Holy Mother Church, in her wisdom, doesn't let us spend too much time with Baby Jesus and the angels singing around the crib. The very next day after welcoming Jesus, she reminds us that the spiritual life is more than a precious smiling baby. She gives us St. Stephen, stoned to death for his fidelity to our crucified Lord.
51You stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do you also. 52Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? And they have slain them who foretold of the coming of the Just One; of whom you have been now the betrayers and murderers: 53Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it.
There are many "stiffnecked" people today who continue the legacy of the pharisees. Am I among them? Are you?
We've been given the law; have we kept it? Do we love God above all things? Do we love our neighbor? Do we keep the commandments? Do we live the virtues of the beatitudes?
How many people harbor hatred in their hearts for their neighbors; sometimes the closest neighbors in their own families? How many refuse to forgive?
The day before Christmas, our pastor urged us to make Christmas holy by forgiving anyone from whom we are withholding forgiveness. Maybe it's a member of our family or someone at work. Maybe it's the pope or one of our shepherds whom we see as among the "betrayers and murderers." Do we pray and sacrifice for their conversion?
Let us love the Lord our God with our whole heart, soul, mind and strength. Remember that we can't claim to love God if we withhold our good will from others, even those who have injured us.
Our Lady, refuge of sinners, pray for us.
St. Stephen, first martyr of the Church, pray for us.
St Stephen is really a stand-in overwrite for St James the Just (or Brother of the Lord). James was thrown from the pinnacle of the Temple as the first martyr. The name, Stephen, is actually a title meaning wreath or crown in Greek. It was not a Jewish name. So, this presumed first "martyr" is more prototypical than factual.
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