Sunday, May 16, 2010AD
7th Sunday of Easter
The Baptist or the Deacon?
In our Gospel reading, today, Jesus prays for you and me and all of us at the conclusion of the Last Supper. The prayer that Jesus offered before the beginning of His passion, death and Resurrection is called by many, now, “the Prayer of the Good Shepherd,” It speaks of how the Lord Jesus brings together God the Father, Himself and in His Paraclete-Spirit, “His own”, viz., those at the Last Supper and all who become believers because of the witness of “His own” together into the Trinitarian orbit. (There is where we are mentioned.)
The Fourth evangelist is aware that the Jesus Movement is going to last a long time in which every generation is included. Through the Christ Quantum, the Trinitarian God is present and available to all.
We see an early example of this dynamic in the account of the death of St Stephen (the Proto-Martyr) in our first reading. Though he was a younger contemporary in the Jesus Movement, he did not experience the physical Presence of Jesus before Jesus’ death and Resurrection. Rather, he appears on the scene early on, perhaps within 3 or 4 years after the crucifixion. His murder was probably, c.35.
However, St Stephen spoke Greek, not Aramaic, and he was probably part of a group of Jewish people who returned to the Holy City from overseas. (There is evidence, indeed, that many Greek speaking Jews came home to Jerusalem as an act of religious commitment to the Holy Land, if not the Temple.)
St Stephen was caught in the crossfire that represented the challenge that the Jesus Movement posed to the Jewish authorities. (Recall the heavies in the Gospel of St Luke were the Jewish authorities, not the Jewish people.) The authorities represent archetypal entrenched religion that will always defend itself. (One might wonder what would happen if Jesus were to come today to Rome as He did to Jerusalem 2000 years ago.)
At first, the religious leaders harass and challenge the Jesus movement; next they imprisoned members of the Movement; finally, the authorities threaten with death (and carry it out on) outspoken members of the Jesus Movement, viz., St Stephen.
St Luke describes the deaths of three prophet-martyrs. First, as someone said recently, John the Baptist did not go down without a fight. The Baptist was engaged in a “verbal food fight” with King Herod and ended up having his head handed to him, literally.
Second, we heard the account of the death of the innocent Prophet-Martyr par excellence, Jesus of Nazareth on Palm Sunday. Recall that Jesus died forgiving His executioners and surrendering, letting go and trusting the God of Mystery.
Third, we hear today of the death of St Stephen, who, indeed, names the reality of leaders who care more about self-perpetuation than innocence, similar to the Baptist. However, the death of the young deacon resembles more clearly the death of Jesus. St Stephen dies forgiving his murderers, after he (like Jesus) is dragged out of the city for execution. Next, his dying breath involves commending himself to God, just as Jesus did (“Lord, receive my spirit.”)
The difference between John the Baptist and Stephen is what we call today the “Christ Quantum”, the vibrational field, known as the Body of Christ, filled with the Holy Spirit. Jesus made the difference.
You and I and all of us share in the same Spirit. Our mission is the same as St Stephen’s. In the Easter Season, we hear frequently the proclamation that faith comes through hearing. Today, our modern culture might make the statement differently. Humans have always been mimetic beings, We tend to be imitators, rather than innovators. A significant statement on television is about the father confronting the son with illicit drugs. When the father asks the son, “Why did you start this? ” The child’s response is “I learned it from you”. Today, we might say, “Values are caught, not taught”. Another way of putting it is “Actions speak louder than words” Even a third way of understanding obvious paradox, “Don’t do as I do, rather do as I say.”
