“It is the hour now for you to awake from sleep. For our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.” (Romans 13:11)

This week we come to the final days of Advent. The fourth candle of the wreath, the Angel’s Candle, is lit, returning us to the purple hue of longing, repentance, and now love. This candle points us toward the Annunciation and the Blessed Virgin Mary’s response to God: “Let it be done unto me according to your word.” That radical yes, full of faith and love, ushers in the Incarnation. At the end of this week, as we move into the solemn celebration of the Nativity of the Lord, some wreaths add a fifth candle, the Christ Candle, glowing white to signify the sinless light that comes into the darkness of the world. This light shines not only to console, but to awaken hearts to the fullness and mission of love.

It is no coincidence that immediately after Christmas, on December 26, we celebrate the feast of Saint Stephen, the Church’s first martyr. His life and death reveal that Christmas is not simply a tender tale about a baby in a manger. It is the profound mystery of God entering the world to rescue, redeem, and reign. The early Christians often reflected that the wooden manger in Bethlehem foreshadows the wood of the Cross. The child laid in swaddling clothes will later be wrapped in burial linens. To truly celebrate Christmas is to prepare not just a cradle but our entire lives to receive, follow, and if called to suffer with Christ.

Saint Stephen was a deacon in the early Church, chosen because of his wisdom and holiness to serve the growing Christian community. As tensions grew between Hellenistic and Hebrew Jewish converts, Stephen was among the seven men appointed to care for the distribution of resources, ensuring justice and peace in the body of Christ. But he was more than an administrator, he was a preacher, a witness, and a man filled with the Holy Spirit. When brought before the Sanhedrin, Stephen boldly proclaimed Christ as the fulfillment of the law and the prophets. He did not flinch, even as the stones were raised. With his dying breath, he mirrored the mercy of his Savior: “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” His final vision was not of the crowd but of the heavens opened and Christ standing at the right hand of God.

Stephen’s life and death are the fruit of Christmas. Christ was born not only to be adored, but to be followed. As Christ declared, the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many. To be a disciple of Jesus means we likewise live not for ourselves but in service of God and others. Stephen was a disciple who did just that. He was awake, spiritually alert, grounded in truth, and filled with love. His life challenges us in these final days of Advent: Are we ready not just to sing carols and light candles at Christmas, but to live as disciples in the days following Christmas? Are we willing to forgive those who have hurt us, to love even when it costs us, to proclaim Christ with courage?

Dear friends, as we prepare for the light of Christmas, let us not fall back into the sleep of comfort or complacency. Let us awake, as Paul says, and ready our hearts with the boldness of Stephen. This is the hour. Christ is near. May our love, like the Angel’s Candle, burn brightly. And when the Christ Candle is lit on Christmas, may we, like Stephen, be found watching, ready, and radiant with the light of Christ.