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Pope Benedict XVI- General Audiences |
General Audience
On St. Stephen
"He Teaches Us to Love the Cross"
H.H. Benedict XVI
January 10, 2007
www.zenit.org
Dear Brothers and Sisters:
After the holidays, we return to our catecheses. I meditated with you on
the figures of the Twelve Apostles and on St. Paul. Then we began to
reflect on other figures of the nascent Church. So today we wish to
pause on the person of St. Stephen, celebrated by the Church on the day
after Christmas. St. Stephen is the most representative of a group of
seven companions. Tradition sees in this group the seed of the future
ministry of deacons, though we must point out that this name is not
present in the book of the Acts of the Apostles. Stephen's importance,
in any case, is clear by the fact that, in this important book, Luke
dedicates two whole chapters to him.
Luke's account begins by showing a subdivision that took place within
the primitive Church of Jerusalem: It was made up completely of
Christians of Jewish origin, but among the latter some were natives of
the land of Israel and were called "Hebrews," while others came from the
Jewish faith in the Old Testament from the diaspora of the Greek tongue
and were called "Hellenists." Thus the problem began to take shape: The
neediest among the Hellenists, especially widows devoid of any social
support, ran the risk of being neglected in assistance for their daily
sustenance.
In order to overcome these difficulties, the apostles, reserving for
themselves prayer and the ministry of the word as their main task,
decided to appoint "seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of
wisdom" to this duty, that is, to charitable social service. As Luke
writes, with this objective and by invitation of the apostles, the
disciples elected seven men. We have their names. They are: "Stephen, a
man filled with faith and the Holy Spirit, also Philip, Prochorus,
Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicholas of Antioch, a convert to Judaism.
They presented these men to the apostles who prayed and laid hands on
them" (Acts 6:5-6).
The gesture of the imposition of hands can have several meanings. In the
Old Testament, the gesture has above all the meaning of transmitting an
important duty, as Moses did with Joshua (Cf. Numbers 27:18-23), thus
designating his successor. Following this line, the Church of Antioch
would also use this gesture to send Paul and Barnabas on mission to the
peoples of the world (Cf. Acts 13:3). Reference is made to a similar
imposition of hands upon Timothy, to transmit an official duty, in two
letters that St. Paul addressed to him (Cf. 1 Timothy 4:14; 2 Timothy
1:6). The fact that it referred to an important action, which had to be
carried out after a discernment is deduced from what is read in the
first letter to Timothy: "Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, nor
participate in another man's sins" (5:22).
Therefore, we see that the gesture of the imposition of hands takes
place in the line of a sacramental sign. In the case of Stephen and his
companions it is certainly about the official transmission, on the part
of the apostles, of a duty and at the same time of imploring for the
grace to exercise it.
What is most important is that, in additional to charitable services,
Stephen also carried out a task of evangelization among his fellow
countrymen, the so-called "Hellenists." Luke, in fact, stresses the fact
that he, "full of grace and power" (Acts 6:8), presents in Jesus' name a
new interpretation of Moses and of the very Law of God, rereads the Old
Testament in the light of the proclamation of the death and resurrection
of Jesus. This rereading of the Old Testament, a Christological
rereading, provokes the reactions of the Jews who interpret his words as
blasphemous (Cf. Acts 6:11-14). For this reason, he is sentenced to
stoning. And St. Luke transmits to us the saint's last discourse, a
synthesis of his preaching.
As Jesus explained to the disciples of Emmaus that the whole of the Old
Testament speaks of him, of his cross and of his resurrection, so St.
Stephen, following Jesus' teaching, reads the whole of the Old Testament
in a Christological key. He demonstrates that the mystery of the cross
is at the center of the history of salvation narrated in the Old
Testament, he truly shows that Jesus, the crucified and risen one, is
the new and authentic "temple."
Precisely this "no" to the temple and its worship provokes the
condemnation of St. Stephen who, in that moment -- St. Luke tells us --
on turning his gaze to heaven saw the glory of God and Jesus at his
right hand. And looking up to heaven, to God and to Jesus, St. Stephen
said: "Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing at
the right hand of God" (Acts 7:56). It was followed by his martyrdom,
which in fact was conformed with the Passion of Jesus himself, as he
gives his own spirit to the Lord Jesus and prays so that the sin of his
killers not be held against them (Cf. Acts 7:59-60).
