WEBVTT

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In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and

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of the Holy Spirit, amen. Christ is born. Today

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we have a concurrence of a number of important

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events and persons that we commemorate today.

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We've heard in the Gospel about the flight into

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Egypt of the Holy Family. the murder of those

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innocent young boys in Bethlehem. It also is

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the feast of St. James, who's involved in the,

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he's mentioned in the epistle, as you probably

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noticed, that Paul said he conferred with Peter

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and James, the brother of the Lord. That epistle

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to the Galatians is universally recognized as

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being the first of St. Paul's epistles. So James

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occupied a prominent place in the church in Jerusalem.

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We see him also mentioned in the Council of Jerusalem

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in the 15th chapter of the Book of the Acts of

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the Apostles. So we have James, and we also have

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St. Stephen. Whenever I think of the Feast of

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Stephen, I always think of one of my favorite

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Christmas carols, Good King Wenceslaus, who went

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out on the Feast of Stephen and has a delightful

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moral at the very end. You who now remember the

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poor shall yourselves find blessing. The flight

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into Egypt. Some of the commentators and the

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fathers see an irony in that When the wise men

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came from the east, guided by a star, and every

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year there's always speculation about what that

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star might have been. This year was an interesting

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concurrence. You probably know that Jupiter and

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Saturn were aligned for the first time in 800

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years for that celestial greeting for our Lord's

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nativity. And whatever that event was that drew

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them to Bethlehem, it also drew them from the

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East. The East, of course, represents first of

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all the Assyrians, and then later, several hundred

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years later, the Babylonians, who of course oppressed

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the Jews and were in a state of warfare with

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them periodically. And the irony is that the

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leaders of these nations, they were the instruments

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for God's bringing the Jewish people back to

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the pure observance of their religion, that the

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leaders of these nations were the ones who came

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and offered their gifts to the newborn king,

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recognition by even the pagan persecutors of

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the Israelite people. of their newborn king.

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And then the other irony is that Joseph and Mary

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go with the child Jesus, and also, by the way,

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if you look at many of the icons of the flight

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into Egypt, you see a young man, teenager or

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a fellow in his early 20s, who's leading the

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donkey or accompanying them on their journey.

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This is commonly believed to be... James, the

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brother of the Lord, who was very likely the

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son of Joseph by his previous marriage, Joseph,

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of course, himself being a widower. And so the

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Messiah goes to Egypt, which was the oppressor

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of the Jewish people, and there he symbolically

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announces his presence, the Redeemer, to that

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nation. Some of the accounts in early Christian

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literature, they're not in the New Testament,

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they're not canonical, but they make delightful

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stories to me. When the Holy Family came into

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Egypt, the idols crumbled and the palm trees

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bowed down for Jesus and the Holy Family as they

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were on their way into Egypt. So we have this

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flight into Egypt. and the murder of the Holy

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Innocents, St. James, the brother of the Lord,

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and St. Stephen. I want to say a couple words

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about Stephen. He, of course, is one of the deacons

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that was ordained. This event is related in chapter

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6 of the Acts of the Apostles. And then that

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magnificent speech of Stephen. which is given

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in chapter 7 of the Acts of the Apostles, where

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he brings back to memory the history of the Jewish

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people and their dealings with God. The God of

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glory appeared to Abraham, and he relates the

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story of the patriarchs, and in more detail,

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the story of Moses and God's dealing with Moses.

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God appeared in the burning bush and inspired

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Moses to lead his people out of Egypt to freedom

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and how the Israelites turned to other gods and

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Israel's disobedience to God. In St. Stephen,

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the fundamental point is that he appeals to the

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Jewish people, his hearers, to tell them and

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to underline that Jesus did not subvert the law

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of Moses, but he fulfilled it. And the crowds,

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of course, got increasingly annoyed at Stephen's

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words, that he said, you persecuted and even

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killed prophets who predicted the coming of the

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righteous one, and now you have betrayed and

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murdered him. So they were determined to stone

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Stephen to death. They lay their coats at the

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feet of a young man, Saul, who again, the connection

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here, becomes Paul the apostle. And as Stephen

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was being stoned, he prayed that the Lord would

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receive his spirit and forgive his killers. And

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he said, I see the Son of Man sitting at the

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right hand of God. And that's how he ended his

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earthly days and became the first proto -martyr.

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So we have the individuals, the innocents who

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were killed, Stephen who was killed later, and

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James who also met his end after witnessing to

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Christ. We're surrounded by all these important

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events. This is a marvelous time of the year.

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that the joy of Christmas, the joy of our Lord's

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Nativity, continues throughout this period, what

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we prepared for for 40 days, in effect continues

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until our Lord's presentation in the temple 40

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days after his birth on the feast of the presentation.

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So let us ask today for these individuals whose

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blessed memory is brought to our attention once

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again the Holy Innocents, Joseph, James, and

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St. Stephen on the Feast of Stephen to grant

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us the joy that they experienced in their dealings

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with and relationship to the newborn King, to

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whom be glory and honor forever and ever. Amen.