20201228 REBIRTH IN CHRIST
28 December, 2020, Monday, The Holy Innocents
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour: Red.
First reading | 1 John 1:5-2:2 © |
The blood of Jesus Christ purifies us all from sin
This is what we have heard from Jesus Christ,
and the message that we are announcing to you:
God is light; there is no darkness in him at all.
If we say that we are in union with God
while we are living in darkness,
we are lying because we are not living the truth.
But if we live our lives in the light,
as he is in the light,
we are in union with one another,
and the blood of Jesus, his Son,
purifies us from all sin.
If we say we have no sin in us,
we are deceiving ourselves
and refusing to admit the truth;
but if we acknowledge our sins,
then God who is faithful and just
will forgive our sins and purify us
from everything that is wrong.
To say that we have never sinned
is to call God a liar
and to show that his word is not in us.
I am writing this, my children,
to stop you sinning;
but if anyone should sin,
we have our advocate with the Father,
Jesus Christ, who is just;
he is the sacrifice that takes our sins away,
and not only ours,
but the whole world’s.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 123(124):2-5,7-8 © |
Our life, like a bird, has escaped from the snare of the fowler.
If the Lord had not been on our side
when men rose up against us,
then would they have swallowed us alive
when their anger was kindled.
Our life, like a bird, has escaped from the snare of the fowler.
Then would the waters have engulfed us,
the torrent gone over us;
over our head would have swept
the raging waters.
Our life, like a bird, has escaped from the snare of the fowler.
Indeed the snare has been broken
and we have escaped.
Our help is in the name of the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
Our life, like a bird, has escaped from the snare of the fowler.
Gospel Acclamation | cf.Te Deum |
Alleluia, alleluia!
We praise you, O God,
we acknowledge you to be the Lord;
the noble army of martyrs praise you, O Lord.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Matthew 2:13-18 © |
The massacre of the innocents
After the wise men had left, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother with you, and escape into Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, because Herod intends to search for the child and do away with him.’ So Joseph got up and, taking the child and his mother with him, left that night for Egypt, where he stayed until Herod was dead. This was to fulfil what the Lord had spoken through the prophet:
I called my son out of Egypt.
Herod was furious when he realised that he had been outwitted by the wise men, and in Bethlehem and its surrounding district he had all the male children killed who were two years old or under, reckoning by the date he had been careful to ask the wise men. It was then that the words spoken through the prophet Jeremiah were fulfilled:
A voice was heard in Ramah,
sobbing and loudly lamenting:
it was Rachel weeping for her children,
refusing to be comforted because they were no more.
REBIRTH IN CHRIST
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [1 John 1:5-2:2; Ps 124:2-5,7-8; Matthew 2:13-18]
The calm and peaceful feast of Christ’s birth does not seem to last long. Immediately after the joyous feast of Christmas, the liturgy commemorates the martyrdom of St Stephen and today, the Church celebrates the Feast of the Holy Innocents. This holds true for many of us who celebrated Christmas as well. After the merry-making, dancing and feasting, we get back to the drudgery of life, dealing with the challenges ahead of us, resolving conflicts, and trying to sustain ourselves and our loved ones. In truth, life is never peaceful on this earth. What we celebrated was just a reprieve. But it is more than just a reprieve, it is to direct us to hope for eternal peace and joy in the life to come. Indeed, the birth of Jesus is not just a sentimental celebration of an innocent and lovely baby coming into the world.
His birth was to usher a new birth for all of us. His birth will lead to death and death will lead to fullness of life. This is why the Feast of Christmas is always celebrated under the shadow of the cross. Right from the start of Christ’s birth, enemies of Christ were finding ways to destroy Him. In today’s gospel, Herod who felt threatened by the birth of Christ and furious at being deceived by the Wise men about the New Born King ordered the slaughter of all babies under two years of age in Bethlehem and the surrounding district. Right from the start of Jesus’ life, He and His parents became refugees in Egypt. Through the prompting of an angel, “Joseph got up and, taking the child and his mother with him, left that night for Egypt, where he stayed until Herod was dead.” They migrated to a foreign land not knowing how they could survive. Such was the suffering and struggles the Holy Family faced because of evil people, especially evil leaders who were consumed by fear, envy, insecurity and violence.
