Feast of Saint Stephen, first martyr

Today's Mass Readings

Today marks the Feast of St. Stephen. Stephen was one of the first deacons in the church, after the apostles appointed seven people to help distribute money and goods to the poor (See Acts 6:5). But Stephen was also a great preacher, and he had many arguments with people in his day over the fact that Jesus is Lord. After a trial before the Sanhedrin (the Jewish council that also arrested and tried Jesus), Stephen was taken and stoned, and during his martyrdom he prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Stephen is thus the first recorded martyr of the church, and his witness influenced many hundreds of others who were willing to die for their faith in Jesus Christ. Is it difficult to turn to this story of martyrdom the day after Christmas? Perhaps for some of us it is. Maybe your Christmas day was all you hoped for and more– children and grandchildren played with their toys and laughed a lot, the food was good, the company was even better. Perhaps if you are in this group, you feel something of a letdown today, a bit like the magic has gone away and all that is left are leftover turkey or ham, and paying bills. The account of Stephen’s death only adds to the sense of let down and maybe a little bit of depression.

But perhaps you are in the group that is relieved that Christmas has come and gone. Maybe you, like many others, dread this time of year because you are not close to family, or you have no one to celebrate with, or you just don’t like the commercialization of Christmas. So perhaps St. Stephen’s death is a welcome story because it gives a different focus than the baby in the manger and all of the seasonal baggage that can come along with him.

But I hope that St. Stephen’s Day provides renewal to both groups. The word “martyr” means witness, and perhaps Stephen’s martyrdom can be a witness to us for how we might live our lives as we look to the year 2009. Stephen’s story reminds us of the cost of discipleship to this little baby born in a manger. Culturally, we are used to compartmentalizing Christmas – we see it as the time when we can sing lots of carols and be giddily glad that Jesus is born as a baby. As a young mother, Christmas makes me think of blankets and bottles and cuddling with the child, but I don’t always focus on the other end of the story. Culturally, we celebrate the baby this time of year, but not the man who goes to his death.

St. Stephen’s Day reminds us that the baby is born looking toward the cross and that we are called into a life of discipleship in that baby’s name. It is discipleship that, as in the case of St. Stephen, might lead us to give up our lives. Notice that the psalm has us repeating the same words that Jesus cries from the cross at the end of his life (Psalm 31). It is a stark reminder of Good Friday that day after Christmas. Notice too that the words from the Gospel (Matthew 10:17-22) do not speak in dulcet, falsely happy tones: Jesus says very clearly, living the life he calls us to might well lead us to death, and to persecution even among our family members and others closest to us. That little baby is just a little bit dangerous. We do well not to forget that we Christians celebrate Christmas not because of the presents or the food, nor even solely because God became man. We celebrate because of who that man is in entirety – from birth to death. So it is good to remember, even when we celebrate the birth, that the death is also significant.

So, no matter what yesterday was like – today we are called, as we are each day of the year, to the dangerous task of discipleship. Today we are asked to pray, with Jesus and Stephen, “Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.” Today we are asked to reflect on the ways that we might be witnesses for our faith in small and large ways.

- Jana Bennett