The Feast of Holy Innocents

Our Gospel for today is found in Matthew Chapter 2.  St Matthew’s primary audience was Jewish; the structure and priorities of the Gospel are directed toward those familiar with the history of God’s people, who would have some knowledge of the Law and the Prophets.  That is in part why St. Matthew is fond of quoting from the Prophets, noting how various events in the life of Christ fulfilled numerous prophetic notes in the Old Testament.  

After the visit of the Magi, Joseph is told of Herod’s plan to destroy Jesus and is instructed to take Our Lord and the Blessed Virgin Mary down to Egypt.  Herod, who is threatened by the arrival of a child that the Magi came to worship from afar, decides to destroy all the boys of Bethlehem who were two years old or less. The boys of Bethlehem have come to be known as the Holy Innocents.  

In the previous two days, we have celebrated the feast of St. Stephen, who was a martyr in will and in deed, meaning St. Stephen was killed because of his love for Jesus.  Yesterday, we celebrated the living sacrifice typified by St. John who was willing to die for Jesus but God granted him a natural death. A martyr in will but not in deed. The boys in Bethlehem are martyrs in deed but not in will.  They were ignorant of the propositions of Christ’s Lordship but suffered death because of his birth.  

Herod’s wrath against the newborn king cost the lives of these boys.  The work of Satan is to destroy the children of Eve. We are told Rachel weeps for her children who are no more and these descendents of hers are the parents of the holy Innocents, those baby boys under two years of age, who suffered martyrdom because of Herod’s obsession with eliminating this one born king of the Jews.  They longed for children from God, labored for them and saw them slain as Herod hunted the Christ child.   

Let’s reflect a bit about Rachel and her weeping.  The root of this passage is Jeremiah where Rachel is weeping as her descendants, her children are killed, exiled from Canaan. In Jeremiah, there is an undercurrent of hope even in her sadness for her numerous descendants.  God will bring them back to the land. Her children will dwell in Canaan once again.  There is another element of Rachel’s weeping.  If we look back in the Old Testament, to be childless was to endure social stigma and shame.  The first three generations of the Patriarchs struggled with fertility.  Sarah, Rebekah, and Rachel, all struggled to conceive. In fact, we read that God opened their wombs so that they could bear children.  Hannah, the mother of Samuel, was barren and received blessing through giving Samuel to the Lord.   They all in their varied ways bared their souls to God pleading for children.  For generations leading up to the sexual revolution, children were considered a gift from God.  There was a blessing from having one’s house full of them.   

Rachel wept for her children who were no more;  she wept because she longed for them and they were taken away.

The canons, the internal governing law of the REC, require me to preach/teach at least once a year either on the Feast of Holy Innocents or on Right to Life Sunday on the evil of abortion.   Let us take a moment to consider this issue today.  

So many people have longed for children among the ancients;  Rachel, prophetically, wept for the suffering of her children in their destruction.  There are many in our present age who can’t have children, who struggle with barrenness and would be delighted to adopt a child.  There are many who have an unexpected pregnancy and are being lied to about the nature of the life they carry and the consequences of ending that pregnancy.  Satan wants to deprive both the natural mother and the adoptive parents of the possibilities of redemption.  

Satan is bent on destruction.  He desires the natural mother to damage her soul and conscience by allowing her child to be destroyed.  His purpose is the death of mankind, even if it is a child in the womb.  Satan delights to prevent those who long for children to have them.  Abortion is a destructive practice, contrary to God’s will.  It promotes a culture of death by making victims of its proponents.  It deprives our society of countless generations of individuals with distinct gifts and talents that could serve the world at large.  

So, on this feast of Holy Innocents, let us remember that we are called to overcome evil with good.  Let us see abortion for the evil that it is and pray for its end.  Let us do all we can as Christians to affirm life.  We should encourage and pray for those mothers who are fearful to bring children to term.  

We must love those who have participated in this sin so that their wounds can be addressed and healed by the love of Christ.  Let us be life affirming, for the unborn and for all who have been harmed by abortion.  Amen.