Readings
I - Acts 6: 8-10; 7: 54-59
II - Mt. 10: 17-22
FEAST OF ST. STEPHEN, PROTOMARTYR
Christmas is a joyous celebration to those who accept the birth of the babe in Bethlehem with the conviction that he is the Promised One of God. Acceptance means the readiness to commit ourselves completely to him without any reserve, choosing him above everything. It means to give up anything and everything for the sake of this God who pitched his tent among us. Today the Church celebrates the feast of St. Stephen, the first martyr of Christ. Martyr comes from the Greek work ‘marthur’ which means witness. St. Stephen witnessed to the life and preaching of Christ because of which he was falsely accused and stoned to death. St. Stephen was a Greek speaking Jew, a deacon selected for the distribution of goods. He was a vehement and an enthusiastic preacher. His resembled the life of Christ. Some of the parallelism between Christ and Stephen were: both of them were considered as law breakers, both were accused of blasphemy, both had false witnesses, both were martyred outside the city and both forgave their persecutors.
The life of St. Stephen is a best model for us to imitate especially his courage to bear witness to Christ and his spirit of forgiveness after the model of his Master Jesus Christ. We are Christians called to imitate Jesus in all our words and deeds. It is challenging but it is a commitment imposed on each of us. Have faith and dare to witness to Christ courageously. As the Gospel reading says, the Spirit of the Lord will give us strength to witness to Christ and the courage to face anything as a consequences of the same. Let our mind and heart resonate with the prayer: “St. Stephen, Pray for us”.
