Feast of Saint Stephen, first martyr

 Gospel Mt 10: 17- 22

Jesus said to his disciples:

“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.

When they hand you over,

do not worry about how you are to speak

or what you are to say.

You will be given at that moment what you are to say.

For it will not be you who speak

but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

Brother will hand over brother to death,

and the father his child;

children will rise up against parents and have them put to death.

You will be hated by all because of my name,

but whoever endures to the end will be saved.”

Reflections: 

Today  we celebrate together as the Church the Feast of St. Stephen, the Protomartyr or the very first Martyr of the Church. This means that St. Stephen the first one to die for his faith in God, in giving his life for the sake of the glory of God and in the midst of his mission. We may wonder why just immediately right after the most joyful celebration of Christmas Day we suddenly enter into this sombre occasion of the memory of the martyrdom of St. Stephen, but in truth, this celebration of St. Stephen and his martyrdom is an important reminder for all of us what Christmas is truly all about. St. Stephen reminds us all that Christmas is about celebrating the coming of Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, Who brought into our midst the truth about the love of God for each one of us, and which truth is the reason why St. Stephen died courageously in defending that truth and Good News from those who tried to silence him and the Church.