Memorial of Saint Stephen, deacon and first martyr.

Reading of the Word of God

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Glory to God in the highest
and peace on earth to the people he loves.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Matthew 10,17-22

'Be prepared for people to hand you over to sanhedrins and scourge you in their synagogues. You will be brought before governors and kings for my sake, as evidence to them and to the gentiles. But when you are handed 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 a father his child; children will come forward against their parents and have them put to death. You will be universally hated on account of my name; but anyone who stands firm to the end will be saved.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

The day after Christmas, the liturgy commemorates the killing of Stephen, the first martyr. The Church considers his martyrdom the first fruit of the love of the Father who sent his Son to earth to save us. The memory of the martyrs helps us to reflect on the fruits of the incarnation of the Son of God: to bring men and women into the heaven of love and to make all be born again into the heaven of God, which is a heaven of peace and fraternity. The Gospel of this day reminds us of Jesus' statement to the Twelve: "I send you out as sheep among wolves." Hearing these words of the Master, the disciples became worried. But Jesus reassured them, saying that he would be with them forever. Stephen was the first of the witnesses, the first who gave his life for the Gospel, in imitation of the master. A fellow disciple of Paul in the school of Gamaliel, Stephen had followed the preaching of the Apostles and was then chosen from among the seven deacons for the service of charity especially to widows. The Acts of the Apostles narrate that he was "full of grace and power, doing great wonders and signs among the people." He could not silence the Gospel that he had received and that had first changed his life. He did not give up when opposition and violence came upon him. Strong in his faith, Stephen continued to bear witness to the Gospel, even to the shedding of blood. Following Jesus' example, while being stoned to death, he asked God to accept his spirit and forgive his persecutors. Having become the first martyr in Christian history, Stephen leads the procession of all those who, in every place and time, have witnessed and continue to witness to the Gospel to the ultimate sacrifice of their lives. All of them have contemplated 'the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God." Today they stand in the heavens and see God "face to face" and confirm to us that without 'heroism' it is not possible to be Jesus 'disciples.