Fr. Mike reflects on Stephen's heroic martyrdom and points out how those around him refused to hear him and hardened their hearts, something we too can do with the Word of God. In the book of Romans, Fr. Mike also highlights the importance of offering our bodies as a living sacrifice, responding to the call to love and to not be conformed to this world, and remembering that Christians have been grafted onto the tree of Israel. Today we read Acts 7, Romans 11-12, and Proverbs 27:13-14. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear. Please note: The Bible contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.
Chapter 1: What does Stephen's martyrdom teach us?
Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to the Bible in a Year podcast, where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of Scripture. The Bible in a Year podcast is brought to you by Ascension.
Using the Great Adventure Bible Timeline, we'll read all the way from Genesis to Revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story today. It is day 328. We are reading from the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 7, all about Stephen, and Romans, St. Paul's letter to the Romans, chapters 11 and 12, as well as Proverbs, chapter 27, verses 13 and 14.
Only two verses for those of you who know that you like the slow drip of the Proverbs as opposed to having entire chapters of Proverbs. We just get, you know, little verses here and there. The Bible translation I'm reading from is the Revised Standard Version, Second Catholic Edition. I'm using the Great Adventure Bible from Ascension.
If you want to download your own Bible in a year reading plan, you can visit ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a year. You can also subscribe to this podcast by clicking on subscribe and receiving daily episodes and daily updates. And every single day delivered to your place where you listen to podcasts, you get the podcast. Ha! Here we are. Day 328.
We're reading Acts chapter 7, Romans chapter 11 and 12, and Proverbs chapter 27, verses 13 and 14. The Acts of the Apostles, chapter seven. Stephen's speech to the council. And the high priest said, is this so? And Stephen said, brethren and fathers, hear me.
The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia before he lived in Haran and said to him, depart from your land and from your kindred and go into the land which I will show you. Then he departed from the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran. And after his father died, God removed him from there into this land in which you are now living.
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Chapter 2: Why is Stephen's speech significant in Acts?
Yet he gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot's length, but promised to give it to him in possession and to his posterity after him, though he had no child. And God spoke to this effect, that his posterity would be aliens in a land belonging to others who would enslave them and ill-treat them four hundred years. but I will judge the nation which they serve, said God.
And after that, they shall come out and worship me in this place. And he gave him the covenant of circumcision. And so Abraham became the father of Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day. And Isaac became the father of Jacob and Jacob of the 12 patriarchs. And the patriarchs, jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt.
But God was with him and rescued him out of all his afflictions and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who made him governor over Egypt and over all his household. Now there came a famine throughout all Egypt and Canaan and great affliction. And our fathers could find no food. But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent forth our fathers the first time.
And at the second visit, Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Joseph's family became known to Pharaoh. And Joseph sent and called to him Jacob, his father, and all his kindred, seventy-five souls. And Jacob went down into Egypt. And he died, himself and our fathers.
And they were carried back to Shechem, and laid in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem. But as the time of the promise drew near, which God had granted to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt till there arose over Egypt another king who had not known Joseph.
He dealt craftily with our race and forced our fathers to expose their infants that they might not be kept alive. At this time, Moses was born and was beautiful before God. And he was brought up for three months in his father's house. And when he was exposed, Pharaoh's daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son.
And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was mighty in his words and deeds. When he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the sons of Israel. And seeing one of them being wronged, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking the Egyptian.
He supposed that his brethren understood that God was giving them deliverance by his hand, but they did not understand. And on the following day, he appeared to them as they were quarreling and would have reconciled them, saying, Men, you are brethren, why do you wrong each other? But the man who was wronging his neighbor thrust him aside, saying, Who made you a ruler and a judge over us?
Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday? At this retort, Moses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons. Now when forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush.
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Chapter 3: What lessons do we learn from Romans 11 about Israel?
For by so doing, you will heap burning coals upon his head.
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. The book of Proverbs chapter 27 verses 13 and 14.
Take a man's garment when he has given surety for a stranger and hold him in pledge when he gives surety for foreigners. He who blesses his neighbor with a loud voice rising early in the morning will be counted as cursing.
Father in heaven, we give you praise and thank you so much.
Lord, thank you for this day. Thank you for the gift of these readings today. Help us to be yours. Help us to hear your words and put them into practice this day and every day. Help us receive your grace and be grateful for the fact that you have saved us and grafted us into the tree of Israel. Thank you, Lord. We praise you, Lord. We bless you. Please receive our praise.
Please receive the blessing. In Jesus' name, amen. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, amen. I want to keep this relatively brief because, you know, it's been kind of long these days, but I can't go anywhere without referencing Proverbs 27, verse 14. Oh my gosh, did you catch this?
He who blesses his neighbor with a loud voice rising early in the morning will be counted as cursing. You bless your neighbor with a loud voice early in the morning is like cursing them. I love that because, you know, it's good to be happy in the morning. I think that's fine. But there are times when you're like, bro, it's early, too early.
And your excitement and your blessing early in the morning is received like a curse. Does that make sense? I think that's pretty fun. Pretty fun proverb there. We have Acts chapter seven. As I mentioned, it's Stephen, not only Stephen's martyrdom, Stephen's speech. How incredible is this?
when we hear in the new testament these people like stephen today going over the story of salvation and you know the host maybe you knew the whole story beforehand maybe uh you know most of the story but here as stephen goes through he goes all the way back to the call of abraham from you know of the chaldees and going to the promised land and his son and his son gets circumcised and
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Chapter 4: How are Christians grafted onto the tree of Israel?
He's full of mercy. This moment, he's basically being just like Jesus as he says, Father, forgive them. Don't hold this sin against them. And yet even that innocent Stephen, even that holy Stephen, they don't want to listen to. They plug their ears and rush upon him and stone him to death.
and as we say we saw here there's a young man named saul whose name will later on be changed to paul and uh and he's consenting to stephen's martyrdom says stephen's execution here so a lot of stories in this and just remarkable you guys if there's ever there are some parts of new testament writings that i just i love that i love more than others you know it's just because there's they hit you hit you in the right way
Yeah, it was yesterday or the day before where we were reading in chapter eight, what should we say to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? How it talks about what should separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ, tribulation or distress, persecution or famine, nakedness, peril, the sword. That's chapter eight.
In chapter five, we talked about God proves his love for us and that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. But if there's another chapter that I love is chapter 12. Chapter 12 of the letter of St. Paul's letter to the Romans. Chapter 12, verse 1 and 2. I love it.
I appeal to you, brethren, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. You know, I don't know if you think some of our Catholic friends who are part of this community, you might recognize some of this language in a couple of the Eucharistic prayers, like at Mass.
we ask god god make us an acceptable sacrifice to you like make of us an acceptable sacrifice to you in the course of the sacrifice of the mass and so you might recognize that but some of our non-catholic friends i want to let you know that at mass that's one of the things we pray for we pray that not only we're offering the sacrifice of jesus the once for all sacrifice of jesus
but are also saying, Lord, help us to be part of that. As St. Paul says here in Romans chapter 12, verse one, offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spirit to worship.
And then the next verse, two, do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind so that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect. That is, again, so essential. It's necessary for us because we think the way the world thinks, then it is highly unlikely that we're thinking the way God thinks.
Lastly, in this one, verse chapter 12, the last lines from verse 9 all the way to the end of verse 21. It's often read at weddings. I don't know if you ever have ever realized this. A lot of weddings that I'll do when they choose the New Testament reading, they choose Romans chapter 12 verses 9 through 21, where it says that love be genuine, hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good.
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