Sunday of the Myrrh-Bearing Women; Our Venerable Father John the Ancient Hermit.
Acts 6:1-7; Mark 15:43-16:8.
Read Acts 6:1-7
Words don’t always come easily. Especially when the conversation and the people involved mean the most to us, sometimes we wish we could have said more or differently. Or, with regret, less. When a conversation catches us off-guard, we can walk away from it thinking things we wish we had thought of in the moment. Jesus assured the Apostles that, when called upon to proclaim the gospel, “the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.” (Luke 12:12) This is what happened at Pentecost when they were “filled”with the Holy Spirit. That is a divine enablement in the moment for a specific ministry. But what about the rest of us the rest of the time?
Stephen was a man “full” of faith and of the Holy Spirit. Unlike a temporary, situational “filling,” “full” denotes mature character with the Holy Spirit touching all parts of a person’s life. Flowing out of that, Stephen spoke wisely. (Acts 6:10)
Yes, Stephen is a saint. But, we are all “called to be saints” (1 Corinthians 1:2), having our behavior transformed through Jesus Christ. That means that it is possible for our words to be included in that transformation because Jesus says, “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” (Luke 6:45) Every day we can become more able to obey God tomorrow. Out of the good treasure of our hearts, as Jesus says, we will produce good words. As we better tend our hearts today, we will speak better words tomorrow. “Keep your heart with all vigilance; for from it flow the springs of life.” (Proverbs 4:23)