Thomas Becket, Bishop and Martyr

Across the Bristol Channel, at the most southerly tip of the Diocese of Llandaff, is the Island of Flat Holm. Now a Conservation Area and a Site of Special Scientific Interest, the island has a fascinating history that is touched by the Second World War, the Napoleonic Wars, and beyond that to St Cadoc, St Baruc and other ancient celtic saints. As you would expect of such a place is it steeped in legend and it is, as you would also expect, difficult to draw historical truth from legendary tales. One of those tales is that two of the four knights who killed St Thomas Becket in his own cathedral of Canterbury are buried there. St Thomas was killed because he clashed with the King, whose rule and power conflicted with the freedom of the Church. St Thomas Becket, therefore, stood his ground and under attack from a worldy ruler refused to give in. He was killed on the Tuesday after Christmas, in the year 1170. His struggle is over. The victory won.

In the second letter of St Paul to Timothy, St Paul says, 'You are well aware, then, that anybody who tries to live in devotion to Christ is certain to be attacked.' He knew, all too well, the dangers and difficulties of following Jesus but he was undeterred. The persecutions he endured only served to strengthen him. It is easier, of course, to give in, to give up, and to fall into line. But what will we gain, asks Jesus in the Gospel Reading, if we gain the whole world and ruin our life. 'If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me.' We need to struggle on.

There is often a clash between Church and State. Christian leaders will speak up and speak out against the failure or flaws of those who make decisions and policies, or those who are in positions of power or leadership. And the Church too, along with individual Christians, are also attacked - not necessarily physically (although that of course does happen, and today's commemoration is testament to that) but also verbally. We are often put down or put in our place. Our Faith may be spoken of as an irrelevance or an obstacle to society. People may be antagonistic towards us. Sometimes our faith and values may stand us in opposition to others, or may make us unpopular. 'Remember the Good News that I carry,' said St Paul. '"Jesus Christ risen from the dead, sprung from the race of David"; it is on account of this that I have my own hardships to bear, even to being chained like a criminal - but they cannot chain up God's news.' And so we struggle on.

Readings: 2 Timothy 2:8-13. 3:10-12; Matthew 16:24-27

St Stephen, First Martyr

If a turkey could smile I am sure that Blue Farrah would be beaming. She is a prize turkey owned by Anne and Michael Moorhouse from Powys, and the reason for her beaky smile would be because she didn’t end up on your or anyone else’s table on Christmas Day. On the contrary she has claimed top honours in the National Poultry Club of Great Britain and she is such a perfect specimen that her owners are looking forward to entering her in the competition again next year. In the meantime she will be used for breeding and hopefully creating more prize winners. A little bit of hope for all those turkeys out there! Blue Farrah has been saved!

Christmas, of course, has many associations: tinsel, turkeys, trimmings, food, drink, parties, presents, stockings, Santa Claus, and so on. It is a happy time, a time when people go out of their way to celebrate and it can be difficult to discover the Christian message of Christmas. However, even the religious imagery we often develop is also in danger of hiding what the mystery of Christmas celebrates. The crib scenes and Christmas card images, the cosy pictures, the glowing lights, the flickering candles and everything else can so easily descend into over-sentimentality that we can forget about the reality of the Incarnation, of the Word made flesh. As our Christmas celebrations continue, our celebration today stands starkly next to those images, as we remember St Stephen, the first Christian martyr. The reading from the Acts of the Apostles is not a pretty picture: there is anger, intolerance, bloodshed, pain, and death. And Jesus’ warning in the gospel reading really does bring us down to earth with a bump. ‘Brother will betray brother to death, and the father his child: children will rise against their parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by all men on account of my name; but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.’

Mary and Joseph knew the hard reality of life. They knew that putting Jesus at the centre of their lives was a difficult and sometimes treacherous path to take. Stephen, too, illustrates this to its extreme. We are not all called to martyrdom in the same sense as Stephen. But we are called to place our lives on the line, to embrace the hardship and challenges of discipleship. We are called to sacrifice and surrender, to give our lives to Jesus. We will know all kinds of complications and heartache, all kinds of divisions, sadness, pain and deaths. But, as Jesus promises us, if we stand firm to the end we will truly know what it means to be saved.

Readings: Acts 6:8-10; 7:54-59 John 10:17-22
The full story of the homily illustration may be found here