread of life. When we receive him in Holy Communion, he fills our hearts with his love so that we can forgive too.
Lord Jesus, standing at the right hand of the Father, you received the spirit of your servant Stephen and heard his prayer for those who killed him. Give us his forgiving heart, the courage of St Martin your faithful pope, and an ever greater hunger for you, the true bread from heaven, who live and reign for ever and ever. Amen. Alleluia.