Collect of the Day
Almighty God, the martyred innocents of Bethlehem showed forth Your praise not by speaking but by dying. Put to death in us all that is in conflict with Your will that our lives may bear witness to the faith we profess with our lips; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Intro: Matthew’s Gospel tells of King Herod’s vicious plot against the infant Jesus after being “tricked” by the Wise Men. Threatened by the one “born King of the Jews,” Herod murdered all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or younger (Matthew 2: 16-18). These “innocents,” commemorated just three days after the celebration of Jesus’ birth, remind us not only of the terrible brutality of which human beings are capable but more significantly of the persecution Jesus endured from the beginning of His earthly life. Although Jesus’ life was providentially spared at this time, many years later, another ruler, Pontius Pilate, would sentence the innocent Jesus to death. (From: The Treasury of Daily Prayer, Concordia Publishing House)
Reflection: I am no scholar of the various religions of the world, but from a cursory look at many religions, it seems that Judaism and Christianity so emphasize infants and children, and with them fathers and mothers…families, in comparison to the rest of the world’s religions. Christmas is not for kids, but the Lord is for children throughout the Holy Scriptures: from creation (“be fruitful and multiply”) to Adam and Eve to the Abraham and the Patriarchs to Ruth, as written in the many genealogies listed in Scriptures, then to the Holy Family. The whole narrative of the beginning of the New Testament centers in Matthew and Luke on the conception and births of John the Baptist and Jesus. Children are crucial. They were not expendable, even in the womb…still they are not trash. So when King Herod the so-called ‘Great’, murders by his order, all the male children in Bethlehem under the age of two, in order to kill this possible usurper to his throne, Jesus, the weeping of Rachel for her children is profound.
Jesus taught much about children after his interaction with them and their parents, Matthew 11:25, Matthew 18:3-5, Matthew 19:14, etc. The Kingdom of God is received as a child, and that Scripture is for adults! All baptisms are infant baptisms. Why did the Lord so teach? First, He knew Scripture and the way the promises of God were fulfilled through families, such as His own! This is a pure speculation: Secondly, His Mother Mary and step-father Joseph probably told Him what happened that terrible deed of Herod’s killing the Holy Innocents. I can’t help but imagining this could have struck a deep chord within His sinless heart, soul and mind. Centuries before, another ruler, Pharoah tried to stop the Hebrews from multiplying by killing their male children, Exodus 1: 15-16. The rulers and principalities, unaided by Scripture and reason, war against life and children: they are aborted, abused physically, emotionally, spiritually and sexually, they are actively prevented from being conceived, sold as sex slaves. Many try to keep children from Jesus by encouraging them to sin. As the Lord said,
And he said to his disciples, “Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come! 2 It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin. (St. Luke 17:2).
Beloved in the Lord! The Lord is for families as He came up with the idea and creates families and redeems them in His own Child! As the Church, we must be ever vigilant to defend the family as the Lord is for the family. Let not the witness of the Holy Innocents of all times be forgotten as the crucified and risen Child of God is still for all His children.
Visit, O Lord, the homes in which Your people dwell, and keep all harm and danger far from them. Grant that we may dwell together in peace under the protection of Your holy angels, sharing eternally in Your blessings; through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
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