“My soul has held fast to you, my God; for your sake I endured death by stoning.” (Lauds Antiphon for the Feast of St. Stephen).
These words would have exclaimed St. Stephen, expressing in them his great love for the Father. His soul belonged to God, Who had drawn him so close to His heart that He made him willing even to die for love of Him.
What was it that our Heavenly Father worked in the soul of this person, so that he could offer such a sacrifice?
In the first instance, we must be clear that God Himself was the first to sacrifice Himself for us out of love. It corresponds to His love to be willing to suffer for His creature who turned away from Him. This is a reality diametrically opposed to that which is reflected in certain satanic or pagan practices, deeply distorted, in which man himself sacrifices other people, even children, as sacrifices to “appease the wrath of the gods”.
Starting from God’s self-giving love, which found its culmination on the Cross, man can, by God’s grace, awaken his greatest nobility and capacity to love: “No one can have greater love than to lay down his life for his friends” (Jn 15:13).
Then, God’s love can penetrate our heart to the point of making it capable of giving Him the most precious thing, that is, our own life. This does not happen only in the martyrdom of blood, but the Father invites us again and again to give Him our whole life. If we do so, we will be able to exclaim something similar to these words put into the mouth of St. Stephen:
“My soul has held fast to you, my God, I have given you my whole life”.
What a beautiful response that would be to our Father’s love!