Stephen is stoned to death in today’s reading from Acts. He dies a martyr’s death with dignity and respect. He kept his faith, telling the Lord not to hold this sin against the people. God’s grace was working within Stephen until the very end.
We see God’s grace working in the lives of the saints in different ways. St Bernadette is the saint we celebrate today. She was born to a poor family in France in the middle of the 19th century. She suffered poor health throughout her life, yet God allowed the Virgin Mary to appear to her in the small French village of Lourdes to bring a special message of mercy and repentance to the world. At the Virgin Mary’s command, Bernadette dug a hole in the ground and brought the healing water of Lourdes to the surface. Now, more than a century and a half after that original appearance of the Virgin Mary at Lourdes, millions of pilgrims each year from all over the world still flock to this holy site to encounter God’s healing presence in their lives. Bernadette eventually became a nun and died at the age of 35 after suffering from poor health her entire life. I had the wonderful opportunity to visit Lourdes in 2018 on pilgrimage and to experience the healing waters of the spring there. It was an amazing experience that I will never forget.
The stories of Bernadette and Stephen still inspire us today. May their intercessory prayers and stories continue to encourage us to live in faith and in holiness.
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