The Crib and the Cross

While we might be "in recovery" after yesterday's feasting and today's inventorying of all the cookies and cakes we received as gifts, "the day after" for us is nowhere near the reminder of what lies in store for every Christian who worshipped at the manger as is today's Feast. The martyrdom of St. Stephen is a stark reminder that our calling to be another Jesus, to follow in his footsteps, is a call to suffering, even to the cross itself. The contrast of Stephen's gruesome stoning to the joy of the heavenly hosts, whose song and image are still fresh in our minds is sobering, to say the least. Certainly more than the sobering realization, after looking at the scale this morning, of what price all that eating yesterday cost us. Stephen reminds us that following Jesus means standing up for him and his teachings, paying for them dearly, even with our own lives, if necessary. St. Marcellin's "favorite places" were the crib, the cross and the altar" and, as he told his followers, these should be theirs as well. Today's meditation might be spending time before the creche and reflecting on what followed for Jesus, from the quick night escape into Egypt to the painful road to Calvary. What has been our journey thus far from our birth till now? Not one of us can say there hasn't been pain, sorrow, and suffering in some manner or form. How much of it has been related to our faith, to our living out and proclamation of it, to our growth in it? Not all are called to physical martyrdom, but all are called to a constant death to selfishness and sin. While in this Octave of Christmas and in the sorting out of the gifts we have received, may we also sort out what impedes our complete Stephen-like fidelity to Jesus.
Bro. Rene