They saw the face of Stephen glowing like the face of an Angel

Acts 6:8-15, Jn 6:22-29. Today’s first reading recounts the story of the martyrdom of Stephen, the first martyr of the Church and one of the seven Deacons who were tasked with the distribution of the communal goods and the care of the needs of the faithful. Stephen spent his time and energy caring for the needy but he also did some preaching of the Christian faith. For this, he was dragged before the Sanhedrin as an enemy of the Jews. The Sanhedrin members looked at a saint and condemned him as a sinner. Instead of recognising the face of a saint they rejected him as the devil incarnate. Looking at the face of Stephen during his martyrdom, the Sanhedrin saw it glowing, like the face of an Angel.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus is said to be caring for His people, aware that normal hunger must be satisfied. Then, as people continued looking for still more to eat, He invited them to look for what would feed their deeper hunger. He gave them more than bread, nourishing them with God’s own presence. We need material food because we are material beings, but our search must go deeper. There is more to life than satisfying our physical desires. There is a deeper hunger that must be met if we are to live life to the full and be fully at peace.

May the Lord strengthen us, so that we may be dedicated to God unto the end like Stephen, be our inspiration at all times and help us to draw closer to God! Amen!! Have a productive week!!!