Last Sunday was Christmas Day, the first day in this eight-day celebration of the Octave of Christmas. There are often three celebrations
December 26, the day after Christmas, is the Feast of St. Stephen, the first Martyr. The reading from Acts takes us into the story of his being stoned by an infuriated crowd.
December 27: On December 27th, we traditionally celebrate the Feast of St. John, Apostle and Evangelist.
On December 28th, we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Innocents. This celebration takes us back into the infancy narrative of Matthew. The account of how Jesus begins his journey to become one with us, is powerfully told as a journey of Jesus’ entering into the journey of his people, with the flight into Egypt and the horrible slaughter of the innocent children. This very difficult scene is important for us to reflect upon as we imagine the unborn and the newly born who are so unjustly deprived of dignity and life today. Thus the feast of the birth of the King of martyrs is followed by the “heavenly birthdays” of the first martyr in will and in deed (Stephen), the apostolic martyr in will but not in deed (John), and the infant martyrs in deed but not in will.
Continuing the Octave is the Festival of the Circumcision and the Name of Jesus; it concurs with the New Year’s Day of the civil year. The we get the Festival of Epiphany, January 6, recalls the episode of the Wise Men.
