On the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we do not know where they put him.” So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb. They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and arrived at the tomb first; he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in. When Simon Peter arrived after him, he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there, and the cloth that had covered his head, not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place. Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed.
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Over the last three days, our readings have described the Christian journey in miniature.
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On Wednesday, we celebrated the birth of our Lord. This is the beginning of any journey of faith – believing in Jesus as Emmanuel, “God with us.”
The image of the Christ-child also serves as an appropriate image of faith for a new believer, whose faith is still meek and mild.
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Yesterday, we celebrated the Feast of Saint Stephen, who performed miracles, preached skillfully to crowds, and ministered to widows.
Stephen represents what happens to us when faith begins to mature: we act on it.
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Today we encounter the third, final stage of the Christian journey: the empty tomb.
After we run the race of life to the finish and keep the faith, it’s our hope to follow in the footsteps of our Lord, whom Mary and the Apostles remind us, has been raised from the dead.
May the same Spirit bring us life, as well.
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Image credits: (1) Art and the Bible (2) Bible Art (3) Pinterest
Stephen, filled with grace and power, was working great wonders and signs among the people. Certain members of the so-called Synagogue of Freedmen, Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and people from Cilicia and Asia, came forward and debated with Stephen, but they could not withstand the wisdom and the spirit with which he spoke.
When they heard this, they were infuriated, and they ground their teeth at him. But he, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked up intently to heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” But they cried out in a loud voice, covered their ears, and rushed upon him together. They threw him out of the city, and began to stone him. The witnesses laid down their cloaks at the feet of a young man named Saul. As they were stoning Stephen, he called out “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Yesterday hundreds of millions of people gathered into churches around the world to celebrate Christmas.
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Today the Church takes us in what feels like the opposite direction.
We’re not celebrating the birth of a child, but the death of an innocent man, Saint Stephen, the first Christian martyr.
Why such an abrupt change?
To remind us that faith always comes at a cost. It’s one thing to believe in Jesus – and another thing to act on that belief.
As our first reading reveals, Stephen was a deacon who preached, took care of widows, performed miracles, and debated skillfully with the religious leaders of his day.
Much like his Lord, Stephen was put to death because of what he proclaimed. And as a final act of faith, he cries out: “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Words which echoed that of his Savior from Calvary.
Stephen gave his life willingly for the Gospel because he believed that, like his Lord who was raised from a dark, dusty tomb shortly beforehand, he would be raised, as well.
There is no greater – or more important – belief that should shape our lives as Christians than the resurrection of the dead.
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Yesterday hundreds of millions of people gathered into churches around the world to celebrate the birth of Christ in faith. Today we’re reminded to act on that faith.
What might that mean for me?
Saint Stephen, Deacon and Martyr, pray for us.
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Image credits: (1) Saint Stephen the Martyr, Carlo Crivelli (2) Saint Stephen, Public Domain Wikimedia (3) FreePik
In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole world should be enrolled. This was the first enrollment, when Quirinius was governor of Syria. So all went to be enrolled, each to his own town. And Joseph too went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David that is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. While they were there, the time came for her to have her child, and she gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
Now there were shepherds in that region living in the fields and keeping the night watch over their flock. The angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were struck with great fear. The angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Christ and Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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“She laid him in a manger, because there was no room for him in the inn.”
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It’s hard to imagine any place being sofull that it was impossible to make room for Mary, a peasant teenager on the verge of giving birth to her child.
If we were one of the guests staying at the inn that night, wouldn’t we have made room for her and Joseph by sharing, if not giving up, our room?
Yet inns at that time were risqué places, certainly at night. There you’d find everything from loud noise and excessive drinking to mischievous behavior and theft. It was no place for a child – and certainly the Son of God – to be born.
So, Mary gives birth to Jesus outside in the cold, in the middle of the night. She holds him tightly, rocks him to sleep, and places him in a manger – or what was likely a feeding trough.
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Yes, our Savior was born in the dark. Yes, he was born in the cold. Yes, he was born into poverty. Yes, he became a refugee a short while thereafter, fleeing the wrath of Herod.
But that first Christmas night, while the smell and rancor of the inn lingered in the distance, our Lord was born in peace, surrounded by the most precious gift life has to offer:
Love.
It’s what brings us here tonight. Like Joseph and Mary, we gather to gaze upon the Christ-child in awe, wonder, and love.
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Aside from Mary and Joseph, Luke tells us that the first ones to see the Lord were the shepherds. They were out tending their sheep on an otherwise ordinary night, when suddenly an angel appears to them, sharing the Good News.
A child has been born in Bethlehem, Christ the Lord.
What the angel says to them transforms their experience of the night. Prior to this angelic visitation, the shepherds would’ve harbored a certain fear of the darkness, of the night. Keeping watch over their flock after sunset was dangerous business.
There was the constant fear of being attacked, either by wolves searching for their next snack, or by thieves lurking in the bushes. Occasionally, violent storms would also erupt without warning.
Then there was the dark shadow of Herod’s reign hanging over the people. Like some leaders today, he’d do anything to stay in power.
But the angel reveals to the shepherds that there was someone else working in the darkness, in the night – God had come to visit his people as a child in Bethlehem.
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We gather this Christmas all too aware of the darkness that still plagues our world – and, at times, our own lives. Whether it’s yet another war, another shooting, another hospital stay, another bill to pay, or just another stressful day as we try finding our way.
But the shepherds remind us, in spite of these things, that God is working in the night. He is Wonder-Counselor, Prince of Peace, Emmanuel, God with us.
God for us.
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“There was no room for him in the inn.”
There couldn’t be. It wasn’t a worthy dwelling place for the Son of God. A quiet stable out in the cold was sufficient, for there he was safe and loved that first Christmas night.
This Christmas, may we welcome the warmth of Christ into our hearts, for he is not afraid of the night and has come to save us.
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Image credits: (1) WorshipHouse Media (2) Catholic Answers (3) The New Harvest Christian Fellowship
