Thursday, December 26, 2019

Feast of St. Stephen, Proto-martyr

 

(Acts 6:8-10.7:54-59; Matthew 10:17-22)

Some may think that the Feast of the Martyrdom of St. Stephen is celebrated today because Stephen was killed on December 26.  However, there is no record of the date of his martyrdom.  No, the Church celebrates Stephen’s martyrdom on the day after Christmas to temper Christian joy.  The martyrdom of Stephen reminds the faithful that Jesus was born to die on the cross to atone for their sins.  Not only that, but Christians are called to carry their crosses after him.

Of course, most Christians will die in bed like everyone else.  But they should not think that bloody martyrdom does not exist today.  It occurs thousands of times every year.  Perhaps this horrible truth was never better exhibited than almost five years ago.  The Islamic State aired a video then of its recent slaughter of twenty-one Christians in Libya.  Some people hate Christ and his followers because of his devotion to God, the Father.  They resent anyone who calls them to love and not lord it over others.

It is remarkable the way business slows down for a week or so during the Christmas season.  We are wise to use the leisure time, at least in part, for contemplation.  We need to ask ourselves, “How is it that God became human?”  There is a follow-up question almost as important, “What does the God-human now expect of me?”

Homilette for December 26, 2007

Wednesday, Feast of St. Stephen, Proto-martyr

(Acts 6:8-10;7:54-59)

The play Murder in the Cathedral tells the story of the martyrdom of St. Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury, in 1170. Half-way through the play, the archbishop delivers his Christmas sermon. He tells the congregation that in the Christmas mass not only the birth of Jesus but also his passion and death are remembered. This dual remembrance indicates that the Christian life is neither pure joy nor pure sorrow. We live both on every occasion. Thomas goes on to ask, “Is it an accident … that the day of the first martyr follows immediately the day of the Birth of Christ?” No, the Church deliberately places the martyrdom of Stephen on the day after Christmas to temper our celebration. We must keep in mind the dual sentiment of Christian life.

Unless people think that the dual sentiment is solely the invention of the Medieval Church, we can point to the same duality in both Luke’s and Matthew’s Nativity accounts. In Luke after Jesus is born his parents take him to the Temple where the holy man Simeon makes the foreboding prophecy that Jesus will be a sign to be contradicted. In other words, Jesus’ enemies will do him in. In Matthew the horror is more obvious. Jesus’ birth occasions the jealousy of King Herod. To eliminate his rival Herod has all male infants of the area two years and under murdered.

We must take to heart the traverse sentiments of Christian life. Our happiest celebrations like a dear friend’s birthday should not ignore the fact that fellow humans are suffering often dire need. Similarly, our most intolerable burdens like the loss of a loved one should not go without faith in Christ’s victory over sin and death. Christians are neither rosy-eyed optimists nor unrelenting pessimists. No, we live both the death and the resurrection of the Lord deep in our hearts everyday.