The Forward Day by Day Meditation for January 23, 2020
We post a Forward Day by Day Meditation for every day of the year - and we invite you to consider them and talk about them here. If you'd like to comment, you can log in to Disqus with your Facebook, Twitter, or Google account; just click "Login," or the appropriate logo below. Or, you can sign up for a Disqus account; just use the entry form below, or click the "D" logo to start the process. You can find the past week's Meditations in the box at right (or below, for mobile users), or search for previous entries on the Archives page. You can also listen to the Forward Day by Day podcast anywhere you find podcasts!
THURSDAY, January 23 Phillips Brooks
Acts 7:57-58 But they covered their ears, and with a loud shout all rushed together against him. Then they dragged him out of the city and began to stone him; and the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.
Saint Stephen, the first Christian martyr, is a superb example of the far-reaching effects of a faithful witness to one’s belief and conviction. Stephen kept the faith at the cost of his life, and because he did so (perhaps partly on account of the way in which he did so), he set up a chain reaction in the conscience of a young man “whose name was Saul.”
It may very well be that if Saint Stephen’s witness to the way of his Lord had not been clear and unmistakable, Saul of Tarsus might never have taken Christianity seriously.We never now how many sons and daughters we might bring to God by steadfastness and loyalty to the way and the ethics of Jesus. We never know how many we may be driving away from him by a half-hearted, follow-the-crowd attitude toward his way and toward the precepts of his Church.
MOVING FORWARD: Do some research on the life and ministry of Phillips Brooks.
Read the contemporary reflection here.
Pray for the Diocese of Ho (Ghana)
Today the Church remembers Phillips Brooks, Bishop of Massachusetts, 1893.
Ps 37:1-18 * 37:19-42 | Genesis 11:1-9 | Hebrews 6:13-20 | John 4:1-15
Subscribe to Forward Day By Day
Follow us
