December 26, Feast of St. Stephen, First Martyr

Yesterday we gathered at the manger of the Divine Child. Today we meet at the cross of our Lord and Savior. If today's feast of St. Stephen, the first martyr, seems to strike a discordant note during this happy Christmastide, we only need remember St. Paul's immortal words: "But may I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world" (Gal. 6:14). The wood of the crib foretells the wood of the cross. The Virgin Mother lay her Divine Child in the manger. The Sorrowful Mother received her Beloved Son from the cross. We can never escape the cross, Thomas a Kempis tells us, because it is always there. And so is Jesus, just as he was there with St. Stephen, filling him with grace and power even unto the end. Lord Jesus, receive our spirit!

Dear Mary, Virgin Mother, let us draw near with you to the crib and the cross to adore your Beloved Son and to embrace him with all our being. Amen.

(The above statue of the Infant Jesus on the Cross is made by the Passionist Nuns of St. Joseph Monastery of Whitesville, KY and sold in their Monastery Gift Shop. These beautiful nuns have a wonderful blog that I enjoy reading regularly!)