ST STEPHEN December 26

As we enter the church today, we perceive a different atmosphere from that of Christmas Day. The white garments, white like the angel’s robe that announced the great joy to the shepherds— “Today, in the city of David, a Savior has been born for you” (Lk 2:11)—have been replaced by red.

After encouraging and rocking us with sweet pastoral melodies to announce the Savior’s birth, the liturgy confronts us with the blood shed by the first martyr. It seems like a bad-tasting combination. However, to understand Christmas, it is necessary to go beyond the pagan folklore that now marks this feast all over the world.

The Christmas of the liturgy has little to do with sprout poetry, lights and music boxes and, even less, with vacations on exotic beaches. It is the wager of God who, after speaking to people through the wonders of Creation and the prophets, now really gives us everything. In a gesture of supreme love, he offers his Son to the world.

From the earliest centuries, Christmas has been linked to Easter. In the newborn child, the community of believers is immediately invited to contemplate the one who will offer himself on the cross and rise gloriously. Andrej Rublev understood this very well when he painted the famous Nativity icon in Moscow around 1420. He portrayed the Child in the cradle with the proportions of an adult, wrapped in the bandages of death and lying in a manger that is actually a stone tomb. In the background, it represented a vast and dark cave: the tomb where Jesus would enter one day to conquer death and radiate the light of the Resurrection in the world.

It is to make us understand the link between Christmas and Easter that the Church introduced the feast of St. Stephen. In the Passion and death of the first martyr, we can already glimpse the events of Easter. Taking the Child in his arms, Simeon announced: “He is here for the ruin and resurrection of many in Israel; a sign of contradiction so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed” (Lk 2:34-35). Aware of the conflict that his message would provoke in the world, Jesus declared one day: “I did not come to bring peace, but the sword and division” (Lk 12:51).

Before Him, there will always be some who will stand for love and peace, others who will opt for hatred and violence, advocate truth and justice, and others who will choose lies and abuse. Some prefer to behave like wolves, and others accept the destiny that binds them to the Lamb. Only these will leave a bright trail in history.

• To internalize the message, we will repeat:

“You were born to make your life a gift:

this is the message of the Child of Bethlehem.”

First Reading: Acts 6:8-10; 7:54-60

Reading this passage, one has the unmistakable sensation of being in front of a well-known story, a representation, faithful also in the details, of the events of the Passion and death of Jesus. The author of the Acts of the Apostles was not interested in conveying exact information about how the first martyr was killed. His aim was another: to draw a parallel between Jesus and Stephen to highlight the fact that the image of the Master must be reproduced in every authentic disciple.

Let us look at the details of this similarity and try to reflect and verify if it occurs today in our community. Jesus—recalls the evangelist Luke—“was full of wisdom and the grace of God was with him.” “Jesus continued to grow in wisdom and stature, and more and more he enjoyed the favor of God and all the people” (Lk 2:40,52). Like the Master, Stephen was also full of wisdom (v. 10) and grace (v. 8) and performed great miracles and wonders among the people (v. 8). In Stephen, therefore, it was possible to see the figure of the Master reproduced: both were moved by the same Spirit and performed the same extraordinary works.

By the power of the Word, Jesus had introduced the kingdom of God into the world. His word was compelling, irresistible because it was divine, and no demonic power could oppose and frustrate it. Stephen’s word was also endowed with the same power: no one could “resist the inspired wisdom with which he spoke”(v. 10).

Called to bear witness to Christ, the disciple need not worry about what to say or how to respond. Just let himself be guided by the voice of the Spirit. Jesus assured: “At that time I will give you a mouth and wisdom that your adversaries will not be able to resist or counterattack” (Lk 21:15). Stephen experienced this: without animosity, he firmly denounced, as Jesus did, the false image of God preached by the spiritual guides of Israel, the uselessness of the sacrifices offered in the temple and in the sacred place itself. For the Lord does not live in man-made buildings; finally, he asked his accusers a provocative question: “Which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute?” (Acts 7:52).

