Feast of the Holy Innocents, martyrs
(I John 1:5-2:2; Matthew 2:13-18)
The word “Holy Innocents” this year will be mostly associated with the child victims of Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. The hearts of people the world over go out to their parents who like “Rachel weeping for her children” cannot be consoled “since they (are) no more.”
But because its carnage of innocent babes continues to mount, something must also be whispered about the depenalization of abortion whose anniversary will be commemorated shortly. In forty years the Supreme Court decision has led to the slaughter of around fifty million human lives in their initial formation in America. In many of these cases the parents weep in silence since they ultimately caused their own heartache.
Jesus is born to take away our tears. His law, written in the gentlest manner on our hearts, frees us from enslavement to the passion at the root of unwanted pregnancy. It is the rule of true love which undergoes sacrifice for the real good of all.
