20 April 2021
Tuesday of the Third Week of Easter
“Sir, give us this bread always.” This is the response of the crowd when Jesus speaks of the bread from heaven that gives life to the world. It’s an answer that reflects our human condition of endless hunger. Perhaps the crowd means it in a physical sense, food to eat always. No more worrying about where the next meal will come from. Jesus speaks, however, in a deeper way about the bread of life that satisfies the deepest cravings of the human heart, his message of love and life eternal.
Christ’s message is something to be received and observed in our words and in our actions. St. Stephen, in today’s first reading, reminds us of this. He’s truly fearless, unafraid of speaking truth to power. He has received Christ and observes his teachings in his words and his actions. When his life is about to be taken, Stephen observes the heavens opening up for him and confidently asks the Lord to receive his spirit. Fully aware that his resting place is with the Lord and not in the troubled depths of vengeance or resentment, he asks the Lord for forgiveness of those who killed him. This is the final wish of a soul who knew freedom and life that comes from Jesus. Nothing can stop him from it.
Today, and at the end of our lives, may we be like St. Stephen, who received the Bread of Life and observed Jesus in his everyday life until being received into eternal life by our God of love.