Feast of the Holy
Innocents
(I John 1:5-2:2;
Matthew 2:13-18)
Faced with moral evil,
we ask, “How could God permit this?”
When we saw that policeman kneeling on George Floyd’s neck, we asked
“How could God permit this?” When we
hear stories of the concentration camps at Auschwitz and Dachau, we ask, “How
could God permit this?” When Mohammad
Atta and other terrorists caused the horror of 9-11, we asked, “How could God
permit this?” Today’s gospel suggests an
answer.
The slaughter of
innocent children sounds outrageous.
There is no historical record of it except this account in Matthew. But it is like other atrocities committed by
King Herod. The tyrant murdered several
members of his family, including his wife and sons. In any case, it has been noted why God might
have permitted the slaughter of the Innocents.
First though, we must recognize that God never causes people to sin. Sin is a human project although evil spirits
may be involved. Yet God can embrace sin
to bring about His intended good. In the
story of the Innocents, their death allowed Jesus to escape the wicked king’s
pursuit. He will die thirty years later
so that they might know eternal life.
The story of the
martyred Innocents injects into the joy of Christmas a foreboding of the sorrow
of Holy Week. It admonishes us to temper
our festivity by remembering the purpose of God becoming human. Jesus was born to set us free from sin and
death. His dying on the cross and rising
from the dead give us new purpose in life and a new destiny.
