20191226
THE
PEACE OF CHRISTMAS COMES FROM JUSTICE AND TRUTH
26 December,
2019, Thursday, St Stephen, First Martyr
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Red.
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First reading
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Acts 6:8-10,7:54-59 ©
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The martyrdom of Stephen
Stephen was
filled with grace and power and began to work miracles and great signs among
the people. But then certain people came forward to debate with Stephen, some
from Cyrene and Alexandria who were members of the synagogue called the
Synagogue of Freedmen, and others from Cilicia and Asia. They found they could
not get the better of him because of his wisdom, and because it was the Spirit
that prompted what he said. They were infuriated when they heard this, and
ground their teeth at him.
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.’
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Responsorial
Psalm
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Psalm 30(31):3-4,6,8,16-17 ©
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Into
your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.
Be a
rock of refuge for me,
a
mighty stronghold to save me,
for
you are my rock, my stronghold.
For
your name’s sake, lead me and guide me.
Into
your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.
Into
your hands I commend my spirit.
It
is you who will redeem me, Lord.
As
for me, I trust in the Lord:
let
me be glad and rejoice in your love.
Into
your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.
My
life is in your hands, deliver me
from
the hands of those who hate me.
Let
your face shine on your servant.
Save
me in your love.
Into
your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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Ps117:26,27
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Alleluia,
alleluia!
Blessed
is he who comes in the name of the Lord:
the
Lord God is our light.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Matthew 10:17-22 ©
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The Spirit of your Father will be speaking in you
Jesus said to his
disciples: ‘Beware of men: they will hand you over to sanhedrins and scourge
you in their synagogues. 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.’
THE PEACE OF
CHRISTMAS COMES FROM JUSTICE AND TRUTH
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Acts 6:8-10, 7:54-59; Matthew 10:17-22 ]
The feast of Christmas
is a celebration of peace and goodwill to all mankind. This was how the Angels sang their praises
on Christmas night saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace to
men who enjoy his favour.” But strangely the peace and tranquil
atmosphere of Christmas suddenly seems to be disrupted by the celebration of
the feast of St Stephen when we read of his horrifying death by stoning for
witnessing to the Lord.
Why does the liturgy
seem out of sync with the mood of the Christmas season with the feast of St
Stephen celebrated just after Christmas? Perhaps, the Church wants to save us from
celebrating Christmas as a nostalgic sentimental event of the birth of baby
Jesus. Indeed, the child looks harmless and innocent, and even cute. But
this is to run away from the reality of life. In truth, our life is never
that peaceful and tranquil. Every day, we are faced with so many
challenges. We have to deal with quarrels, misunderstandings, frictions,
betrayals, sicknesses, failures, financial constraints, etc. So our life
is far from the kind of peace where there is no activity and everything is at
rest.
This is not the kind of
peace in the world that Christ comes to bring. This is more like pacification than
peace. The peace of Christ is not that of the world’s. In the
world, peace is a superficial peace where everyone keeps quiet and pretends
that everything is all right. It is a policy of live and let
live. This is what moral relativism is all about. We accept
that everyone is right and no one is wrong unless you do not accept
relativism. No one is ready to confront the truth. We all say nice
words but never the truth. This is a superficial peace, which can become
divisive and can explode anytime. This is because this peace is not
founded on truth.
True peace must be
founded on truth. That
is why Christ is celebrated as the Light of the World. He comes to bring
real peace to humanity, not by condoning evil and selfishness, but to reveal to
man his true identity and expose his sinfulness and selfishness, pride and
hypocrisy, just as He did with the religious leaders; and as Stephen did before
the Sanhedrin. This explains why the religious leaders of the day could
not tolerate Jesus because they found Him a threat to the status quo and most
of all, to their political and religious authority. St Stephen suffered the
same fate as his Master for confronting the religious leaders about their true
intentions.
Indeed, it must be said that the
gospel and the Church has never been against the institutions; neither
political nor religious or economic. The Church seeks to purify
reason through faith so that justice is served and seen to be served at every
level of society,
regardless of language, race or
religion. The gospel seeks to proclaim the truth so that there can be
true justice for all. Consequently, for those who are sincere in
fostering justice and harmony, and seeking the truth, the Church and the gospel
are their allies, not their enemies. However, if the authorities are
corrupt, self-serving, and seek to maintain power at all costs then,
undoubtedly, they will perceive the Church and the Christian message to be at
odds with them. Often those who are corrupt will try to stifle those who
speak out and seek justice in life. As a consequence, the gospel message, as
Jesus warned us, leads to division. “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.” So the peace of Christ is not
through compromises and false pretenses but truth.