The charges are identical: Jesus, like Stephen, was accused as a transgressor of the Law, as a blasphemer against God (Mt 26:65), and the temple (Mk 14:58). The accusers are the same: the people, the elders and the scribes. The two trials took place in front of the high priest and the Sanhedrin and, in both cases, false witnesses entered the scene (Mk 14:57).

It is mainly at the moment of death that the parallelism between Jesus and Stephen is perceived. The references are numerous and explicit. Stephen completes his long accusation without being interrupted (Acts 7:1-54). His interlocutors do not react, although he has been clear and precise in formulating his convictions. At some point, however, the fury of his accusers explodes. It happens when he proclaims his faith in the Son of Man, who is at the right hand of God. The Master also provoked the wrath of the Sanhedrin when he announced the vision of the Son of Man “sitting at the right hand of God” (Mt 26:64-67). However, the difference is significant: Stephen sees the Son of Man not seated (as we also repeat in the Creed) but standing, “standing at the right hand of God.” He is standing because he is the Risen One (Rev 1:13; 2:1). This faith in the Risen One gives the disciple the courage to witness the Gospel.

Rejected by the religious institution of his people, Jesus was taken out of the holy city and executed in an unclean place (Lk 23:26; 20:15). Stephen is also dragged out of the city and stoned outside the walls. Tradition places his martyrdom along the Kidron stream, not far from today’s Lion’s Gate.

The institution uses expulsion, excommunication, and marginalization when challenged by innovative proposals; it becomes repressive. We can grasp the most moving parallelism in the two prayers that Jesus and Stephen formulate before dying. The Master turns to God, saying: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” and “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit” (Lk 23:34,46). In the mouth of the disciple, we find an almost identical prayer. Stephen exclaims: “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he bends his knees, utters, like the Master (cf. Lk 23:46), a loud cry: “Lord, do not impute this sin to them” and falls asleep in the Lord.

It is enough to make us understand the message that the author of Acts wants to communicate to the Christians of his communities, severely judged by persecutions, and to us today: the disciple cannot expect a destiny different from that of the Master. In fact, in the disciple who presents himself as a lamb amid wolves, it is Jesus himself who continues to offer his life. 

Gospel: Mt 10:17-22

Jesus did not deceive his disciples; he did not promise honors and success, he did not assure the approval and consent of the people. He repeated with insistence and clarity that joining Him implies persecution: “If they have called the landlord Beelzebub, how much more will the members of his household!”(Mt 10:25). And again: “They will lay their hands on you and persecute you, handing you over to synagogues and prisons, dragging you before kings and rulers, for my name’s sake” (Lk 21:12). “When they persecute you in one city, flee to another” (Mt 10:23). “The wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, and they will kill them and persecute them; so that this generation of the blood of all the prophets, shed from the beginning of the world, will be called to account’” (Lk 11:49-50)

Persecution is the uniform that distinguishes the disciple. Paul is very explicit: “All who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Tim 3:12). How can we expect the Christian, messenger of peace and hope, to be received with open arms, joy and gratitude? We know that the proclamation of the Gospel creates conflicts. The ancient world is incompatible with the kingdom of God and does not surrender peacefully; it reacts by attacking those who want to make it disappear.

Christ paid for his faithfulness to his mission with his life, and his disciples can expect no different treatment: “A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they would persecute you also” (Jn 15:20). How to behave when you are harassed because of the Gospel? Jesus suggests it to us. The first recommendation is: “Beware of people!” (v. 17). It seems like an invitation to trust no one, to see enemies everywhere. But this is not so. Jesus warns, “They will hand you over to their courts, they will scourge you.” It will undoubtedly happen, but be careful because, at that moment, there will be a danger: you will be tempted to assimilate the principles and conduct of the powerful of the moment, of those who will enjoy a brief but seductive success. When the disciple feels opposed and isolated, marginalized, he can be induced to question the choices made. This is the danger. We must be alert.

