Christmas and the Martyrs - contradictory?

12/29/1170

Canterbury Cathedral

England

Saint Thomas Becket, Bishop and Martyr

O God, who gave the Martyr Saint Thomas Becket

the courage to give up his life for the sake of justice,

grant, through his intercession,

that, renouncing our life

for the sake of Christ in this world,

we may find it in heaven.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, 

who lives and reigns with you

in the unity of the Holy Spirit, 

one God for ever and ever. 

(Collect of Mass)

With the Feast of St. Stephen, the Feast of the Holy Innocents, and today's Memorial of St. Thomas Becket all during Christmas week, it seems the Church may be sending a signal to us that the blood and sacrifice of the Martyrs is connected to the Feast of the Lord's birth.  While Christmas is generally a season of peace and good will, of rejoicing and thanksgiving, of family, friends and feasting to celebrate the gift of God's only Son among us, there is also this other side of martyrdom that should not be ignored.  

We know the story of Stephen, the early Christian deacon we read about in Acts of the Apostles 7: 1- 60, who became the first of the Christian martyrs to give his life for the Lord. We also hear of the slaughter of innocent male children in Bethlehem by the insanely jealous and ruthless King Herod in search of the child king related to him by the Magi in Matthew 2: 13 - 18.  These children, two years and younger, are seen as martyrs who died innocently as Joseph and Mary fled to Egypt, as the Angel warned Joseph, to escape Herod's evil intent.  

Then of course St. Thomas Becket the Catholic Bishop  in England, very popular Archbishop of Canterbury, who resisted King Henry II's attempt to suppress the influence and position of the Church in England. The rights of clergy and Bishop's was being unjustly denied and censured by the King and Thomas Becket refused to cooperate.  As tensions rose, the King apparently cried out: "Will no one rid me of this troublesome priest!"

Four of Henry's henchmen took those words to mean that Henry wished Becket to be killed and so they carried this out on December 29, 1170 as they entered the Cathedral and literally slaughtered Bishop Thomas on the steps of the altar.  The public was outraged and scandalized by the King's action and the tomb of Thomas Becket became a great place of pilgrimage for the population of England. 

All of these courageous examples of sacrifice for the Lord mirror the mystery of the Christmas week.  Their blood is a sign of contradiction that the coming of Jesus has brought about and further history proved, even during the time of the Apostles, that the message of the Gospel would be both life changing and deeply bothersome to many.  This child who grew to be the Lord and Savior of humankind, shed his own blood on the cross and rose from the dead for our salvation.  

In this joyful Christmas season may the grace of God help us to embrace the life changing promise of hope and peace in this season of grace.