St Stephen shows us the
way. He witnessed to Christ the Truth, the prince of peace. He was ready to die for the truth
about Christ Jesus. He was courageous enough to confront even the religious
authorities at the risk of his own life. He could not remain silent when
the Holy Spirit prompted him to speak the truth. As a consequence, the
irate religious leaders were so infuriated that they put Stephen to death.
But more often than not,
such rejection of the truth is due to jealousy or simply ignorance. In the case of St Stephen, we read
that “certain people came forward to debate with Stephen, some from Cyrene and
Alexandria who were members of the synagogue called the Synagogue of Freedmen,
and others from Cilicia and Asia. They found they could not get the better of
him because of his wisdom.” Pride often gets in the way of finding the
truth because we think we know everything and we lack the humility to accept
the truth. In the case of Saul, he was misguided in his zeal for
the Lord’s House. We read that “the witnesses put down their clothes at the
feet of a young man called Saul.” Ignorance is indeed the reason that
Jesus and St Stephen asked God to forgive their enemies. “As they were
stoning him, Stephen said in invocation, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’ Then
he knelt down and said aloud, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them’; and
with these words he fell asleep.”
How do we find courage
to witness to the truth? We need to listen to the Holy Spirit attentively
so that we ourselves are living in the truth. Jesus said to His apostles: “Beware of
men: they will hand you over to the Sanhedrin and scourge you in their
synagogues. 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.” When we are convinced of the
message of the gospel and have imbibed them not just in our minds but in our
hearts, we will be able to speak with confidence, conviction and with
faith. Only those who do not know the gospel or only know with
intellectual knowledge will waiver when their faith is challenged because it is
not a heart conviction. When conviction comes from the heart, it means
that we are one in the Spirit of Christ and that is how Christ speaks to us in
and through the Holy Spirit.
Secondly, proclamation
of the truth must always be spoken with love and for love. The truth must not be proclaimed with
arrogance or pride or just wanting to put down our enemies or expose them to
shame. The spirit of correction must come from an act of love for
our enemies so that what we say is done with sincerity and charity rather than
from a reactive or revengeful and vindictive heart. Indeed, we must take
note that St Stephen, like Jesus, bore no grudges or evil towards their
enemies. They spoke the truth for their good and for their
salvation. There was no self-interest on their part. It was purely
done out of love. St Stephen spoke with the intention of saving
them, not destroying them.
Thirdly, the truth must
be accompanied by signs and wonders. We read that “Stephen was filled with
grace and power and began to work miracles and great signs among the people.”
Truth is not just a word but an event. Therefore truth proclaimed without
accompanying signs would not be believed. That is why, at the end
of the day, the witness of life in charity, in service and humble servanthood
is most crucial in witnessing to the truth. The concrete expression of
truth is love. So we need to witness more than through words but by our
very lives like the early apostles who vouched for the truth with their lives,
even unto death. They were credible because they lived out their
convictions with fortitude.
Today, we are called to
celebrate the mysteries of Christ’s life in us. Through the grace of God at work in us, we
are called to be like St Stephen by making the life of Christ ours more and
more perfectly each day. We read how the mystery of Christ’s
passion and death was reflected in the life of St Stephen when he was brought
before the Sanhedrin on trial and even the way he died was in perfect imitation
of Christ. “As they were stoning him, Stephen said in invocation, ‘Lord
Jesus, receive my spirit.’ Then he knelt down and said aloud, ‘Lord, do not
hold this sin against them’; and with these words he fell asleep.”
We, too, are to perfect
the life of Christ in us.
We must strive to make the life of Christ our own. Through the sacrament of
baptism, we are called to die with Christ to our sins. Through the
sacrament of the Eucharist, we are called to make our lives one of thanksgiving
to the Father and become more incorporated into the Body of Christ. Through the
sacrament of Confirmation, we are called to witness to Christ in the power of
the Holy Spirit. Through the sacrament of Matrimony or Holy Orders, we
are called to live out the life of love. Indeed, what is the meaning of
Christmas if not to let Christ dwell in our hearts, to allow the King of Kings
to make His throne in us? So through imitating Jesus in His birth, death
and resurrection, we become like Jesus in life and in death.
With the psalmist,
therefore, we are to surrender our lives to the Lord. “Into your hands, O
Lord, I commend my spirit. Be
a rock of refuge for me, a mighty stronghold to save me, for you are my rock,
my stronghold. For your name’s sake, lead me and guide me. Into your
hands I commend my spirit. It is you who will redeem me, Lord. As for me, I
trust in the Lord: let me be glad and rejoice in your love. My life is in your
hands, deliver me from the hands of those who hate me. Let your face shine on
your servant. Save me in your love.” By so doing, we can be sure that we
will find true peace and joy like St Stephen even if we have to meet with
death. It is better that we die with a clear and good conscience than to
die with regret and guilt.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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