December 26, 2025, Feast of St Stephen, protomartyr
“Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.” These words from Psalm 31 sum up the last thoughts of the deacon Stephen as he was stoned to death by an enraged mob who were convinced Stephen was a Jewish heretic. He forgave his murderers, voiced this prayer of confidence, and died, the first of many millions of Christian martyrs. The psalm pictures the believer being hoisted by God’s grace into a place of safety, a massive rock that takes him or her high above the curses and stones of the persecutors. The one praying does not take his confidence from his own actions and mindset, only from God’s merciful protection.
Was Stephen rescued from the clutches of his enemies and persecutors? Look at it from his perspective. One moment he is being crushed by hundreds of stones being thrown at him by the mob. The next moment he is encircled by light coming from his redeemer. He has given the ultimate witness to Jesus Christ, whom he is imitating by going to death in faith and love. God rewards his faithful witness by drawing him perfectly into the body of Christ. He has certainly, in his own body, made up what is lacking in Christ’s perfect redemptive sacrifice.
We, too, are invited by Jesus, whenever we suffer for His sake, to make up what is lacking. What is lacking is only our participation in that sacrifice, which we encounter by faith in the Crucified One.
So, yes, Stephen was rescued from his enemies, but not in this life. We must remember that none of us gets a “pass” out of witness, or out of suffering. Not Stephen, not you and not me. Most of us will not have to suffer the martyrdom Stephen endured, but if we are living the life of Christ properly, our witness will bring about difficulties from those who resist conversion to Christ. Our task in life is to re-present to the world the life of Christ. Like Paul, we live, not ourselves alone. No, Christ must live in us. And as Christ was persecuted, so will we be.
As St. Matthew teaches in his Gospel, Jesus promised that. But when we are hailed before a court, or just the court of public opinion, and pilloried for our faith or our refusal to kowtow to the perverse culture that surrounds us, we can still have confidence. The Holy Spirit, who is given to all Christians through faith and sacramental participation, will give us strength. If we need words to express our faith, hope and charity in Christ, that same Spirit will provide it all. If we endure to the end of our life, and even if our life is unjustly taken, we will be saved by the presence of God, Father, Son and Holy Ghost.
