Gospel Reflection for The 26th day of December in the year of Our Lord, 2024
Feast of Saint Stephen, first martyr
Gospel
Matthew 10:17-22
17 But beware of men. For they will deliver you up in councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues. 18 And you shall be brought before governors, and before kings for my sake, for a testimony to them and to the Gentiles: 19 But when they shall deliver you up, take no thought how or what to speak: for it shall be given you in that hour what to speak. 20 For it is not you that speak, but the Spirit of your Father that speaketh in you.
21 The brother also shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the son: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and shall put them to death. 22 And you shall be hated by all men for my name's sake: but he that shall persevere unto the end, he shall be saved.
The day after Christmas... and so, it begins. The Readings over the next few days are rather divers. Several echo the warnings in the apocalyptic readings we dealt with leading up the Nativity. Great joy has entered the world, but the opposition to it by evil now begins. In just two days, we have the Feast of The Holy Innocents, the children slaughtered by Herod in his attempt to kill Jesus. The Church considers these children the first Christian martyrs. Today we honor Saint Stephen, the first martyr of the early Church. Saint Stephen rejoiced as he was stoned to death, because he saw Jesus welcoming him into heaven. Those who die for Christ surely find their reward!
Have you ever noticed that the more holy you try to be, the harder it becomes? I have. Whenever I try to spend more time in prayer or reading holy books, the more distractions and demands for my time seem to arise. The more I try to control my temper the more things happen to make me angry. The more I try to accept that being single may be God's will for my life, the more lonely I feel. The more I try to reform my life in any way, the more temptation seems to find me. It seems that every time I am determined to go to mass more often, my truck breaks down or I get sick.
This is not a new or personal phenomenon. The Saints have written throughout the history of the Church that the harder we try to be holy, the more we will come under attack by both satanic and human evil. You will be far more criticized in this life for the good you try to do than the bad you so easily accomplish. The same is true in the world, as it has been well documented that during especially holy months, days and feasts dedicated to The Blessed Virgin Mary, the devil seems to attack the world with horrible evils, and Christians individually.
During these times, we must devote ourselves even more to prayer. Prayers to the Holy Face of Jesus are extremely efficacious. We must especially trust in the intercession of Our Lady. The Rosary is our weapon against evil. We must also make use of the allies He provides us, such as praying to the Archangel Michael.
Judson Carroll is the author of several books, including his newest, A Daily Catholic Devotional, Reflections on the Daily Mass Readings January-June, 2025 It is Available in paperback on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DK3M1WDZ
and
Confirmation, an Autobiography of Faith. It is also Available in paperback on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C47Q1JNK
His new podcast is The Uncensored Catholic https://www.spreaker.com/show/the-uncensored-catholic
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