Persecution will offer an opportunity not to be missed: that of bearing witness to one’s faith (v. 18). It is inevitable that, in the persecuted, the doubt arises that the overwhelming forces of evil may destroy the work for which he is putting his life at stake. On their lips, the lament of the Servant of the Lord emerges spontaneously: “In vain have I labored; for nothing and in vain have I spent my strength” (Is 49:4).

How can we free the disciples from the fear of defeat that grips even the hearts of the most convinced believers? The answer is found in what happened at the death of Stephen: the persecution not only did not destroy the seed of the Gospel, but favored its spread: “On that day a violent persecution broke out against the Church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered in the regions of Judea and Samaria. In the meantime, Saul was furious against the Church and, entering houses, he took men and women and imprisoned them. But those who had been scattered went about the country and spread the word of God”(Acts 8:1,3-4).

Wherever they went, these ‘fugitives’ spread the Word of God. Philip first joined the chariot of the Ethiopian eunuch and proclaimed Christ to him, then became an apostle in Samaria and along the coast of Gaza (Acts 8). Others go to Syria and find refuge in Antioch, starting a vibrant community that will play a decisive role in spreading the Gospel (Acts 11:19-21).

There is no better occasion than persecution to demonstrate with your life that you genuinely believe in the power of love and forgiveness and that you avoid all forms of hatred, resentment and violence. This is the moment when the disciple is called to put into practice the words of the Master: “Love your enemies and pray for your persecutors” (Mt 5:44). And also, those of Paul: “Bless those who persecute you” (Rom 12:14). Persecution not only does not mark the end of God’s work but is a cause of purification, conversion and growth.

“Do not worry about what you will have to say” (vv. 19-20). The Christian is a meek person who has only one weapon available: the word entrusted to him by the Master. It is a weapon that could be misused. In recommending that he not prepare his own speech, Jesus warns him of the perception of defending his positions or of beginning to attack those who oppose him. The disciple is not called to assert himself but to proclaim the Gospel. He must let the Spirit of the Father in him speak, and the Spirit will utter only words of love, peace and reconciliation.

“Do not prepare your defense” simply means: when called to respond to your persecutors, be inspired by the Gospel, not by your human reasoning or common sense. Be persevering to the end (vv. 21-22). The persecuted disciple must endure, like one who, though crushed under enormous weight, does not yield. He resists like those who face an enemy who attacks him with force.

With whom must the Christian be confronted? Who are his opponents? Against what antagonists is he called to fight? Certainly not against the persecutors. These are brothers to love and guide to Christ. The enemies that can harm him are not outside but within him. These are the impulses of hatred, revenge, resentment; it is the will to see his persecutors confused and humiliated one day. The disciple must resist this temptation until the end, that is, until the day when the Lord shines his light and the truth triumphs.

And if you find that you can no longer endure the confrontation, can you escape the tensions by running away? In the verse immediately following the passage proposed to us today, Jesus seems to leave a way out. He recommends: “When they persecute you in one city, flee to another” (Mt 10:23). The Christian does not flee, but neither does seek confrontation. He proposes the Message of Life but does not impose it. If it is rejected, he does not insist to the point of being irritating and annoying. He will go and propose the Gospel to others without deluding himself that he will find a quiet corner where he will be left alone. Regardless of where he moves, the disciple will always encounter problems.

There are many places where, even today, consistency with the Gospel is paid for with life. We will not be victims of violent persecutions such as those faced by the first disciples and faced by many Christians today. However, not bloody, but subtle and painful, persecution accompanies the life of every disciple. We think of the young man ridiculed by his peers. He does not adapt his behavior to current morality, of the honest employee who does not make a career because he refuses to cheat, of those who see their apostolic efforts frustrated by envy or by the backward and not very evangelical mentality of their brothers of faith.

Those who suffer this persecution are tempted to react aggressively, to return evil for evil. If they succumb to this temptation, they will be defeated. Only those who dare to give their lives receive the winner’s palm from God, like Stephen.