Merry Christmas and Happy Feast Day of Saint Stephen!

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Merry Christmas! As I have stated before, the Christmas season is 12 days long, from December 25 to January 5. 

Today, December 26, is the feast day of St. Stephen, the first recorded Christian martyr who was stoned to death. Saul of Tarsus, a Pharisee who would later convert to Christianity and become St. Paul, was involved in his martyrdom. Today's Gospel reading from the Acts of the Apostles is reproduced below:

Stephen, filled with grace and power, was working great wonders and signs among the people. Certain members of the so-called Synagogue of Freedmen, Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and people from Celicia and Asia, came forward and debated with Stephen, but they could not withstand the wisdom and the spirit with which he spoke.

When they heard this, they were infuriated, and they ground their teeth at him. But he, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked up intently to heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and he said, "Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God." But they cried out in a loud voice, covered their ears, and rushed upon him together. They threw him out of the city, and began to stone him. The witnesses laid down their cloaks at the feet of a young man named Saul. As they were stoning Stephen, he called out "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."

--Acts 6:8-10; 7:54-59

More information about St. Stephen can be found on Catholic Answers and Wikipedia.

Now that we've covered today's saint, allow me to go over another Steven from a fictional series known as Steven Universe. I didn't place that screenshot on the top of the post for nothing.

In the season four episode "Three Gems and a Baby," Steven Universe's dad and his three Gem guardians tell him a story of when he was a few months old. The video clips of this event is below:

What is striking from watching this episode is that it borrows many elements from Christianity, in this case the holidays of Christmas and Epiphany. (The same can be said about the entire series, but that warrants its own post.) For starters, Steven's birth is nothing short of miraculous. His Gem mother, Rose Quartz, is a female-presenting sentient rock from space with a "body" made of hard light, so theoretically she should be incapable of pregnancy and childbirth since her species does not reproduce sexually. But yet she does and shapeshifts a womb for Steven to gestate in, combining human and Gem genes. She is the God/Holy Spirit of this allegory. Another thing that sticks out is how the other Gems give three gifts to him, not unlike the Magi giving gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh to Jesus. Thirdly, when Greg holds Steven in his van, he wears a blue blanket over him in the style of the Virgin Mary as he is the sole human parent. It is made abundantly clear in this episode that Steven is a Christ figure.

Steven Universe having the same name as St. Stephen is just a coincidence (the former is named after the showrunner's younger brother). But what the saint and the character have in common is that they both display sacrificial love. Both fought for what they believed in, loved their enemies who wished them dead, and were willing to give up their lives in order to end conflict and establish peace in the world.

That's all I have for now. Enjoy the Christmas season and have a happy, healthy, and holy New Year. God bless you all!