(This is the feast on which “Good King Wenceslas” - who
was actually a duke - looked out and saw the snow lying “deep and crisp and
even”.)
On the second day
of Christmas, God’s true Love gave to me...a lesson in faithful
courage and forgiveness.
The persecution, assault, and murders of prophets are
well documented in both the Hebrew and Christian scriptures. Stephen is not
commonly referred to as a prophet; he
was, in fact, one of the seven individuals chosen by the apostles in the
earliest days of the church to give aid to those in need, especially widows and
orphans. But in the tradition of the prophets, he told the truth to those in
authority, reminding them of their heritage as the people to whom God had
revealed the path to salvation, beginning with Abraham. But they paid to have
him slandered, and in their anger stoned Stephen. As a result, he became the
first Christian martyr, but as he was dying, he forgave his attackers. A
bystander at his martyrdom was a young man named Saul, who watched over the
coats of Stephen’s killers; Acts 7 tells us Saul approved of Stephen’s killing.
Truthtellers, whistle-blowers, those who expose lies and
abuse by those in power and authority – these are prophets. They are not always killed, but they almost always
suffer the consequences of their righteous actions. We seldom want to hear the truth
about ourselves. I thank God for the courage of St. Stephen, and I hope to learn
from his ability to be forgiving, even to those who failed to see the truth and
killed him for his honesty.
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