Now for an episode of Finish That Song Lyric:
“Good King Wenceslas looked out…”
What’s the next line of that old standard Christmas carol? You probably thought of it automatically. It is, “On the Feast of Stephen.”
You see, that is not a Christmas carol at all, but rather a St. Stephen’s Day carol. Yes, every December 26, one day after the joyous feast of Jesus’ birth, the Catholic Church celebrates St. Stephen, one of the original deacons and the very first martyr in church history.
“Deacon” comes from the Greek word diakonia, which means “to serve.” Stephen, as we read in the Acts of the Apostles, was one of seven chosen by the Apostles to serve the new Christian community. Those deacons were originally assigned to help feed people and do other chores, but Stephen quickly developed a talent for preaching. He was so effective that the opponents of this nascent religion put him to death by stoning—under the approving eyes of a man named Saul, who would later be converted and become St. Paul. Stephen died while asking forgiveness to his tormenters, just as Jesus had.
In other words, absolutely nothing could stop Stephen from serving. To this day, deacons are ordained to do their best to follow his example: to serve, especially poor (including the poor in spirit). It is an important role in the church. Every priest must serve as a deacon on his way to his priestly ordination. One of them, who was one of my professors at the seminary, said he never has stopped being a deacon. At the time, he said, “Bishop McGann has never stopped being a priest!”
It is the responsibility of every bishop, priest, and deacon to spread the word that everyone is called to serve in their own way and that serving is a blessing in itself.
Catholic Charities is built on that very idea. Every leader, every employee, every volunteer, every donor is living out that call to diakonia.
Let’s all make a point to be inspired by their witness and the service that we see others performing. It was refreshing to hear the remarks of Yankee superstar Aaron Judge recently after he was named the 2023 Roberto Clemente Award winner for humanitarian work and philanthropy. In his first interview on the Major League Baseball network and again during a news conference, he quoted Jesus when he said, “To whom much is given, much will be required.”
Even for those of us who aren’t gifted with extraordinary athletic talent, fame and riches, we can still serve in our own lives. Even if we don’t feel as if anyone notices, we should know that God is pleased.
As the final words of “Good King Wenceslas,” that St. Stephen’s Day carol say:
“Ye who now will bless the poor/ shall yourselves find blessing.”