Innocents’ Day

Saturday, December 28, 2019
Holy Innocents, Martyrs
1st Reading: 1 Jn 1:5—2:2
Gospel: Matthew 2:13-18•AFTER the wise men had left, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you for Herod will soon be looking for the child in order to kill him.”
Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and left that night for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. In this way, what the Lord had said through the prophet was fulfilled: I called my son out of Egypt.
When Herod found out that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was furious. He gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its neighborhood who were two years old or under. This was done in line with what he had learned from the wise men about the time when the star appeared.
In this way, what the prophet Jeremiah had said was fulfilled: A cry is heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation: Rachel weeps for her children. She refuses to be comforted, for they are no more.
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)
The classic story of a man who set his house on fire because he couldn’t catch that pesky mouse comes alive in today’s Gospel story of King Herod. His first strategy to eliminate Jesus was to trick the magi into reporting to him the exact location of the new born Jesus. When this failed he got so mad that he ordered the killing of all the boys in Bethlehem and its neighboring towns who were two years old and below. The age margin shocks us, for it reflects Herod’s utter lack of respect for life. Power does not only corrupt one’s morals; it also corrupts one’s sense of proportion.
The lesson of today’s Gospel story is two-sided. On one side we learn that earthly power self-destructs when threatened. It was when Herod felt threatened by reports about a new born king that he went out of control. On the flip side we learn that there is so much power in powerlessness. The child Jesus was too powerless to do anyone any harm. Yet he drove a king to his wit’s end.
Today, the powerless continues to threaten the powerful. Who is afraid of a third world country like the Philippines? First world countries are. Because of our fast growing population we compete with them in the consumption of world resources. That is why funds are being flooded to the country to finance the passage of the Reproductive Health Bill. It did! The disparity between the power of First World Countries and the power of the unborn makes these countries appear like the classic mad man who had to burn down his whole house just to kill a pesky mouse. –(Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., J.D., D.M.