Feast of the Holy Innocents, martyrs
Lectionary: 698
Lectionary: 698
Beloved:
This is the message that we have heard from Jesus Christ
and proclaim to you:
God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all.
If we say, “We have fellowship with him,”
while we continue to walk in darkness,
we lie and do not act in truth.
But if we walk in the light as he is in the light,
then we have fellowship with one another,
and the Blood of his Son Jesus cleanses us from all sin.
If we say, “We are without sin,”
we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
If we acknowledge our sins, he is faithful and just
and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from every wrongdoing.
If we say, “We have not sinned,” we make him a liar,
and his word is not in us.
My children, I am writing this to you
so that you may not commit sin.
But if anyone does sin, we have an Advocate with the Father,
Jesus Christ the righteous one.
He is expiation for our sins,
and not for our sins only but for those of the whole world.
This is the message that we have heard from Jesus Christ
and proclaim to you:
God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all.
If we say, “We have fellowship with him,”
while we continue to walk in darkness,
we lie and do not act in truth.
But if we walk in the light as he is in the light,
then we have fellowship with one another,
and the Blood of his Son Jesus cleanses us from all sin.
If we say, “We are without sin,”
we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
If we acknowledge our sins, he is faithful and just
and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from every wrongdoing.
If we say, “We have not sinned,” we make him a liar,
and his word is not in us.
My children, I am writing this to you
so that you may not commit sin.
But if anyone does sin, we have an Advocate with the Father,
Jesus Christ the righteous one.
He is expiation for our sins,
and not for our sins only but for those of the whole world.
Responsorial
PsalmPS 124:2-3, 4-5, 7CD-8
R. (7) Our
soul has been rescued like a bird from the fowler’s snare.
Had not the LORD been with us—
When men rose up against us,
then would they have swallowed us alive,
When their fury was inflamed against us.
R. Our soul has been rescued like a bird from the fowler’s snare.
Then would the waters have overwhelmed us;
The torrent would have swept over us;
over us then would have swept the raging waters.
R. Our soul has been rescued like a bird from the fowler’s snare.
Broken was the snare,
and we were freed.
Our help is in the name of the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.
R. Our soul has been rescued like a bird from the fowler’s snare.
——
Had not the LORD been with us—
When men rose up against us,
then would they have swallowed us alive,
When their fury was inflamed against us.
R. Our soul has been rescued like a bird from the fowler’s snare.
Then would the waters have overwhelmed us;
The torrent would have swept over us;
over us then would have swept the raging waters.
R. Our soul has been rescued like a bird from the fowler’s snare.
Broken was the snare,
and we were freed.
Our help is in the name of the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.
R. Our soul has been rescued like a bird from the fowler’s snare.
——
Alleluia - See Te Deum
R. Alleluia,
alleluia.
We praise you, O God,
we acclaim you as Lord;
the white-robed army of martyrs praise you.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
We praise you, O God,
we acclaim you as Lord;
the white-robed army of martyrs praise you.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
GospelMT 2:13-18
When the magi had departed, behold,
the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said,
“Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt,
and stay there until I tell you.
Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him.”
Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night
and departed for Egypt.
He stayed there until the death of Herod,
that what the Lord had said through the prophet might be fulfilled,
Out of Egypt I called my son.
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.
the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said,
“Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt,
and stay there until I tell you.
Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him.”
Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night
and departed for Egypt.
He stayed there until the death of Herod,
that what the Lord had said through the prophet might be fulfilled,
Out of Egypt I called my son.
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.
Meditation: "Rachel weeping for her
children"
Who can explain suffering, especially the suffering of
innocent children? Herod's massacre of children who gave their lives for a
person and a truth they did not know seemed so useless and unjust. What a
scandal and stumbling block for those who can't recognize God's redeeming love.
Why couldn't God prevent this slaughter? Suffering is indeed a mystery. No
explanation seems to satisfy our human craving to understand.
