Bishop Eric Menees
Merry Christmas!
The week following Christmas is filled with special
celebrations. On Tuesday we celebrated the Feast of St. Stephen – the first
Deacon and Martyr - on Wednesday we celebrated the Feast of St. John the
Evangelist, and today we celebrate the Feast of Holy Innocents.
Holy Innocents does not commemorate the birth of Jesus, but
rather those innocent children killed as a result of a jealous and paranoid
despot - Herod the Great. Herod realized that the Wise Men did not come back to
report on the location of Jesus, who had been prophesied about, and so, in an
attempt to eliminate a potential rival for the throne, he ordered the slaughter
of all the male children under age two. Then was fulfilled what had been
foretold by the prophet Jeremiah: “Then Herod, when he saw that he had been
tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male
children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under,
according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. 17 Then was fulfilled
what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah: 18 “A voice was heard in Ramah,
weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to
be comforted, because they are no more.” (Matthew 2:16-18)
Our hearts cry out at the murder of the innocents today as
much as they did two thousand years ago.
And yet, every day innocent children are killed through war, preventable
hunger, and through “choice.”
This day, let us weep for the over sixty million children
legally aborted in the United States since Roe v. Wade became the law of the
land. Let us weep for the loss of life
and the loss of potential that these children represented.
Let us also weep for the women who felt they had no other
choice and those who were pressured into making this decision. Let us weep for
all the parents who are unable to conceive or bear children who have been
denied the opportunity to adopt. Let us weep for a society that does not give
sufficient support to pregnant women who aren’t sure what to do.
Let us pray: We remember today, O God, the slaughter of the
holy innocents of Bethlehem by King Herod. Receive, we pray, into the arms of
your mercy all innocent victims; and by your great might frustrate the designs
of evil tyrants and establish your rule of justice, love, and peace; through
Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit,, one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment