2025-12-26 - 5:15 am Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament followed by the Holy Mass

Good evening and welcome to our time of adoration followed by the celebration of the Holy Mass for Friday of the Octave of Christmas. Christmas is so huge that it cannot be contained in one liturgical celebration. We now enter into the Octave of Christmas which lasts for eight days. It will conclude on January 1, 2026. Throughout the Octave of Christmas it is a time for celebration and so for those who like to sacrifice on Fridays, it does not need to occur during the Octave. Against this background, we celebrate the Feast of St. Stephen, the first recorded martyr of the New Testament. He is also the patron saint of deacons. We may wonder why the day after Christmas our readings take us to the martyrdom of Stephen and Jesus's conversation with the apostles about troubles and persecution that will befall them. It reminds us that we cannot just stay at the manger scene and see nothing but the Infant Lord Jesus. He came to bring us salvation and this is the cost of discipleship. During this Octave time, let us give praise and thanksgiving to God for the gift of His Son Jesus but keep in mind the reason that He came to earth. And so we have birth one day, and death the next. Each one of us can live in the present moment and give thanks for the good days and the 'blue' days that Jesus has covered through His suffering, death and resurrection. These eight days are a time for celebration. Give glory, praise and thanksgiving to our God and praise God from whom all blessings flow! Our Responsorial Psalm today is Psalm 31: "Into your hands, O Lord, I entrust my spirit."