Message of Abbot Paul - Tuesday 26th December 2023

We all remember the carol we sang as children about the feast of Stephen, which we celebrate today. It’s the one about St Wenceslaus, the 10th century martyr King of Bohemia, also known as St Václav the Good. At infant school, my class used to sing, “Good King Wenceslas last looked out on the feast of Stephen,” long before Christmas, little understanding what it was about. We didn’t realise Wenceslaus was a saint, let alone a martyr, but it was our introduction to Stephen and we learned that his feast was on the day after Christmas, which everyone called Boxing Day. The Octave of Christmas is studded with the most wonderful saints, so each day we keep the feast of Christmas, while at the same time celebrating an outstanding saint, and who better to begin with than St Stephen? Nothing is known of his early life, but he could have been one of the many disciples of Jesus. He is first drawn to our attention when he’s appointed one of the seven deacons chosen by the Apostles to look after the distribution of food to the poor in Jerusalem. It wasn’t long before they also shared in the preaching of the Gospel and, in the case of Philip, we read of him baptising converts to Christ. Stephen was arrested for being a follower of the Way and condemned to death by stoning. At his trial he gives an eloquent speech bearing witness to his faith in the risen Christ. His death reflects the crucifixion of Jesus. This is how it’s recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, (Ac 7: 54-60).

 

​ “But Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at God’s right hand. ‘I can see heaven thrown open’ he said ‘and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.’ At this all the members of the council shouted out and stopped their ears with their hands; then they all rushed at him, sent him out of the city and stoned him. The witnesses put down their clothes at the feet of a young man called Saul. As they were stoning him, Stephen said in invocation, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’”

 

​Thus, Stephen becomes the first Christian martyr. Filled with the Holy Spirit, he knows that God is with him. He is more than willing to lose his life in this world in order to gain it in the world to come. He relies on the promise of Jesus to his disciples found in the Gospel of Matthew, today’s Gospel passage (Mt 10: 17-22).

 

“You will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the pagans. But when they hand you over, do not worry about how to speak or what to say; what you are to say will be given to you when the time comes; because it is not you who will be speaking; the Spirit of your Father will be speaking in you. Brother will betray brother to death, and the father his child; children will rise against their parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by all men on account of my name; but the man who stands firm to the end will be saved.”

 

Stephen willingly accepts his destiny, because he knows it to be the will of God and his particular vocation. He has no fear because God is with him. He can say with St Paul, “It is not I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” Could we follow in his footsteps? It doesn’t take courage, simply faith and a deep love of God.