Dec.26, Dec.27. Feast of St. Stephen, Feast of St. John

Scripture: for Stephen: Acts of the Apostles 6:8-10, 7:54-59, Psalm 31:3-4, 6-8, 17, 21. Matthew 10:17-22 We are all jolted when the first liturgy after Christmas centers on the martyrdom of St. Stephen. All of the three readings, including the Psalm Response, focus on martyrdom and the spirit of one who witnesses to God and the religious truths one believes in. In Luke's Acts we see the author composing these narratives while comparing the new born church of Christians and Jewish Christians with the life of Jesus. Here it is Stephen who mirrors Jesus in his death as he points to the heavens while saying he sees Jesus seated at God's right. He then dramatically imitates the prayer of Jesus as he says, "Lord, Jesus, forgive them for they know not what they do. And into your hands I commend my spirit." Luke shows Stephen proclaiming and refuting the arguments of those who stone him to death. He is led by the Spirit as both Luke indicates and also as we read the Gospel of Matthew about witnessing. The Spirit prompts him to preach salvation history through Jesus' Paschal Mysteries and this leads to his being stoned. Saul who lived during the life of Jesus as a young person and who died witnessing to Jesus like Stephen, but first we learn of his cooperating as a bystander in the death of the proto-martyr Stephen. The Acts is the idyllic Church that Luke paints for us and both Stephen, Peter, later Paul are the heroes of the Church. Today our own witness is necessary in a very fast-paced consumer society. We probably will not be martyred, but we would do well to witness against the prevailing moods of the world--sensationalism, individualism and consumerism. Perhaps, we needed to be awakened to this after opening up an abundance of Christmas gifts; perhaps, not, if we had spent some moments in prayer and contemplation of the mystery of life in Jesus' birth and death in the martyrdom of Stephen. Amen. Feast of St. John the Evangelist: Scripture: John 1:1-4; Psalm 97:1-2, 5-6, 11-12. John 20:2-8. Often I am asked, "What is your favorite Gospel?" Since I have taught all four Gospels I have had the experience of the depth of each of them. My favorite Gospel has become the one that I am presently reading or the one I am teaching. They all are my favorites once I am into their individual messages and narratives about Jesus' life, his suffering, and death, and his resurrection. And just as we were surprised by the liturgy yesterday in the account of Stephen's death; today we are surprised that the Gospel is about the Resurrection account of Jesus in the Fourth Gospel while the Epistle too has been a reflection on the historical life of Jesus seen in the light of the resurrection faith of the inspired writer. Is it John the Apostle? Is he the "Beloved Disciple" who is writing these narratives? No one really knows, but our tradition says they are the same; our biblical scholars are not sure except for the fact that there probably was an apostle or disciple named John who orally handed down some of what we find in the final redaction of the Gospel named after John. I always say " We cannot come up with a better name than that which the tradition has handed on to us, so I stay with that in order not to confuse myself and my listeners. In the beginning was "oral proclamation and tradition" before there was any written accounts of the words and actions of Jesus. Today in reflecting upon the first reading from the First Epistle of John, I looked upon it as a magnificent text for this Christmas Season that you and I can come back to . It touches me like a more practical and experiential reflection on what is said in the Prologue of the Fourth Gospel about the eternal origins of the Word who becomes flesh. As a Marian devotee, I also see that the flesh of Jesus definitely issues from his Mother Mary who is the Woman and the Mother of Jesus in the Johannine tradition. She is mentioned as mother over ten times and as woman in the two great scenes about her in John's Gospel-- Cana (John 2:1-11) and Calvary (John 19:25-28a). I like to think about the little girl who after praying her night prayers said to her mom that she would like to have a God or a Jesus that she could touch and caress. Well, the writer of the Epistle certainly had this experience and he is sharing it with us. The best we can do is to believe those words, to enjoy them, and to thank God for the gift of becoming flesh of the Virgin Mary and living among us. This definitely is a Christmas reading seen in the light of what John gives us in the Resurrection narrative at the tomb. Jesus is born, Jesus has died, Jesus has risen. He is the beginning and the end, the Alpha and the Omega. Amen.