Reflection for Monday of the Third Week of Easter
(Acts 6:8-15; Jn 6:22-29)
Stephen was silent, but the voice of
his accusers roared. They had many accusations to sell their jealousy. Stephen
was full of grace, wisdom and power of the Holy Spirit. Obviously, he was
operating at a level his accusers could not access. So their jealousy
increased. The same kind of malicious intent with which they crucified Jesus
was applied to Stephen. Thus, they influenced public opinion against Stephen,
and accused him of blasphemy. Often times, those who are eloquent, who have
power or access to public media can easily influence public opinion. And every
now and then, our faith is place on the judgment seat of what is trending...If we are not inspired by faith but by popular
opinion, we may end up fronting the grace, wisdom and power of the Holy Spirit.
Stephen remained silent before the
council as accusations against him continued to fly. “This man never ceases to
speak words against this holy place and the law; for we have heard him say that
this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place...” But the silence of Stephen
spoke to the council. They were drawn to a contemplative gaze at him. “All in
the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel.” Without words,
his innocence shined out.
But the crowd will often want to
have their way! Public opinion can set you up or blackmail you into succumbing
their idea. So after eating to their
fill, the crowds made great efforts to find Jesus. They travelled from Tiberias
to Capernaum looking for Him to befriend Him to their side. The popular opinion
about the Messiah was the one that would perform such miracles as feeding them
with bread and fish. But Jesus will not fall for popular opinion, which germinates
from selfishness. He insists we must be motivated by whatever will lead to
eternal life. “Do not labour for the food which perishes but for the food which
endures to eternal life, which the Son of man will give to you.” And the work we must do to earn this eternal
nourishment is faith in Jesus Christ. “This is the work of God that you believe
in Him whom He has sent.”
Taking responsibility in faith sets
one apart from the crowd and positions him for a personal encounter with the
resurrected Jesus. This is the testimony of Stephen. The grace, wisdom and
power of the Holy Spirit, gifts and promises of the risen Saviour, awaits all
who will step out of the crowd and
embrace Him in faith. What is the prevailing opinion in the media today? What
is the trending social life style you see around? What is the popular idea
about religion and worship? Etc. Most of these are laced with hidden agenda
which are not in line with our faith in Christ Jesus. If we stand like Stephen
on the foundation of the Holy Spirit, even the sound of our silence will
overcome the noise of every problem we face.
Fr Jude
Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R
Saints
Peter & Paul Catholic Church,
Tedi-Muwo,
Lagos.
Monday
April 27th, 2020.