First martyrs for Christ
These innocent children who died on Christ's behalf are the first martyrs for Christ. Suffering, persecution, and martyrdom are the lot of all who chose to follow Jesus Christ. There is no crown without the cross. It was through Jesus' suffering, humiliation, and death on a cross, that our salvation was won. His death won life - eternal life for us. And his blood which was shed for our sake obtained pardon and reconciliation with our heavenly Father.
These innocent children who died on Christ's behalf are the first martyrs for Christ. Suffering, persecution, and martyrdom are the lot of all who chose to follow Jesus Christ. There is no crown without the cross. It was through Jesus' suffering, humiliation, and death on a cross, that our salvation was won. His death won life - eternal life for us. And his blood which was shed for our sake obtained pardon and reconciliation with our heavenly Father.
Suffering can take many forms - illness, disease,
handicap, physical pain and emotional trauma, slander, abuse, poverty, and
injustice. Paul the Apostle states: We know that in everything God
works for good with those who love him, who are called to his purpose (Romans
8:28)? Jesus exclaimed that those who weep, who are reviled and persecuted for
righteousness sake are blessed (Matthew 5:10-12). The word blessed [makarios in
the Greek] literally means happiness or beatitude.
It describes a kind of joy which is serene and untouchable, self-contained and
independent from chance and changing circumstances of life.
Supernatural joy in the face of suffering
There is a certain paradox for those blessed by the Lord. Mary was given the blessedness of being the mother of the Son of God. That blessedness also would become a sword which pierced her heart as her Son died upon the cross. She received both a crown of joy and a cross of sorrow. But her joy was not diminished by her sorrow because it was fueled by her faith, hope, and trust in God and his promises. Jesus promised his disciples that "no one will take your joy from you" (John 16:22).
There is a certain paradox for those blessed by the Lord. Mary was given the blessedness of being the mother of the Son of God. That blessedness also would become a sword which pierced her heart as her Son died upon the cross. She received both a crown of joy and a cross of sorrow. But her joy was not diminished by her sorrow because it was fueled by her faith, hope, and trust in God and his promises. Jesus promised his disciples that "no one will take your joy from you" (John 16:22).
The Lord gives each of us a supernatural joy which
enables us to bear any sorrow or pain and which neither life nor death can take
way. Do you know the joy of a life fully given over to God with faith and
trust?
"Lord Jesus, you gave your life for my sake, to
redeem me from slavery to sin and death. Help me to carry my cross with joy
that I may willingly do your will and not shrink back out of fear or cowardice
when trouble besets me."
Daily Quote from the early church fathers: The first martyrs of Christ, by
Chromatius (died 406 AD)
"In Bethlehem therefore all the babies were
slain. These innocents who died then on Christ's behalf became the first
martyrs of Christ. David refers to them when he says, 'From the mouths of
nursing babies you have perfected praise because of your enemies, that you
might bring ruin to the enemy' (Psalm 8:2). ... For in this persecution even
tiny infants and nursing babies were killed on Christ's behalf and attained to
the consummate praise of martyrs. Meanwhile the wicked king Herod was
destroyed, he who had usurped the realm to defend himself against the king of
the heavens. Thus it is that those blessed babes have deservedly lasted beyond
others. They were the first who were worthy to die on Christ’s
behalf." (excerpt from TRACTATE ON MATTHEW 6.2)
[Note: Chromatius was an early Christian
scholar and bishop of Aquileia, Italy. He was a close friend of John Chrysostom
and Jerome. He died in 406 AD. Jerome describead him as a "most learned
and most holy man."]
FEAST OF THE
HOLY INNOCENTS, MARTYRS
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 28, MATTHEW 2:13-18
(1 John 1:5 ― 2:2; Psalm 124)
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 28, MATTHEW 2:13-18
(1 John 1:5 ― 2:2; Psalm 124)
KEY VERSE: "Rachel weeping for her children, and she would not be consoled, since they were no more" (v 18).
