👑Born a pagan, Stephen became the first King of Hungary and, through his work, the apostle of his people. He governed with extraordinary wisdom and justice, consolidating the kingdom under the Christian faith. He founded dioceses and monasteries, promoted charity towards the poor and widows, and lived a profound life of prayer, offering his kingdom to the Blessed Virgin Mary. His life embodies the ideal of the Christian monarch who uses temporal power as a gift from God for the salvation of souls, multiplying the talents entrusted to him for the glory of God and the good of his people.
🙏 Introit (Ps 78:11, 12, 10 | ibid., 1)Os justi meditábitur sapiéntiam, et lingua ejus loquétur judícium... The mouth of the just shall meditate wisdom, and his tongue shall speak judgment. The law of his God is in his heart. Ps. Be not emulous of evildoers; nor envy them that work iniquity. ℣. Glory be to the Father.
📜 Epistle (Ecclus 31:8-11)
Blessed is the rich man that is found without blemish: and that hath not gone after gold, nor put his trust in money nor in treasures. Who is this, and we will praise him? for he hath done wonderful things in his life. Who hath been tried and made perfect, he shall have glory everlasting. He that could have transgressed, and hath not transgressed: and could do evil things, and hath not done them. Therefore are his goods established in the Lord, and all the church of the saints shall declare his alms.
📖 Gospel (Lk 19:12-26)
At that time, Jesus spoke this parable to his disciples: A certain nobleman went into a far country, to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. And calling his ten servants, he gave them ten pounds, and said to them: Trade till I come. But his citizens hated him: and they sent a message after him, saying: We will not have this man to reign over us. And it came to pass, that he returned, having received the kingdom: and he commanded his servants to be called, to whom he gave the money, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading. And the first came, saying: Lord, thy pound hath gained ten pounds. And he said to him: Well done, thou good servant, because thou hast been faithful in a little, thou shalt have power over ten cities. And the second came, saying: Lord, thy pound hath gained five pounds. And he said to him: And be thou over five cities. And another came, saying: Lord, behold, here is thy pound, which I have kept laid up in a napkin; For I feared thee, because thou art an austere man: thou takest up what thou didst not lay down, and thou reapest that which thou didst not sow. He saith to him: Out of thy own mouth I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up what I laid not down, and reaping that which I did not sow. And why then didst thou not give my money into the bank, that at my coming, I might have exacted it with usury? And he said to them that stood by: Take the pound away from him, and give it to him that hath ten pounds. And they said to him: Lord, he hath ten pounds. But I say to you, that to every one that hath shall be given, and he shall abound: and from him that hath not, even that which he hath shall be taken from him.
💡 Reflections
🧠The pound distributed equally to all servants represents the Word of God or the gift of faith, which is offered to all, but whose fruit depends on the zeal and effort of each. St. Stephen, receiving the "pound" of royal authority, did not hide it but traded with it to convert an entire kingdom. The fear of the negligent servant is the excuse of laziness, for the true fear of God inspires action, not paralysis; thus, whoever receives gifts, especially power, must use them for divine service, under penalty of being judged not for having done evil, but for not having done the good he could have (St. Ambrose, Exposition of the Gospel of Luke). The nobleman is Christ, who ascended to heaven to receive the Kingdom, and the servants are the preachers and leaders of the Church, to whom He entrusts gifts for the edification of the faithful, represented by the profit from the pounds (St. Bede, Homilies on the Gospels). The wealth that does not corrupt, praised in the Epistle, is that which is used as an instrument for the Kingdom of God, for the just ruler does not place his hope in treasure but uses it for the common good, becoming perfect not by not possessing, but by not being possessed by his riches (St. Gregory the Great, Pastoral Rule).
🔄The Gospel of St. Luke presents the Parable of the Pounds, which resembles the Parable of the Talents in St. Matthew (Mt 25:14-30), but with crucial distinctions. In Luke, each servant receives the same amount (one pound), emphasizing the fundamental equality of the gifts of grace, whereas in Matthew, the servants receive different amounts (five, two, and one talent) "according to his proper ability," highlighting the diversity of gifts. Furthermore, Luke introduces a political element absent in Matthew: the citizens who hate the nobleman and reject his reign ("We will not have this man to reign over us"), a clear allusion to the rejection of Christ by the world and His own people. The reward in Luke is also more concrete and governmental, being dominion over cities, whereas in Matthew it is participation in the "joy of thy Lord."
💌The Apostle St. Paul elaborates on the principle of faithful stewardship of divine gifts. In his First Epistle to the Corinthians, he states directly what the parable teaches: "Here now it is required among the dispensers, that a man be found faithful" (1Cor 4:2). He also details the nature of these gifts, explaining that there are "diversities of graces, but the same Spirit" (1Cor 12:4), and that they are given for "the common good." This Pauline theology provides the purpose behind the "pounds" distributed by the Lord: not for personal gain, but for the edification of the Church. The Lord's final warning in the parable echoes Paul's teaching on the final judgment, where "we must all be manifested before the judgment seat of Christ, that every one may receive the proper things of the body, according as he hath done, whether it be good or evil" (2Cor 5:10).
🏛️The documents of the Church's Magisterium solidify the doctrine on the responsibility of rulers, personified in St. Stephen. The Encyclical Diuturnum Illud of Pope Leo XIII states that all civil authority comes from God, and therefore, those who exercise it are ministers of God. This reflects the parable, where the servants (rulers) must account to the "nobleman" (Christ the King) for the use of the power entrusted to them. The Encyclical Immortale Dei, by the same pontiff, teaches that the State has a duty to render public worship to God, on whom it depends. St. Stephen applied this principle by making Hungary a Christian kingdom, "trading" his authority to produce spiritual fruits, in direct contrast to the mentality condemned in Pius IX's Syllabus of Errors, which proposes a State indifferent to religion and the source of its own rights.
🧐 See English articles here.