Vatican
City, 25 December 2015 (VIS) – ''Today we celebrate the Feast of
St. Stephen,'' said the Pope today at noon from the window of his
study in the Apostolic Palace, when he prayed the Angelus with the
faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square. ''This memorial of the
first martyr follows immediately after the Solemnity of Christmas.
Yesterday we contemplated the merciful love of God who became man for
us. Today we see the consistent response of Jesus’ disciple who
gives his life. Yesterday, the Savior was born on earth; now his
faithful witness is born in heaven. Yesterday as today, the darkness
of the denial of life looms, but the light of love that overcomes
hatred and inaugurates a new world shines still stronger.''
''There
is a particular aspect in today’s story from the Acts of the
Apostles that ties St. Stephen to the Lord. It is the forgiveness he
offered before he died from being stoned. Nailed to the cross, Jesus
said: ‘Father, forgive them for they know not what they do’.
Likewise, Stephen ‘bent his knees and cried out: ''Lord, do not
charge them with this sin''.’ Stephen, therefore, is a martyr,
which means witness because he does as Jesus does. In fact, the true
witnesses are those who act as does Jesus: those who pray, those who
love, those who give, but above all, those who forgive because
forgiveness, as the word implies, is the greatest expression of
giving.''
''But
– we might ask – what is the use of forgiving?'' the pontiff
continued. ''Is it just a good deed or does it bring results? We find
the answer precisely in Stephen’s martyrdom. Among those for whom
he begged forgiveness was a young man named Saul who persecuted the
Church and tried to destroy it. Shortly thereafter, Saul became Paul,
the great saint, the Apostle to the Gentiles. He had received
Stephen’s forgiveness. We can say that Paul was born of God’s
grace and Stephen’s forgiveness.''
''We
also are born of God’s forgiveness. Not only in Baptism but every
time we are forgiven our hearts are reborn, are remade. From the
beginning, every step forward in the life of faith is impressed with
the seal of divine mercy. Because only when we are loved can we in
turn love. It does us good to remind ourselves of this: if we want to
move forward in faith, we must first of all receive God’s
forgiveness. We must meet the Father who is always ready to forgive
everything and who, in forgiving us, heals our hearts and reignites
our love. We must never tire of asking God’s forgiveness,'' Pope
Francis emphasized, ''because it is only when we are forgiven, when
we feel ourselves pardoned, that we can learn to forgive.''
The
Holy Father acknowledged that forgiving ''is not easy. It is always
very difficult.'' He explained that, in order to imitate Christ and
forgive the great and small offenses that we suffer every day, we
have to start with prayer like St. Stephen. ''It starts from our
hearts. We can deal with the resentment we feel through prayer,
entrusting those who have done us wrong to God’s mercy. … Then we
discover that this inner struggle to forgive purifies us from evil
and that prayer and love set us free from the inner chains of rancor.
… Through forgiveness we overcome evil with good, we turn hatred
into love, and thus make the world cleaner.''
Before
finishing, Pope Francis entrusted to the Virgen Mary all those who,
''like St. Stephen, suffer persecution in the name of the faith, our
many martyrs today. Help direct our prayers to receive and to offer
forgiveness.''
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