On the Feast of Stephen

Along with Good King Wenceslaus we are invited, on this feast of Stephen, to reflect on our diakonia, our service, to our sisters and brothers.  As one of the first deacons of the Church, St. Stephen becomes a model for the giving of oneself to others.

From today's office of readings:

Yesterday we celebrated the birth in time of our eternal King.  Today we celebrate the triumphant suffering of his soldier.  Yesterday our king, clothed in his robe of flesh, left his place in the virgin's womb and graciously visited the world.  Today his soldier leaves the tabernacle of his body and goes triumphantly to heaven.

Our king, despite his exalted majesty, came in humility for our sake; yet he did not come empty-handed.  He gave of his bounty, yet without any loss to himself.  In a marvelous way he changed into wealth the poverty of his faithful followers while remaining in full possession of his own inexhaustible riches.

And so the love that brought Christ from heaven to earth raised Stephen from earth to heaven; shown first in the king, it later shone forth in his soldier.  His love of God kept him from yielding to the ferocious mob; his love for his neighbor made him pray for those who were stoning him.  Love inspired him to reprove those who erred, to make them amend; love led him to pray for those who stoned him, to save them from punishment.

Love, indeed, is the source of all good things; it is an impregnable defense, and the way that leads to heaven.  He who walks in love can neither go astray nor be afraid:  love guides him, protects him, and brings him to his journey's end.

Christ made love the stairway that would enable all Christians to climb to heaven.  Hold fast to it, therefore, in all sincerity, give one another proctical proof of it, and by your progress in it, make your ascent together.

(Fulgentius)