Homily for the Feast of St. Stephen

Today the Church celebrates the feast of St. Stephen. He is the first martyr of the Church, being put to death by a mob in the year 36 A.D., with the approval of Saul of Tarsus (the future Apostle, Paul). He is the patron saint of deacons, as he was among the first group of seven deacons appointed by the Apostles with the task of caring for the poor.

During the season of Advent, which we just concluded, we found ourselves directing our thoughts to the less fortunate, especially the poor. We shopped for people who would not receive as many presents as our families. We donated food to the needy and some of us even volunteered part of our Christmas Day to feed the poor in “soup kitchens.” But Christmas Day has come and gone, and it could be easy for us to forget our Advent almsgiving and focus on our future for ourselves.

In his work entitled Pilgrim’s Almanac, Fr. Ed Hayes makes a suggestion about today’s feast as an opportunity to share some of our Christmas gifts with those less fortunate than ourselves. The feast of St. Stephen, known as “Boxing Day” in England and in Canada was, at one time, a day when people would box up some of their Christmas presents for the poor. Now, however, the re-boxed gifts are more likely the ones we didn’t like or couldn’t use and are returned to the store.

Most of us really have no need for all the gifts we receive. So, if you planned to return a sweater, why not share that sweater with someone who is in genuine need of one?  It could be a learning opportunity for our youth to choose to share something with other kids who don’t have so much.

A couple of years ago, there was a horrible fire in the town of Monson, just a few days before Christmas; the family lost everything. Before Christmas, a friend’s granddaughter and her boyfriend gave up some of their own gifts so that the family victimized by the fire would receive something on Christmas morning. And let’s admit it, the spirit of that gesture was the greater gift. May we freely share that gift of generosity in many ways throughout the year ahead. +