Friends in Christ,
Today, we remember Saint Stephen, Proto-Martyr of the Church. Our Fellowship was named after Saint Stephen and our future Anglican Catholic Parish will also be named in His honour. We ask God's continual blessing on us forming a Parish in this part of New Zealand. In the Book of Acts, 6 , 5 and 7:59 we read " The Apostles chose Stephen a levite, a man who was full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, who while the Jews stone prayed, saying : Lord Jesus, receive my Spirit, Allelua. "
All those Catholic Christians who belong to the Traditional Anglican Communion or Forward in Faith must and surely will identify with Saint Stephen the Martyr. None of us would have been stoned for the Catholic Faith we stand up for, but one thing is for sure, that we have many enemies and are subject to constant abuse and criticism from those, who are in the liberal camp of the Church. Many of us have made numerous sacrifices in order to stand up for the faith of our fathers and want to be instruments to bring others to Christ and to the Catholic Faith. May you and I having this conviction in Christ our Lord continue to stand up for the truth, may we be like Blessed Saint Stephen, full of faith, full of the Holy Spirit and continue God's work until the end.
My prayers are in particular with all Anglican Catholic Parishes named after Saint Stephen and in particular the Parish of Saint Stephen, Athens, Texas, USA, which is very dear to me.
May I close with this prayer: ' Receive our gifts O Lord, for the commemoration of Thy Saints, that as their sufferings hath made them glorious, so our devotion may render us blameless. Through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen'
Amen
Ed Bakker
Postulant TAC - New Zealand
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