How’s your ‘poker face’? Do people tell you they find you hard to read? Or maybe the opposite, they say your face ‘gives you away’? Think back to a time that required courage—maybe you had to give a presentation, or have a difficult conversation with a friend, coworker or family member—wasn’t the expression on your face part of your armor?
The line that stood out to me in today’s reading was the last line from the Acts: “…his face was like the face of an angel.” I see Jesus in Saint Stephen’s face. I think back to when our Blessed Lord was brought to the Sanhedrin, “but he was silent and answered nothing.” (MK 14:61) There must’ve been such a profoundly serene look on our Lord’s face at that time; did the accosting crowds recognize Jesus as they looked intently at Stephen? I wonder if Stephen was thinking of Jesus at that moment, too.
Today, when you’re at work, in traffic, going about your daily affairs, take a moment and ask God for the grace to see Jesus in someone else’s face.
—Kristin Dillon is a lay minister who has worked with Charis Ministries and Holy Name Cathedral. She lives in Chicago with her husband and son.