Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. MT 4:4
ACTS 6:8-15
My Soul's Beloved,
It has always been so, Lord, the servants of Satan know how to twist the truth and declare lies to be the truth and truth lies. The enemies of Truth have no qualms about bringing false witnesses to testify against God's people. If they did it to the Son of God, Your disciples can expect nothing less, just as You forewarned all who would follow You.
Saints are seen as troublesome to those who prefer licentious living and are prepared to do anything, even murder, to gain wealth, power, and influence. They covet these with single-mindedness and are prepared to swear lying oaths to get what they want. Truth cannot be hidden and cannot be conquered by lies, and even for a while, if deceit prevails, it does so only for a season, for Truth can never be suppressed long. Truth is always victorious. To this day, we remember Stephen and celebrate with joy his martyrdom, gaining him paradise as his reward. We remember the names of his accusers and their infamy in putting an innocent man to death for the sake of furthering a way of life that had ended. Salvation had come to the world. Death was conquered. The time that the patriarchs and prophets had longed for had finally arrived. The Son of Man and the Son of God have established His everlasting reign on earth. God has conquered by suffering, dying, and rising up to new life, and all who believe in You, Beloved, are raised to new life with You.
They found they could not get the better of him because of his wisdom, and because it was the Spirit that prompted what he said. So they procured some men to say, ‘We heard him using blasphemous language against Moses and against God.’ Having in this way turned the people against him as well as the elders and scribes, they took Stephen by surprise, and arrested him and brought him before the Sanhedrin. There they put up false witnesses to say, ‘This man is always making speeches against this Holy Place and the Law. We have heard him say that Jesus the Nazarene is going to destroy this Place and alter the traditions that Moses handed down to us.’ The members of the Sanhedrin all looked intently at Stephen, and his face appeared to them like the face of an angel.
PSALM 118(119):23-24,26-27,29-30
They are happy whose life is blameless.
Though princes sit plotting against me
I ponder on your statutes.
Your will is my delight;
your statutes are my counsellors.
I declared my ways and you answered;
teach me your statutes.
Make me grasp the way of your precepts
and I will muse on your wonders.
Keep me from the way of error
and teach me your law.
I have chosen the way of truth
with your decrees before me.
teach me your statutes.
Make me grasp the way of your precepts
and I will muse on your wonders.
Keep me from the way of error
and teach me your law.
I have chosen the way of truth
with your decrees before me.
They are happy whose life is blameless.
JOHN 6:22-29
JOHN 6:22-29
My Soul's Beloved,
All too often, we forget that we are also spiritual beings. We have a soul that will live forever, but sadly, we pay far more attention to temporal and material things than we do to the things that will last forever.
The crowds had their fill of bread, and they sought You the next day only because they wanted more of the same, but the miracle of the loaves was only a prelude to something far more significant: the Holy Eucharist, the supernatural bread, the bread of angels, the heavenly manna. Without this heavenly food, our souls would wither and die. The world labors wearily for bread which perishes but cares little for the Bread that wells up to eternal life.
The key to true happiness, Lord, is no secret. You tell us clearly that our lives on earth must be spent in service to God, and service to Him begins with believing in You, His only Son, whom He sent into the world not to condemn the world but to save it.
Jesus answered:
‘I tell you most solemnly,
you are not looking for me because you have seen the signs
but because you had all the bread you wanted to eat.
Do not work for food that cannot last,
but work for food that endures to eternal life,
the kind of food the Son of Man is offering you,
for on him the Father, God himself, has set his seal.’
Then they said to him, ‘What must we do if we are to do the works that God wants?’ Jesus gave them this answer, ‘This is working for God: you must believe in the one he has sent.’
‘I tell you most solemnly,
you are not looking for me because you have seen the signs
but because you had all the bread you wanted to eat.
Do not work for food that cannot last,
but work for food that endures to eternal life,
the kind of food the Son of Man is offering you,
for on him the Father, God himself, has set his seal.’
Then they said to him, ‘What must we do if we are to do the works that God wants?’ Jesus gave them this answer, ‘This is working for God: you must believe in the one he has sent.’
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