Yesterday, Dec. 26th is a special feast. The Church puts the feast of St. Stephen, the first martyr or protomartyr on the day after Christmas. For Emmanuel, God with us, the Word made Flesh, heaven coming to earth is with us outside the womb starting on Christmas day. The first person to die with perfect fortitude for his faith in Jesus Christ is St. Stephen who is stoned to death because the Jews cannot compete with his wisdom about the risen Lord.
Today, we celebrate the feast of St. John the Evangelist, who is considered a white martyr. He was tortured many times and his persecutors tried to kill him but legend has it they could not. This is when he was cast off to an island and had the visions to write the book of Revelation. John was very special to Jesus. He was the youngest apostle and the brother to James the Greater. In today’s Gospel it is written, “the other disciple whom Jesus loved”. To end today’s blog and the Gospel it is beautifully written, “Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed.” Jn 20:2-8
Imagine being John and going into the tomb and seeing the burial cloth of Jesus (Shroud of Turin) rolled up. Allow the risen Jesus to come into your life today and during this Christmas season. Do not allow the joy that is inside of you since Jesus died and rose to be dead or buried with material goods. Sit in silence today and allow Jesus to speak to you and bring the joy of Christmas to your heart. Then, go do something with it. Give it away, help someone, be Christ for others.
Christian YOLO!
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