Merry Christmas everyone! Yesterday, we celebrated the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, and today we are brought to reality with the martyrdom of St. Stephen, the very first martyr of the newly formed Catholic Church. He was stoned to death in Jerusalem, shortly after the death and resurrection of Christ.
Jerusalem, the holy city of God, is even now in the midst of turmoil, all because of religion. Muslims against Jews, and Christians caught in the middle. All three faiths claim this holy city as theirs. Oh, that one day, the land where Jesus walked, will have peace between all peoples.
Signs and Wonders
In the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles, we hear the story of Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit, preaching about Jesus, and performing great signs and wonders. This angered the elders who could not stomach his words. While he was having a vision of heaven, the crowd rushed him, threw him out of the city and ultimately stoned him to death. And who was watching this entire spectacle? None other than Saul (who would later become Paul).
In the Gospel, Jesus tells his disciples to beware of men in power who will haul them into court and persecute them. He tells them that they will be given the gift of elocution, like what was bestowed on Stephen; in other words, God speaking through them. Jesus continues telling them that they will be hated and even put to death (same result as Stephen).
Courage
During this holiday season, with many of us having family over, do we have the courage of Stephen to speak the truth in love? It would probably be wise to whisper a prayer prior to getting into any discussion, begging God for the gift of wisdom to speak the right thing at the right time, and to have willing ears to listen.
In today’s culture, we are bombarded with opinions on social media, and it is very hard to discern what is truth and what is not. However, take heart, friends, because God’s truth is indelibly imprinted in each of our hearts. And sometimes, people need to hear the truth even if it seems harsh.
On a recent visit to Havana, Cuba, it was eye-opening and shocking to see the sad situation of the people living under a repressive regime. Unfortunately, most of the people there have given up their faith and focus mainly on the struggle of day-to-day living. A great number of Cubans are barely eking out an existence doing whatever they can to earn an extra buck. With the handful of people, we got to have extended conversations with, they seem to live in common law relationships and not holy marriages, with one person we met currently with his 4th wife! What was almost laughable was the care taken of their classic cars dating to the 1950’s, passing those down through generations, rather than holy family virtues.
However, we did have the opportunity to hear Mass in a nearby church and were pleasantly surprised to see a whole group of nuns present, wearing full habit. The Catholic Church endures.
