Please read the Scripture passage before the homily.
Yesterday we started our celebration of Christmas, the birth of Jesus. Today we remember the first martyr, St Stephen. Jesus tells us to “beware of men” because they will hand us over to death.
There is a reason why Jesus was born in human flesh: we have bodies so that we can experience death. The birth of Jesus is matched by the death of Jesus. The ancients thought that the perfect life began and ended on the same calendar day. They figured that they knew the date of Jesus’ death, March 25, so they placed is birth on December 25. Jesus had a body so that he could die.
Here, then, on the second day of Christmas, we meet someone who died for his faith in Christ. He went to death, as Jesus had, and with Jesus he has life that will never end. This is what the birth of Jesus prepares for us. Let us celebrate.