That Santa stuff may be over but Christmas continues for 8 days strong. And the entire Christmas Season extends all the way into the Feast of Epiphany (Three Kings Day) on January 6th or the following Sunday. That means I can still blog about Christmas! I hope to make up for my lack of posts by writing about the feast days which fall during the Christmas Season. These feast days each reflect the Mystery of Christmas in some way.

Yesterday’s feast of St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr, reminds us that Jesus Christ was born to die. The Christ Child, lying in a manger, stretches His little arms out to all of us… see those tiny hands and feet pierced through with iron spikes to redeem humanity. God chose to be conceived and born of a woman whom He created. He chose to become a member of the human race, to experience our life with all its hardships. He chose to suffer so that we might know that He is with us. He is a Emmanu-EL, God with us….

If God is for us, who can be against us? The spirit of the world rages against Christ’s followers; it raged against St. Stephen, witness of the Lord Jesus. But Christ has conquered the world and empowers His followers do the same. St. Stephen knew that Christ was with him. He was not afraid to die for the One Who died for him.