Word to the Wise
Thursday, December 28, 2023 - Dec. 28 - Feast of the Holy Innocents, martyrs
[1 John 1:5-2:2 and Matt 2:13-18]When Herod realized that he had been deceived by the magi, he became furious. He ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had ascertained from the magi. Then was fulfilled what had been said through Jeremiah the prophet: A voice was heard in Ramah, sobbing and loud lamentation; Rachel weeping for her children, and she would not be consoled since they were no more. [Matthew]
Since the infancy narratives of the gospels according to Matthew and Luke contain, in germ, the whole story of Jesus' earthly life, death and resurrection, the story of the slaughter of the Holy Innocents fulfills that purpose. There is an echo of the story of the birth and protection of Moses from Pharaoh's lethal order in Exodus [1:15-22]. Jesus is portrayed in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew as a "new Moses." He is also carefully portrayed as fulfilling all the prophecies about the Messiah. And he is also portrayed as the innocent messiah put to death by jealous rulers. All of these are contained in the story of the Holy Innocents.
This feast has become an important opportunity to call attention to the many children lost to abortion in our country and elsewhere. Although the decision may be a hard one for some, for many others it is a matter of removing a threat of some kind, as in the case of Herod and Pharaoh and, of course, Jesus. The Gospel According to Matthew, in the scene of the Last Judgment, reminds us that what we do or fail to do for the least of our brothers and sisters, we are doing or failing to do for him. The child in the womb certainly qualifies for the title, "the least of my brothers and sisters!" The feast of the Holy Innocents is a feast of all lives from womb to tomb. AMEN