TO KNOW: King Herod gathered the chief priests and scribes and inquired where the "newborn king of the Jews" was to be born (Matt 2:2). When he was informed that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem, the ancestral home of King David, Herod feared that the child would be a threat to his throne and ordered the massacre of all infants in the vicinity. Matthew recalled the words of the prophet Jeremiah when he spoke of the lamentation of Rachel, the wife of Jacob/Israel (31:15). Jeremiah pictured the people of Jerusalem being led away into captivity in Babylon. As they passed Ramah, the place where Rachel was buried (1Sam.10:2), the prophet depicted Rachel weeping for the fate that befell the people. Just as the Hebrews found protection in Egypt under the patriarch Joseph (Gn 47:12), Mary's spouse Joseph obeyed the angel's order to take his family to safety in Egypt. In promising their safe return, Matthew quotes the prophet Hosea "out of Egypt I called my son" (Hos 11:1). Thus Matthew shows the continuity with God's people being liberated in the exodus, and of Jesus coming into the world to save all people from sin.
TO LOVE: Do I make known my views on the wrongdoings of child abuse and abortion?
TO SERVE: Lord Jesus, comfort the innocent who suffer at the hands of their oppressors.
Wednesday 28 December 2016
Wed 28th. Holy Innocents.
1 John 1:5 – 2:2. Our soul has escaped like a bird
from the hunter's nest—Ps 123(124):2-5, 7-8. Matthew 2:13‑18.
'Get up.'
Joseph got up. It can take a lot sometimes
to move a husband and father to action. Except if his family is under threat.
This is such an encouraging reading to me because Joseph listened to and
trusted an angel's words to him in a dream.
If he hadn't the results would have been disastrous.
We each have an angel who guides us, a small but true voice that nudges us amidst the noise of the world. Have a listen and take that step.
If he hadn't the results would have been disastrous.
We each have an angel who guides us, a small but true voice that nudges us amidst the noise of the world. Have a listen and take that step.
HOLY INNOCENTS
The Holy Innocents are
the children mentioned in the gospel of Matthew,
chapter 2:16-18.
Herod, perceiving that
he was deluded by the wise men, was exceeding angry, and sent his soldiers
to kill all male children ages two and under that were in
Bethlehem and on the boarders, according to the time which he had diligently
inquired of the wise men. Then was fulfilled the prophesy of Jeremiah: A voice
in Rama was heard, of lamentation and great mourning; Rachel bewailed her
children, and would not be comforted, because they were not.
The Greek Liturgy
asserts that Herod killed 14,000 boys, the Syrians speak of 64,000, and many
medieval authors speak of 144,000, according to Rev. 14:3. Modern writers reduce
the number considerably, since Bethlehem was a rather small town. Knabenbauer
brings it down to fifteen or twenty (Evang. S. Matt., I, 104), Bisping to ten
or twelve (Evang. S. Matt.), and Kellner to about six (Christus and seine
Apostel, Freiburg, 1908).
This cruel deed of
Herod is not mentioned by the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, although he
relates quite a number of atrocities committed by the king during the last
years of his reign. The number of these children was so small that this crime
appeared insignificant amongst the other misdeeds of Herod. Macrobius relates
that when Augustus heard that amongst the boys of two years and under Herod's
own son also had been massacred, he said: "It is better to be Herod's hog,
than his son" alluding to the Jewish law of not eating, and consequently
not killing, swine. The Middle Ages gave faith to this story, and Abelard
inserted it in his hymn for the feast of Holy Innocents.
It is impossible to
determine the day or the year of the death of the Holy Innocents, since the
chronology of the birth of Christ and the subsequent Biblical events is most
uncertain. All we know is that the infants were slaughtered within two years
following the apparition of the star to the Wise Men (Belser, in the Tubingen
"Quartalschrift," 1890, p. 361). The Church venerates these children
as martyrs (flores martyrum); they are the first buds of the Church killed by
the frost of persecution; they died not only for Christ, but in his stead (St.
Aug., "Sermo 10us de sanctis").
The Latin Church
instituted the feast of the Holy Innocents at a date now unknown, not before
the end of the fourth, and not later than the end of the fifth century.
The Roman Station of
December 28 is at St. Paul's Outside the Walls, because that church is believed
to possess the bodies of several of the Holy Innocents. A portion of these
relics was transferred by Sixtus V to Santa Maria Maggiore. The church of St.
