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Friends,
today we celebrate the martyrdom of St. Stephen. The Gospel tells us to
expect persecution. Martyrs like Stephen are witnesses who have given
their lives for the faith, participating in the bloody death of Jesus
himself. They are part of the great chorus that gives praise to Christ
in heaven. The Lamb has become their shepherd leading them to springs of
life giving water. “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
This
is an eschatological hope, one held out for us in God’s definitive
future. But a terrible price was paid, and a terrible war was waged.
Their robes are washed clean, but in the blood of the Lamb. Please
notice the presence of martyrdom up and down the ages, to the present
day. The twentieth was the Christian century with the most martyrs ever,
in fact more than all the other centuries combined. The most persecuted
religion on planet earth today is Christianity.
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