Transformation

This third week of Easter continues the theme of resurrection and transformation that our baptisms have given us.  We have died with Christ and risen with him; the path leads eventually to complete victory and union with him in heaven, but while here on earth, there are always obstacles and challenges that prune and hone us to that final form into which we are being transformed.  The martyrdom of the deacon, Stephen,  not long after the apostles began their ministry, reminds us that death is sometimes the consequence of adherence to Jesus and his teachings.  The years of persecutions until the fourth century starkly verify this truth. Yet, their deaths were the "seed of faith" for thousands.  The imprisonments of the apostles often led to the conversion of their prison guards.  St. Augustine tells us that the martyrdom of Stephen was a factor in the eventual conversion of St. Paul, who as the young Saul, oversaw his stoning. 
Sickness, surgeries, periods of convalescence can be opportunities for us to reflect on our lives, our fragility, and the need for a deeper relationship with God.  Anything can be taken as a transforming event if we accept it with openness and trust that God uses all means to contact us and invite us to himself.
Br. Rene