2017-12-26

朋友们，我们今天纪念圣斯德望的殉难。福音书告诉我们要预期迫害的到来。像斯德望这样的殉道者把生命献给了信德的证人，他们亲自参与耶稣的血腥之死。他们是天国里赞颂基督的伟大合唱团的一部分。那羔羊已经成为他们的牧羊者，带领他们找到永生的泉水。

 

“天主要拭去他们眼上的一切泪痕。”这是末世的希望，是天主终极未来的一道曙光。但代价是如此沉重，这场战争是如此可怕。他们的衣袍已被洗净，但是在羔羊血中洗净的。请注意古往今来直到今天都有殉道者，二十世纪的基督徒殉道者是最多的，事实上比史上其他时期加起来的总数还要多。当今世上遭受迫害最多的宗教是基督教。圣斯德望，请为我们祈祷！

 

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. St. Stephen, pray for us!