Justina at Padua, the cathedrals of Lisbon and Milan, and other churches also
preserve bodies which they claim to be those of some of the Holy Innocents.
LECTIO DIVINA: THE HOLY
INNOCENTS
Lectio Divina:
Wednesday, December 28, 2016
Christmas Time
Reading: Mt 2:13-18
When the magi had departed, behold,
the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said,
"Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt,
and stay there until I tell you.
Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him."
Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night
and departed for Egypt.
He stayed there until the death of Herod,
that what the Lord had said through the prophet might be fulfilled,
Out of Egypt I called my son.
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.
the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said,
"Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt,
and stay there until I tell you.
Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him."
Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night
and departed for Egypt.
He stayed there until the death of Herod,
that what the Lord had said through the prophet might be fulfilled,
Out of Egypt I called my son.
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.
Lectio
Through the departure of the Magi this
text is connected to four passages that have preceded it - that is to the story
of their visit. The following context covers a period of many years following
the death of Herod and also telling of the return of Joseph, Mary and Jesus to
Palestine and their settling down in Nazareth.
The text of the Gospel of the infancy
according to Matthew, is contrasted with that which appears in the account of
the slavery in Egypt and the Exodus. This is a combination of different
elements: the name of Joseph which recalls the son of Jacob who went down to
Egypt, the massacre of the children, and the return from Egypt.
It is an angel of the Lord that comes to Joseph, who finds himself in danger, and suggests the flight into a land that at that time, was one of the outlets for Hebrew emigration. This warning came in a dream and it points to some sort of particular revelation, perhaps more hidden and perhaps requiring deeper consideration. This would again testify to the characteristic wisdom of Mary's spouse. The flight of Joseph, the child and the mother has a temporal characteristic connotation: it happens at night. We find two Old Testament citations, which throw light upon the events being recounted. Hosea and Jeremiah are cited. After the first citation, short and to the point, the scene moves to Herod who orders the systematic killing of the children of Bethlehem and its surrounds; this agrees with other historical sources that describe him as a ruler without scruples, ready to kill even his own children to keep in power. The final Old Testament citation, which is much longer, closes the section. It takes up the lament of the prophet Jeremiah regarding the Assyrian deportation; the Evangelist locates the slaughter that takes place at the very heart of the suffering people of God.
Meditatio
Recalling the experience of exile and slavery of the people of Egypt and their return to their homeland recalls for us the Passover of the Hebrews, thus opening the passage to its greater meaning.
Furthermore, the perspective given by the text underlines the accomplishment of the Word of God within human experience, even in those people who are the most crewel.
From this emerges the readiness of God to protect the gift given to humankind throughout history: his own Son. But the Son of God is not preserved from pain, another reason for us to grasp the future characteristic of the Easter event. Jesus is saved at this moment so that he can in the future announce the Word in order to give life when the time comes.
And the protector is Joseph, a wise man, who knows how to listen (see Mt 1,20 & 2,19) and act accordingly.
Herod accomplishes his slaughter, driven by his fear of loosing his power and infuriated by failed success of his attempted deception of the Magi. The text expresses it as if it was he who was deceived, and thus it shows the evil reasoning of power, its arrogance that believes that the one who opposes is always wrong.
So we are drawn to ask ourselves why God allows all this. But perhaps this question may conceal our responsibility: our greed and thirst for power, our roots of cruelty that history experiences in every age. And so God answers the question regarding "the why of evil", and he does it not with words but through incarnation in this our history. Thus establishing a history of salvation.
That is why Easter, with its light, is on the horizon at Christmas.
Oratio
So that we might learn from and listen to the Word and put into practice.
For all those who are forced to flee their homeland.
So that we might be aware of the struggles brought about by every form of greed and power seeking, and thus be protected from it.
For all the wounded children of today, the hungry, child-soldiers, the sexually exploited, the sexually abused.
Contemplatio
The text invites us to look into history with the eyes of faith, a history God has chosen to be present to be present in, even beyond all our imaginings. At the same time, God is inviting us to take responsibility for those who, for different reasons, suffer persecution and displacement.
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