Reading for the Day: Stephen

It seems strange that the first reading for the first day after Christmas is about the stoning to death of St. Stephen. The Gospels are no help either with Jesus warning his disciples to "Beware of men, for they will hand you over to courts and scourge you in their synagogues, and you will be led before governors and kings for my sake as a witness before them and the pagans... Brother will hand over brother to death, and the father his child; children will rise up against parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by all because of my name, but whoever endures to the end will be saved." Merry Christmas, indeed. 


But this seems to tie in with the whole notion of a God who is hard to accept.


It's easy to fall in love with a child but the child grows up and the grown-up asks his followers to do pretty tough things including proclaim the Gospel to a hostile crowd who want to hear none of what you have to say. 

There's a Christmas song I love entitled The Work of Christmas. When all the hoopla surrounding Christmas is done, the work of Christmas begins. And while the work of Christmas involves a lot of redemptive stuff, it also has consequences that eventually lead to the cross. A God who is hard to accept, indeed.


The Work of Christmas

When the song of angels is stilled
When the star in the sky is gone
When the kings and princes are home
When the shepherds are back with their flock
The work of Christmas begins

To find the lost, to heal the broken
To feed the hungry, free the prisoners
To rebuild nations, to bring peace among brothers
To make music in the heart