Daily Mass, Feast of St. Stephen, First Martyr, Dcecember 26, 2022

Daily Mass, Feast of St. Stephen, First Martyr, Dcecember 26, 2022 Good morning! Welcome to St. Gilbert Church! Grant, Lord, we pray, that we may imitate what we worship, and so learn to love even our enemies, for we celebrate the heavenly birthday of a man who know how to pray even for his persecutors. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Stephen’s speech [ on being charged with blasphemy] brought anger from the crowd. “But he, filled with the holy Spirit, looked up intently to heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and he said, ‘Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.’ …They threw him out of the city, and began to stone him. …As they were stoning Stephen, he called out, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’ …‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them’” (Acts 7:55-56, 58a, 59, 60b). ----- From Franciscan Media, Saint of the Day, December 26, 2022 DAILY MEDITATION | DECEMBER 26, 2022 Become Like a Child The great temptation is to use our obvious failures and disappointments in our lives to convince ourselves that we are really not worth being loved. Because what do we have to show for ourselves? But for a person of faith the opposite is true. The many failures may open that place in us where we have nothing to brag about but everything to be loved for. It is becoming a child again, a child who is loved simply for being, simply for smiling, simply for reaching out. This is the way to spiritual maturity: to receive love as a pure, free gift. ----Henri Nouwen This stream is created with #PRISMLiveStudio