Daily Gospel Reflection
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December 28, 2020
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.
Losing a child is a parent’s greatest fear. When our children come into the world, the fragility of their existence is painfully evident to us. I remember when my first child was born, I realized that my most important task was simply to keep that baby alive from one day to the next. And so the thought of today’s feast, the Feast of the Holy Innocents, causes me to shudder as I imagine what the town of Bethlehem went through as a result of Herod’s wrath.
Reflecting on this reading led me to ask, “who are the holy innocents in our own time?” This reading might seem like little more than a theological point in the narrative of Jesus’ life (since it is a fulfillment of a prophecy from Jeremiah, as we learn in today’s reading), but this story can inspire us to consider how innocent little ones suffer and die in our contemporary context.
First, there is an analogy to abortion for us to consider. The veneration of these Holy Innocents is an important part of the Catholic pro-life movement and these martyred infants are the patron saints of all infant children, especially the unborn. Beyond that, there are children who die from malnutrition, preventable diseases, and war in many places. The deaths of these innocent ones and the causes of their deaths may seem distant to us, but we have the ability to consider how unjust distribution of resources, economic exploitation, and violent conflicts shape the world we live in. For my part, organizations like Catholic Relief Services and Oxfam have helped increase my awareness of these issues (and are a great place to start, among others, if you can use your means to help address these issues).
The most powerful aspect of today’s feast and reading for me is that it invites me to tap into the emotion of my own parental experience and reflect on how Christ is calling us to protect the innocent children among us today. As a parent, I cannot fathom the pain of losing a child. And so let us work to protect the innocent.
Prayer
Lord, we read today about the death of innocent children whom Herod killed in his rage. How many innocent children have been massacred over the ages by those who mock your rule of peace! Give us the courage and insight to do everything we can to bring about a world of peace where the innocent no longer are slaughtered. Amen.
Saint of the Day
The story of the slaughter of the Holy Innocents is part of the narrative of Jesus’ birth. Herod governed the Jewish portion of the Roman Empire when Jesus was born. When he heard that people looked for the birth of a new “king of the Jews,” and that scholars from the east had already come to worship him, Herod felt threatened.
He learned that this Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem, and sent for the visiting magi. He cross-examined them to learn what they knew, then told them to report back to him after they found the child under the pretense that he, Herod, wanted to pay homage as well. The magi were warned in a dream to avoid returning to Herod, so they went home a different way.
At the same time, an angel warned Joseph to flee with Mary and Jesus to Egypt because “Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him” (Mt 2:13). The image below, which stands in the Beichner Married Student Housing Center chapel, depicts the Holy Family's flight to Egypt.
When Herod learned that the magi had deceived him, he became furious and ordered the murder of all the boys in and near Bethlehem 2 years old or younger.
Herod was a barbaric ruler responsible for many crimes and slaughters. Tradition has inferred the slaughter of the Bethlehem children to have killed many children—anywhere from 14,000 to 144,000—but it is not likely that nearly this many were killed. Estimating by the size of Bethlehem, including its surroundings, there could not have been more than 25 baby boys 2 years old or younger at any given time.
The feast of the Holy Innocents has been remembered by the Church since the fifth century. These children are venerated as martyrs of sorts—they died not only for Christ but actually instead of Christ. St. Augustine called them buds killed by the frost of persecution the moment they showed themselves.
The Holy Innocents are honored as patrons of babies, and some of the relics in the Basilica reliquary chapel indicate that they come from these children. Today's featured image, which depicts their slaughter, is part of the collection in the Raclin Murphy Museum of Art on campus and is used with their permission.
Holy Innocents, you were killed in the place of Christ and are patron saints of all infants—pray for us!
Image Credit: Studio of Ludovico Mazzolino (Italian), Massacre of the Innocents, early 16th century, oil on copper. Raclin Murphy Museum of Art: Gift of Dr. M. L. Busch, 1953.006.