We are in the octave (8 days) of celebrating Christmas, the most joyous season of all the year. So, we may wonder why, right after the celebration of the Nativity of our God, we did we hear about Saint Stephen and his martyrdom, and today we will ‘jump’ into the empty tomb of Jesus. Obviously, these fitting readings were chosen for the feast days of St. Stephen and St. John the Apostle and Evangelist. But for me, they also represent the reason why God came to us in human flesh. God came to us to become like us in everything but sin. So, when we celebrated the Nativity of Jesus, we celebrated God becoming just like us. Our God experienced exactly what we experience in this life - those joyful moments, pleasures, friendships, and love: but also those difficult times - suffering, illness, sadness, pain, and even death. Christmas reminds us that our God knows us better than anyone else because He also experienced this life. He died like we will die, but He rose from the death, just like will rise. God was born as a human, He lived like a human, He died like a human, and then He walked out of that tomb, the tomb remained empty. Isn’t this the greatest promise He left us?
