The Feast of Stephen

Homily for the Feast of St. Stephen

If we believe in the wonder of Christmas, the Babe of Bethlehem, and God’s generosity and humility in coming among humans, we must also believe in this cost of the relationship with God and God’s friends.    In today’s liturgy, the Church places in stark relationship what Saint Ignatius Loyola calls “the Two Standards.”  The standard of Christ – love, mercy, commitment to the dignity of human personhood in every situation, community and companionship – and the standard of evil that allows us to relish privilege, ignore the poorest and most vulnerable, and consume the earth’s goods without consideration for the consequences.

If we want to claim Jesus, and the Bethlehem story, as our story then we must claim the cost and the victory of following the Standard of Christ.

“O Come Let Us Adore Him . . . Christ the Lord.”

Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator