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Commentary on the Gospel – December 26, 2025
Persevering Through Difficulties
The liturgy gives us a stark reminder that the world where the Son of God—Mary’s son—was born is a hostile world. It is a world dominated by deadly forces that think they are doing good by eliminating their enemies, by killing their opponents.
St. Stephen, the first martyr, sees his life taken away for bearing witness to the God made flesh in the man from Nazareth, in the child born in Bethlehem whom we contemplated yesterday. The angels sing and the shepherds adore, but sinister forces are also organizing. They want to silence the Word that speaks to us, calls us, heals us, and saves us in a language we can understand.
Stephen’s martyrdom is a reflection of Christ’s Passion: “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first” (Jn 15:18). It is not easy to understand this hatred toward someone who speaks words of love and forgiveness, someone who goes about doing good and healing those oppressed by the devil (cf. Acts 10:38).
But remembering this reflection of the Passion is not meant to dim the light of Christmas or dampen its mystery. On the contrary, it reminds us of the deep meaning of this birth. As St. Gregory of Nazianzus said: “If anyone asks about the mystery, they will find themselves affirming that his death was not a consequence of his birth, but rather that he was born in order to be able to die.”
Jesus was born to share God’s life with us. That life is love—which means He was born to give His life out of love. And this love is the light that shines in humanity’s night, in the darkness of hate.
By recalling the martyrdom of St. Stephen, the liturgy warns us that welcoming the child born in Bethlehem ultimately means taking on His way of life: trying to make our own lives a gift of love. Strangely enough, this might attract the hatred of this world. But we must not be afraid. This is an opportunity to bear witness to that same love before the world—to persevere, no matter what, in the will to love until the end.
That witness of love is the best form of teaching. Among those who killed Stephen was a young man named Saul, who ended up becoming the great Apostle to the Gentiles. Who knows? Perhaps Stephen’s witness was the seed that finally sprouted at just the right moment, on the road to Damascus.