The place of Stephen's martyrdom in Jerusalem is situated traditionally
just beyond the Damascus Gate in the north, where in fact the church of
St. Stephen now is, near the well-known "Ecole Biblique" of the
Dominicans. The murder of Stephen, Christ's first martyr, was followed
by a local persecution against Jesus' disciples (Cf. Acts 8:1), the
first verified in the history of the Church. It was the concrete
opportunity that drove the group of Hebrew-Hellenist Christians to flee
Jerusalem and be scattered. Expelled from Jerusalem, they became
itinerant missionaries. "Now those who were scattered went about
preaching the word" (Acts 8:4). The persecution and consequent
scattering became mission. The Gospel was thus propagated in Samaria,
Phoenicia, and Syria, until reaching the great city of Antioch where,
according to Luke, it was proclaimed for the first time to the pagans
(Cf. Acts 11:19-20) and where the name "Christians" resounded for the
first time (Acts 11:26).
In particular, Luke specifies that those who stoned Stephen "laid down
their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul" (Acts 7:58), the
same one who from persecutor would become a famous Apostle of the
Gospel. This means that the young Saul must have heard Stephen's
preaching, and knew the main contents. And St. Paul was probably among
those who, following and listening to this discourse, "were enraged" and
"ground their teeth against him" (Acts 7:54). Thus we can see the
wonders of Divine Providence: Saul, hardened adversary of Stephen's
vision, after the encounter with the risen Christ on the road to
Damascus, takes up the Christological interpretation of the Old
Testament made by the first martyr, furthers and completes it, and thus
becomes the "Apostle to the Gentiles." The law is fulfilled, he teaches,
in the cross of Christ. And faith in Christ, communion with the love of
Christ, is the true fulfillment of the whole Law. This is the content of
Paul's preaching. He thus shows that the God of Abraham becomes the God
of all. And all believers in Christ Jesus, as sons of Abraham, become
sharers in the promises. Stephen's vision is fulfilled in St. Paul's
mission.
Stephen's story tells us much. For example, it teaches us that we must
never disassociate the social commitment of charity from the courageous
proclamation of the faith. He was one of the seven entrusted above all
with charity. But it was not possible to disassociate charity from
proclamation. Thus, with charity, he proclaims Christ crucified, to the
point of also accepting martyrdom. This is the first lesson that we can
learn from the figure of St. Stephen: Charity and proclamation always go
together.
St. Stephen speaks to us above all of Christ, of Christ crucified and
risen as the center of history and of our life. We can understand that
the Cross occupies always a central place in the life of the Church and
also in our personal lives. Passion and persecution will never be
lacking in the history of the Church. And, precisely persecution
becomes, according to Tertullian's famous phrase, source of mission for
the new Christians. I quote his words: "We multiply every time we are
harvested by you: The blood of Christians is a seed" ("Apologetico"
50,13: "Plures efficimur quoties metimur a vobis: semen est sanguis
christianorum").
But also in our lives the cross, which will never be lacking, becomes a
blessing. And, accepting the cross, knowing that it becomes and is a
blessing, we learn the joy of the Christian, even in moments of
difficulty. The value of the testimony is irreplaceable, as the Gospel
leads to him and the Church is nourished on him. St. Stephen teaches us
to learn these lessons, he teaches us to love the cross, as it is the
way through which Jesus always makes himself present again among us.
[Translation by ZENIT]
[At the end of the audience, the Holy Father greeted pilgrims in several
languages. In English, he said:]
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
In today's catechesis we consider St. Stephen, the first martyr. The
Acts of the Apostles tells us that Stephen, "a man full of faith and of
the Holy Spirit" (Acts 6:5), was one of the seven men, traditionally
considered the first deacons, appointed by the apostles to assist the
Greek-speaking widows in the Jerusalem community. The apostles then
"prayed and laid their hands on them" (6:6) as the sign of handing on a
specific office within the community as well as beseeching the grace
necessary to fulfill it.
In addition to his ministry of charity, Stephen also preached the
Gospel, and his fearless proclamation of Jesus as the fulfillment of the
Mosaic law led to his death by stoning. His martyrdom in imitation of
Christ unleashed a local persecution which resulted in the preaching of
the Gospel beyond Jerusalem and, eventually, to the pagans. As we know,
Stephen's death was witnessed by the young Saul, who, after his dramatic
conversion to Christ, would take up and develop Stephen's preaching of
the Gospel as centered on faith in Christ, rather than the observance of
the Law.
Stephen's example shows us the inseparability of faith and charity, and
reminds us that every persecution can become an opportunity for the
spread of the Gospel and the growth of the Church. Let us have the
courage to take up his example of bold witness!
I welcome all the English-speaking visitors present at today's audience,
including the young members of the Focolare Movement. May your visit to
Rome be a source of inspiration to renew your commitment to share the
Good News of Jesus Christ. Upon all of you I invoke God's blessings of
joy and peace.
© Copyright 2007 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
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