RBWords

     Into what I hope was a peaceful Christmas celebration for most of you comes the feast of the first martyr, and, two days later, the slaughter of the Holy Innocents!  Is there no end of violence?  The first martyr, Stephen, is attacked for his preaching.  The Holy Innocents are attacked because they represent a threat to Herod's power - a kind of preaching in itself.  The plain truth is that as we gaze on the child in the manger, we have one "advantage" that Joseph and Mary did not have.  We know what is going to happen to Jesus later on.  It will be violent and the result of threatened and envious people desperate to defend their own positions.

     The universal church is celebrating a "Year of Faith."  Stephen and the Holy Innocents (Dec. 28) remind us that faith can be costly.  We have a hard time understanding the deliberate violence inflicted by those who kill themselves and others along with them in the name of religious faith.  True martyrdom is not deliberately chosen but it can be accepted as an ultimate expression of faith.  It can also be sudden and not "accepted" at all, as in the case of the Holy Innocents.  It is not as if we must accept violence as always inevitable.  One hopes that good preaching can lead to peace and not to violence (as has unfortunately occurred too many times in history).  From St. Stephen we can gain courage and from the Holy Innocents a determination to stop violence against children.  And from this season, we can renew our determination to reject violence in all forms.  AMEN