Is it not interesting, at the very least, that the first day after we celebrate the feast of the incarnation — the birthday of Jesus the Christ — that we celebrate Stephen, a deacon and considered to be the first martyr of the church?
Of course, we have to take a step back to realize that Jesus did not begin his ministry until he was 30 years old; he was crucified three years later. So this martyrdom of Stephen, as is noted in the Acts of the Apostles, occurred some years later as the church began to grow and extended out to Gentiles.
Nonetheless, this is the tradition. So, we must not think that this martyrdom actually occurred the day after Jesus’ birth; but the church placed it there in the liturgical calendar (which may be very interesting to many).
The point is that this is for us!
Once again, we know the whole story about Jesus — his birth, his growth among the holy family, and the announcement of who he was and why he was by John the Baptist.
Then follows the baptism of Jesus by John; Jesus’ years of proclaiming that the kingdom of God was there among them; and eventually the rising anger against Jesus that led to his crucifixion and glorious resurrection.
After all of that, we hear of a man named Stephen who was made or ordained one of, if not the first, deacon of the church. The spirit and energy of the early church as recorded in the Acts records his martyrdom as the first in the church. How powerful, indeed, to celebrate it liturgically immediately after celebrating the incarnation.
It is as if to connect God entering humanity in the birth of Jesus, with God entering Stephen and anyone who comes to know and believe in, and celebrate the great mystery of God becoming man in Jesus the Christ.
In the Gospel today, Jesus warns that those who believed in him and dared to speak of him would be handed over to courts to be scourged in synagogues, and even handed over to death.
But Jesus also told them that they would know what to say because the Father himself would fill them with his Spirit and even guide their speech. Apparently, Stephen found this out for himself as he was being stoned to death, and cried out —
