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Gospel Reading for December 26, 2025 – Matthew 10: 17-22
SPECIAL GRACE
Jesus said to his disciples: “Beware of men, for they will hand you over to courts and scourge you in their synagogues, and you will be led before governors and kings for my sake as a witness before them and the pagans. When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say. You will be given at that moment what you are to say. For it will not be you who speak but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Brother will hand over brother to death, and the father his child; children will rise up against parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by all because of my name, but whoever endures to the end will be saved.”
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Today, the Church celebrates the feast of St. Stephen, the first martyr of the Church who boldly preached about Jesus. One of the first 7 deacons, he was falsely accused of blasphemy just as Jesus was. While he was being stoned to death, St. Stephen prayed for forgiveness for his persecutors just as Jesus did.
One would think that the persecution of St. Stephen would deter Christians to openly preach about Jesus. On the contrary, it is said that there are 14,000 recognized martyrs in the Catholic Church and it is believed that this is just a fraction of the total number that includes the many unnamed ones. Paul of Tarsus is believed to have approved and witnessed the stoning of St. Stephen, but was later converted. He himself became a martyr and suffered persecution by beheading for preaching Jesus to the Gentiles.
Perhaps, we wonder how they were able to endure to the end. As Jesus says in the gospel of today, “For it will not be you who speak but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.” The Spirit of God is the strongest, therefore, ENDURANCE is the SPECIAL GRACE that is given to all those who relentlessly fight for Christian principles/values of compassion, forgiveness, humility, integrity, honesty, and justice, among others. All that is needed is our willingness to fight to the end. With God fully supporting us, we need not fear.
St. Stephen pray for us, that we may be like you, relentlessly upholding the Faith amidst the present day persecution of Christian values, especially in our country!
