Homily
for December 26, 2017.
“Brother will deliver up brother to death, and the father his child, and
children will rise against parents and have them put to death; and you will be
hated by all for my name's sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.” Matthew
10:21-22.
Year after
year, I never cease to wonder why the feast of St. Stephen is placed side by
side with Christmas. What a sharp contrast! Just hours after celebrating the
birth of Jesus, here we are talking about the stoning of a man to death by his
fellow “church” people – synagogue officials in the name of blasphemy.
However, our
opening prayer at mass this morning justifies our celebration by showing us
that just as we celebrated Christ’s birthday yesterday, today’s feast is
another birthday; a birth not to earthly life but to eternal life in heaven.
It says: “Grant
Lord, we pray that we may imitate what we worship, and so learn to love even our
enemies, for we celebrate the heavenly birthday of a man who knew how to pray
for his persecutors.”
What is so
unique about St. Stephen is even while he was being stoned to death, he refused
to allow bitterness and hatred becloud his mind. By the example of his death,
St. Stephen imitated Jesus Christ who while on the cross prayed for his
persecutors: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” Luke 23,
34.
Christmas
will not be complete if we do not remind ourselves that the birth of Jesus is
not all about eating and drinking. The feast of St. Stephen coming up
immediately teaches us that Christmas is actually a celebration of love. Beyond
the whole fun-fair, Christmas teaches us to love (as Christ loved us) and not
just our friends but even our enemies.
We may
have spent time yesterday with the special persons in our lives. We have invited
our close friends and family members, we have shared food, clothes, drinks and
even money with our loved ones. Today, still in the spirit of Christmas, we are
invited to toe the line of Stephen. Let this day be dedicated to our enemies;
yes, as part of our celebration of Christ’s birth, let us now show love to
those who hate us.
And I assure
you that the best gift you can give your enemy today is the gift of
forgiveness. Not only will forgiveness free that person from your mental prison
of hatred, it also frees you from prolonged pain and unnecessary suffering.
Are there
persons who have seriously wronged you in the past? Do something nice for them
today. Send them a gift. Imitate God who sent his Son Jesus to die for us even
while we were still God’s enemies by virtue of our sinfulness. (Cf. Romans 5:8).
In our
Gospel passage today Jesus says: “Beware of men…” Does this mean we should run
away from people? No. Rather, Jesus wants us to realize that people are capable
of doing us much harm or better put, we should not be surprised when they treat
us very badly. It is in our human nature to be wicked to one another but let us
not forget that Jesus also tells in Matthew 5:44, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”
Christmas is a story of how God so loved the world (his enemies). Saint Stephen
made enemies for himself by showing his talent and for this, he was put to
death. No matter how good we are, we cannot avoid enemies, yet like Stephen who
prayed for his persecutors, we are called to love even those who hate us in the
spirit of Christmas.
Let us
Pray: Lord Jesus, teach me to imitate you just like Stephen did. Amen.
Merry
Christmas. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless
you. (Feast of St. Stephen. Bible Study: Acts 6:8-10 and Matthew 10:17-22).
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