Saturday, December 26, 2020 - Saint Stephen, first martyr - Blessed be the name of the Lord, the Coming One; God, the Lord, enlightens us. - Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 10, 17-22

We have just celebrated Christmas, and we are celebrating Saint Stephen, the first martyr. The life of the disciples is inseparable from that of Jesus who came to earth, dead and resurrected. It was for Jesus that the martyrs shed their blood, including Stephen. It was out of love that Jesus came to live among us, and it was also out of love that Stephen gave his life. How do we live this love? How far does our love go: is it a closed and isolated love? Is it a connected virtual love? Does it only reach our loved ones or does it go beyond that, to our enemies?

Stephen forgave his executioners. This is a good example for us. It is because there are Christians, from the same parish, who communicate with each other, but they fragment into clans, persecute each other and even drag each other to court . Whereas it is when we love each other that people will know that we are disciples of Christ. Jesus predicted this conflict and hatred, so it is best to avoid it. Christ's purpose in coming among us is to keep us away from it. Let the Spirit of God work, for He can do much more than we can imagine. He blows softly, without us knowing where He comes from, but He really works. Let us not force Him to work as we wish, for He knows how to do it in His own way, for the good of us all.

In life, let us remember that not everyone is obliged to love us, whether we do good or bad, there will always be something to be said for it. Let us note that it is those who like to criticize who have nothing to offer when we ask them to act. However, let us beware of finding in criticism, threats and persecution a pretext to retract; rather, it should motivate us not to give up and to move forward, like Stephen, so that even the possibility of losing our lives does not deter us from persevering. Amen.