9781644135945

The Christmas Cycle
Him. In this is charity; not as though we had loved God; but because He hath first loved us,
and sent His Son to be a propitiation for our sins” (1 Jn 4:9 f.).
Christ “gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and might cleanse
to Himself a people acceptable, a pursuer of good works” (Ti 2:14). In order to accomplish
God’s purpose, the purification and sanctification of the world, the Son of God has delivered
Himself up for us by His suffering, death, and resurrection. By means of the waters of baptism,
the celebration of the Eucharistic sacrifice, and the other sacraments, God makes it possible
for us to take part in this mighty work. With the Apostle and Holy Mother the Church we say:
“And I live, now not I; but Christ liveth in me” (Gal 2:20). We are redeemed. But we must
allow Him to accomplish in us the fullness of His redemption. On His part nothing is lacking.
The Christian is another Christ. To accomplish reality, Christ comes daily upon our altars,
and into our souls in Holy Communion; He wishes to communicate to us the fullness of His
divine life and transform us unto His own likeness. How far I have drifted from Him! How little
I really resemble Him! How little I resemble Him in the poverty of His crib, in His abnegation
and love of poverty, in His devotion to the cross, and in His love for souls!
Prayer
Grant, we beseech Thee, almighty God, that the new birth in the flesh of Thy only-begotten Son
may set us free, whom the old bondage doth hold under the yoke of sin. Amen.
December 26, St. Stephen
The liturgy places St. Stephen first among the saints who stand about the crib of the Savior.
Stephen is a man full of grace and the Holy Spirit, the first martyr to bear witness to the faith
in Jesus Christ. In the liturgy St. Stephen is not only a historical person; he is at the same time
the embodiment of an idea. Every Christian must work out his redemption as St. Stephen did;
he must first of all become filled with grace and the Holy Spirit, and outwardly this spirit must
manifest itself by a steadfast faith in Christ and a willingness to testify to the divinity of Christ,
even by martyrdom if necessary.
At the command of the apostles, the faithful chose seven men “full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom,”
among whom was Stephen, “a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost” (Acts 6:5). The
seven were brought to the apostles, who prayed over them and laid hands upon them, ordaining
them deacons. The most distinguished of these is Stephen, who, “full of grace and fortitude, did
great wonders and signs among the people” (Epistle; Acts 6:8). Courageously he acknowledges
Christ. In the true spirit of detachment he endures the death of stoning at the hands of the very
men whom he desired to bring to the love of Christ. Drenched in blood and on the point of
death he prays, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. . . . Lord lay not this sin to their charge” (Epistle).
Thus died Stephen, a man full of faith and love, who lays down his life with a prayer on his lips
for the forgiveness of his murderers. Thus the mystery of Christmas and the redemption was
worked out in the life of St. Stephen.
St. Stephen is a type of the Church and of the true Christian. The coming of the Son of
God is not merely a lovely idyll, a pastoral scene, or an idle play; it is a reality which must
be accomplished in the life of the Church and in the life of each Christian. The Christian
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