＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊

Acts 6: 8-15

 Stephen, full of grace and power,

did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people.   Some persons then came forward, who belonged to the so-called Synagogue of Freedmen from Cyrene, Alexandria, Cilicia and Asia.   They argued with Stephen but they could not match the wisdom and the spirit with which he spoke.   As they were unable to face the truth, they bribed some men to say, “We heard him speak against Moses and against God.”

 So they stirred up the people, the elders and the teachers of the Law; they took him by surprise, seized him and brought him before the Council.  Then they produced false witnesses who said, “This man never stops speaking against our Holy Place and the Law.  We even heard him say that Jesus the Nazarean will destroy our Holy Place and change the customs which Moses handed down to us.”  And all who sat in the Council fixed their eyes on him, and his face appeared to them like the face of an angel.

 

Ps 119: 23-24, 26-27, 29-30

Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord.

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊

John 6: 22-29

 Next day the people who had stayed on the other side realized that only one boat had been there and that Jesus had not entered it with his disciples; rather, the disciples had gone away alone.  Bigger boats from Tiberias came near the place where all these peo­ple had eaten the bread.  When they saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus.

When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Master, when did you come here?”

Jesus answered, “Truly, I say to you, you look for me, not because you have seen through the signs, but because you ate bread and were satisfied.  Work then, not for perishable food, but for the lasting food which gives eternal life. The Son of Man will give it to you, for he is the one the Father has marked.”

 Then the Jews asked him, “What shall we do? What are the works that God wants us to do?”  And Jesus answered them, “The work God wants is this: that you believe in the One whom God has sent.”

 

Gospel Reflection：

The first reading introduces us to the story of St. Stephen, one of the first martyrs of the early Church, a young man emboldened to preach the Good News. In the Gospel, Jesus is asked by his disciples what the works were that he wanted them to do. To this he responds that what God wants is that they ‘believe In him’.

It’s something so simple and yet often seems so difficult in a world that seems to be so jaded and cynical. This Stephen didn’t only do, he would, in fact, give up his own life for it. When was the last time I spoke to someone about my faith? Take the opportunity to share your faith in Jesus with someone. Take the risk, as Stephen did.