for April 28
Tuesday of the Third Week of Easter

The bloom is off the Easter rose, or so it seems if you take a cursory look at today’s readings. Over the last week, we worked our way through all the gospel stories of Jesus appearing to the disciples after the resurrection. Gone now is the burning glow of recognizing the risen Jesus. Instead, the gospels this week seem to take us back to the remedial course, repeating what Jesus taught during his lifetime and what seemed so hard for the disciples (and us) to grasp. At the same time, as we continue to make our way through the Acts of the Apostles, the stakes seem to rise as we come to the story of Stephen’s martyrdom.

We were introduced to Stephen only yesterday, and today we will hear about his death. Stephen was said to be full of faith and the Holy Spirit, full of grace and power, and able to do great signs and wonders. In short, Stephen is introduced to us as someone who is a lot like Jesus. We can even guess that Stephen’s signs and wonders involved things like healing the sick and feeding the hungry. Also like Jesus, Stephen is soon embroiled in trumped-up charges of blasphemy. Today’s reading picks up at the conclusion of a chapter-long speech in response to those charges, in a passage that might grate a bit on 21^st century ears. Stephen sounds just as arrogant (“stiff-necked”) as those he denounces. But try not to get caught up in his words and lose track of what he does: after Stephen witnesses to Jesus as the fulfillment of Scripture, he meets his death just as Jesus did. Stephen remains faithful and even forgives his executors. Nor should the fact of his death overshadow the way Stephen lived; his life was as an early repetition in the pattern set by Jesus.

Picking up right after the climactic conclusion to yesterday’s gospel—“This is the work of God, that you believe in the one [God] sent”—today’s passage opens with the disciples revealing (yet again) their misunderstanding. So, what can you do? they ask. Can you show us something even mightier than Moses? And Jesus must draw their attention past the stories of manna in the wilderness and to the One who sent it, going on to make the remarkable claim to be that bread, to be the one that God has sent. I am the bread of life, says Jesus, his first two words evoking YHWH’s self-revelation to Moses from the burning bush. Trust in me, Jesus tells them, and I will be all the sustenance you need.

Stephen certainly exemplified both Jesus’ mighty works of care for those in need and complete trust in God. His is the first repetition in a pattern that continues in martyrs closer to our own day: Archbishop Oscar Romero, the US churchwomen, the Jesuits and their companions of El Salvador. Their faith and how they lived, taking the side of the poor and needy, provoked the same powers that lead to Jesus death to kill them as well. I think of their witness and wonder if I could do anything even remotely similar.

In actual fact though, keeping my faith has required no more threat to me than perplexing my children and occasional dismissal as an oddball or fool—not a high price at all. It should be easy enough for me to follow the pattern set by Jesus, repeated by Stephen, and carried down through the life of the church. And yet on some mornings (especially lately), it isn’t easy to get up from the breakfast table and get on with the work of the day.

That is why, I think, it is good to hear today’s gospel along with the Acts of the Apostles. The gospel does not call us to heroism or martyrdom. Instead, we who would follow Jesus are simply asked to do what Jesus asks of his disciples in this week’s gospels: to trust in him. Learning to do so is the work of a lifetime, but it is enough to sustain us to eternal life.
—BJ Brown

Today’s readings can be found at the US Conference of Catholic Bishops website.