Word to the Wise
Wednesday, December 26, 2018 - Dec. 26 - Feast of St. Stephen, first martyr
[Acts 6:8-10; 7:54-59 and Matt 10:17-22]"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." [Matthew]
The same evangelist who provides us with part of the story of Jesus' birth has that same Jesus warning his disciples that anyone who believes in him could be facing a lethal response, even from their closest kin! How could the child in the manger scene be such a controversial figure? Well, we might remember that Matthew is the source for the story of the Magi whose inquiry about the birth of Jesus leads the murderous Herod to order the death of newborns! The manger scene is the site of birth, but it must be abandoned suddenly to avoid certain death. It would be strange to hang a crucifix on the wall of that stable, but if we wanted to tell the whole story in one scene, the gesture might have a kind of appropriateness.
The story of the martyrdom of St. Stephen, told by the evangelist Luke in the first scripture for today from the Acts of the Apostles, is an example of what the evangelist Matthew describes. Jesus' warning was already happening to the community for whom Matthew composed his gospel portrait. In Luke's story, the figure of Saul appears, the future St. Paul, who would suffer martyrdom himself!
The joy of Christmas becomes tinged with the thought of martyrdom but we still await the celebration of the Magi at Epiphany, so the time of liturgical celebration continues as we start putting away all the decorations. Leaving up that manger scene until the Magi appear can give us time to consider the whole story of Jesus' birth and know the meaning of love unto death. AMEN