St. Stephen
Acts 6:8-10; 7:54-59;
Psalm 31:3, 4, 6, 8, 16-17; Matthew 10:17-22
Merry Second Day of Christmas! Today the Church remembers the proto-martyr,
St. Stephen. His story is recorded in
the Acts of the Apostles. He was chosen
to assist the apostles with the serving of the poor in the early development of
the Church. We believe this was the
origination of the Order of Deacon.
St. Stephen was known as a great man of God even though he
was probably quite young. Many miracles
were done by him and his preaching gained notoriety. Eventually, he was brought before the Jewish
leaders who stoned him to death because of his witness for Christ. As he was dying he claimed to see a vision of
Jesus in heaven standing to greet him.
While that’s a cool and inspirational story, one wonders why
the Church has placed it on the Second Day of Christmas. It seems like such a let-down. We have the glorious festivities of Christmas
Day and then the next day we get this depressing story of the martyrdom of a
saint. Why not keep the party going?
But I suggest there is wisdom in it all. To get to that, let me relate a story that I
found as I was pondering this question.
In the early 400’s a priest by the name of Lucian had a
vision in which he was given the location of the bones of St. Stephen. He was told to go to the Patriarch of
Jerusalem and have the place excavated so the relics could be recovered. When he did so, the Patriarch did as Lucian
bid and had the place excavated. When
the bones were brought forth several that were present were healed of various
illnesses. The date was December 26,
415. From then on this date was
designated for the feast day of the saint.
No less a personage than the great St. Augustine of Hippo
bears witness to the great miracles that accompanied the relics of St.
Stephen. He writes about some of them in
his famous book, The City of God, and
then states, “For were I to be silent of all others, and to record exclusively
the miracles of healing which were wrought in the district of Calama and of
Hippo by means of this martyr— I mean the most glorious Stephen — they would
fill many volumes; and yet all even of these could not be collected, but only
those of which narratives have been written for public recital,” [City of God
Book 22, Chapter 8].
I think there’s a message for us here and it’s this: you
need to see the cross in the crib.
Christmas only has meaning as we take in the rest of the story. During this time we are remembering the birth
of our Lord Jesus. But He was born, not
to live, but to die. His mission was to
redeem the sons and daughters of fallen humanity. This He could only do through death. St. Stephen brings that starkly into view.
Jesus warned us, “Beware of men, for they will hand you over
to courts and scourge you in their synagogues, and you will be led before
governors and kings for my sake as a witness before them and the pagans.” And again He said, “You will be hated by all
because of my name, but whoever endures to the end will be saved.”
Stephen demonstrates that.
He was hated for his testimony of Jesus.
While the religious leaders should have been the ones to commend him for
all his miraculous words, they condemned him instead. But Stephen did not faint in the face of
martyrdom. He sealed his testimony with
his own blood and was rewarded for remaining faithful until death. It is said that Jesus stood for Stephen
because Stephen stood for Him.
We are often in danger of over sentimentalizing
Christmas. While it is a season of great
and exuberant joy, the reality of our fallen world is that they will not often
be celebrating with us. Rather, they
will hate us if we take all of this too seriously. It’s what happened to Jesus, it’s what
happened to the martyrs, and we can count on it happening to us as well if we
are faithful to follow in their footsteps.
So where’s the joy of Christmas in all this? Exactly here- that since Christ has come,
death is no longer the end of the story but rather the beginning. Stephen enters into the joy of the Lord. And he’s still there! He will be there for eternity and no one or
nothing can ever change that. That’s an
occasion for great joy.
I don’t know if you or I will ever be instruments of God to
bring miraculous healing to others either in our lifetime or afterward. But I do know that we can be the means by
which others encounter the joy of Jesus.
And I also know that if we are faithful to the end we also will inherit
eternal glory just like Stephen.
In a mere week’s time the world will return to “normal” and
put away Christmas until next year. If
we insist on continuing its celebration we will be looked at as odd. Worse, if we insist on living in its joy
throughout the year we will become an offense.
In those moments, think of St. Stephen and whisper a quick prayer for
his intercession. Then boldly go forward
and bear witness of Christ, come what may.
If we are faithful, there really will be Christmas all year long. The great joy of the feast will co-exist
amidst the tragedies of this world. In
the end, when our Lord comes to be the judge of the living and the dead He will
sort it out and everyone will see that we stood for the winning side after
all.
So again I wish you, Merry Second Day of Christmas!
St. Stephen, pray for us!
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