May 5, 2025 // Monday of the Third Week of Easter
Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s First Reading: Acts 6:8-15
Reflect on the Word //
For several months, I’ve been praying through the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius of Loyola. One day, I was asked to pray with this little nugget of wisdom: that life lived freely in Christ means welcoming insults and humiliations.
Memories immediately flashed unbidden through my mind: childhood friends laughing at my expense, a college professor mercilessly taunting me during a presentation, Army bosses mocking me for having children on God’s time, and too many moments of failure and shame in motherhood to count. Shudder.
Unlike Saint Stephen in the First Reading, my face has never shone like that of an angel in the face of humiliation. I instinctively retreat from insults, persecutions, or false accusations—grasping for self-preservation and agonizing over others’ opinions of me.
Wrestling with this reality in prayer, I pondered: why have so many Saints been able to face humiliations worse than mine, while I try to escape them and cower in fear? Fear. There was the answer. It wasn’t humiliation itself that did the most damage, but the fear of it that ensnared me.
Saint Stephen boldly faced humiliations, insults, and martyrdom—not because he was fearless, but because he looked to the Lord in his every fear. He forgave his oppressors not by his own power, but because he allowed God to forgive his own sins, and leaned on God’s strength in his every weakness. He stood physically bound yet was completely free, face shining with uncontainable divine love—the only thing powerful enough to break every chain forged by fear.
You and I can access the same exact grace and power to break free whenever fear of worldly esteem seeks to bind us.
Worrying over your reputation amidst the shifting opinions of the world will always lead straight into the enemy’s trap. You’ll be tempted to despair in your weakness, believe lies about your dignity, or become defensive at perceived injustice. Like Saint Stephen, we must remember that what matters most is how God sees us.
Looking to your identity in Christ can preserve you in peace. He provides ample mercy for your every weakness, He refutes every lie, and He defends your honor from the assaults of the enemy—always.
Relate to the Lord // Ask God how He sees you. Believe Him.
Megan Hjelmstad is a wife, enthusiastic hockey mom, and Army Veteran living in Denver, CO. In her “spare” time she serves as a Catholic Writer, Speaker, and Women’s Mentor, helping women to embrace their God-given dignity and deepen their prayer relationship with the Lord. She is the author Offer it Up: Discovering the Power and Purpose of Suffering, a writer for SpiritualDirection.com, and a longtime team member of Blessed is She. Megan adores books, sleep, sunshine, and Colorado’s great outdoors almost as much as she adores Jesus in the Eucharist. Learn more at MeganHjelmstad.com.
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