Stephen sets our Christmas journey toward Jesus’s way of love by reminding us of the challenge of tradition and nostalgia.
Following his following Jesus
The Feast of Stephen
Sam Portaro’s reflection from Brightest and Best rises to the central challenge of the Incarnation, and I think, to the character of our patron, Saint Stephen.
This is no less hard to hear as we continue to bathe in the Christmas glow. But as he reminds us of the dark side of tradition, he is simply doing as Stephen and Jesus did before him.
He shares a message that we as people of tradition, whose tradition is among the most traditional of traditions; whose theology is as radically traditional as they come; whose practice and preference screams “tradition”; we had best consider all of what tradition offers us for ourselves.
Our call is not to tradition itself, but to Jesus. And our patron is the guide to our unique path to following him.
Our church is St. Stephen’s Church. His way of following Jesus invites us to see the path in the way that fits our community best.
The full text may be found here.
For a limited time, you may find the audio here.