You desire that which exceeds my humble powers,
but I trust in the compassion and mercy of the All-powerful God.
Saint Stephen
“If you know what witness means, you understand why God brings St. Stephen,
St. John, and the Holy Innocents to the crib in the cave as soon as Christ
is born liturgically. To be a witness is to be a martyr.
Holy Mother Church wishes us to realize that we were born in baptism
to become Christ — He who was the world’s outstanding Martyr.”
Love Does Such Things, by Rev. M. Raymond, O.C.S.O.
(the recycle bin / Julie Cook / 2021)
The paper is torn and discarded.
the ribbons are cut and forgotten…
while the bows are simply tossed aside.
The table is a cluttered mess.
Dishes, bowls, plates, glasses all sit scattered in a skewed
disarrayed jumble.
Empty boxes long to be filled while other empty boxes are
forlornly broken down.
The moving of seasons…the in between of what was and what must be…
Is there a glow in the aftermath of what was?
Or does there remain a sense of longing?
The secular world clashes with the world of Christian heritage.
The calendar tells us that today is Boxing day…
the newspapers tell us it is the day for after Christmas sales.
Yet the Church calendar tells us that today is the
feast day of St.Stephen.
Previous posts have been written about both–
And yet we cannot ignore the fact that we are reminded that there
remains a history…
a history that is both ancient as well as more recent.
A clash of time and space…
between the then and now.
And whereas most of us have lived these past four weeks though
the season of Advent–a four week anticipation of light while we
transition from what will be to that of the miraculous…
we must remember that our world does not stop on December 25th.
St Stephen reminds us of this.
The first recorded Christian martyr.
Oddly or purposely we are reminded that sacrifice must follow
the joy of birth.
Or are the two not already intertwined?
It seems as if we are dogged by the specter of death.
Unfair as that may seem.
Here we are basking in the joy of the innocence of birth yet we are
reminded that sacrifice must follows directly behind that joy.
Yet if there was or is anyone who had to understand the notion of sacrifice,
it would be Mary.
A woman who’s heart would be pierced.
And so as we begin the transition between then and now..the old and the new..,
may we be reminded that we are afforded but a brief time in which to bask
in our joy…for tomorrow will always remind us, time is of the essence,
There were thus two things which the Savior did for us by becoming Man.
He banished death from us and made us anew; and,
invisible and imperceptible as in Himself He is,
He became visible through His works and revealed Himself
as the Word of the Father,
the Ruler and King of the whole creation.
St. Athanasius,
On the Incarnation
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