Today is the Feast Day of the Holy Innocents, the patron saints of babies. These innocent little children were the first martyrs for Jesus Christ. We remember the 20 children and 6 adults who were murdered in the massacre in Newtown, CT four years ago. These kindergarten children were the faces of goodness and light. Jesus came to us as a vulnerable little baby like these little ones. Today, let us pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy for their families.
Matthew 2:12-18
And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed for their country by another way. When they had departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you. Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him." Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed for Egypt. He stayed there until the death of Herod, that what the Lord had said through the prophet might be fulfilled, "Out of Egypt I called my son." When Herod realized that he had been deceived by the magi, he became furious. He ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had ascertained from the Magi. Then was fulfilled what had been said through Jeremiah the prophet: "A voice was heard in Ramah, sobbing and loud lamentation; Rachel weeping for her children, and she would not be consoled, since they were no more." Herod was “greatly troubled” when astrologers from the east came asking the whereabouts of “the newborn king of the Jews,” whose star they had seen. They were told that the Jewish Scriptures named Bethlehem as the place where the Messiah would be born. Herod cunningly told them to report back to him so that he could also “do him homage.” They found Jesus, offered him their gifts and, warned by an angel, avoided Herod on their way home. Jesus escaped to Egypt.
Herod became furious and ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity two years old and under. The horror of the massacre and the devastation of the mothers and fathers led Matthew to quote Jeremiah: “A voice was heard in Ramah, sobbing and loud lamentation; Rachel weeping for her children...”Rachel was the wife of Jacob. She is pictured as weeping at the place where the Israelites were herded together by the conquering Assyrians for their march into captivity.
They have been ransomed as the firstfruits of the human race for God and the Lamb. Revelation 14:4
We remember the Holy Innocents today. We pray for all the babies lost in our time to the horror of abortion and we pray for their families. The greatest treasure God put on the earth is a baby, destined for eternity and graced by the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus. Lord, You are the Giver of life. We pray that ALL LIFE will be protected, in Your Holy Name, through the powerful intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Unborn.
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