Indeed, when we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Innocents, the Church wants to awaken our conscience to the suffering of so many innocent, vulnerable and defenseless people in the world, especially children. When we consider how the innocent babies were killed because the birth of Jesus caused Herod to live in insecurity, we cannot but feel outraged for the suffering of these innocent babies. They did nothing wrong. They were truly innocent. They did not even choose to die, unlike St Stephen who voluntarily sought to die for our Lord. They did not even know their enemies or why they had to be killed. Yet they suffered the cruelty of evil people. But most of all, they had no means to defend themselves from their murderers. In our eyes, they seem to have died in vain. They were not given a chance to live and develop.
Such cruelty to innocent children did not just happen during the time of King Herod. By estimation, historians surmised that perhaps 10 to 15 babies were killed only, not in the thousands. Regardless whether it was 10 or 15, such tragic and senseless killing of the babies remain offensive and an affront to human sentiments. In fact, today the situation is even much worse. Compared to our times, what King Herod did may be considered mild because today we kill unborn babies by the millions every year, and thousands every day. Without batting an eyelid, doctors, surgeons, politicians and the State collude with their people to destroy life, innocent babies through abortion, right up to just before they reach full term. We terminate human embryos in the name of science and biological advancements and demand the right to have babies using IVF. We treat human embryos and unborn babies as if they are things and objects that have no life and so we can kill, destroy and dispose like some tumor which we remove from our bodies.
But the defenseless are not just unborn babies; they also include all those children who suffer innocently due to the ravages of war fought by adults and by nations. Many innocent children have been killed in war, or died from poverty caused by the ravages of war. Many like Jesus became refugees, living without any financial or basic needs to sustain them, be it food, shelter or medical care. Some have been sold into child labour or used for sex trade. Many have been abused physically, emotionally and mentally. Of course, such abuses do not just take place in war-torn or poverty-stricken countries, but even in our own homes. We hear of how children have been physically, emotionally and sexually abused by their guardians, parents and siblings.
Again, when we speak of the suffering of the innocent children, we also must take into consideration how much our children suffer because of their parents. When parents fight and quarrel, children live in fear and in security. Sometimes, parents visit their anger and frustration on their children. How many innocent children brought into this world by parents who are then divorced have to suffer the pain of separation, not just from one parent but from their siblings as well! And sometimes, it is not because both parents cannot agree with each other but because of infidelity of one or both the parents. Many of us have suffered family violence and we all know how painful, frightening and insecure we have become because of a divisive family.
Then again, we must also consider those who are vulnerable, especially those who are mentally and physically challenged. Through no fault of theirs, they were born blind, deaf or disabled. Some suffer from HIV because they were born of infected parents. Some became disabled because of accidents. Indeed, most of them who are physically or mentally challenged suffered like the Holy Innocents, through no fault of their own. They did not ask to come into this world to suffer. But in spite of their disabilities, they have feelings, they have a heart to love, they need love and care. They are not robots. Some might not be able to think like an adult but they can feel and know what love is.
My dear people, why is the world so blind and indifferent to the sufferings of the Innocent? This is simply because darkness has overcome the world. Christmas is a celebration of light. The light of Christ is our hope. This is what John wrote, “God is light and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not live according to the truth; but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another.”
The world is in darkness simply because the world has become numbed to sin. Surveys have shown that many people no longer believe in sin. At most they recognize they might have made some mistakes. Or worse still, they absolve themselves from all sins and place the onus of sin on structures and institutions. People no longer have any conscience or sense of morality, of what is right and wrong, because of relativism that is promoted by the world. Today, everyone claims not just to be immaculately conceived but also sinless throughout their lives. We no longer take any blame or responsibility for what we do. Conscience is dead because darkness has dulled our intellect and hardened our hearts. This explains why evil people can promote the culture of death, whether by abortion, euthanasia, war or indifference to the poverty of humanity in some parts of the world.
Hence, Christmas is meant to give us a rebirth in Christ Jesus. That Jesus was called out of Egypt reminds us of the new exodus the Lord is inviting us to. We are called to share in His life of love, sacrifice and giving so that our sins will be forgiven and we will shine in the world. Even if we suffer now, we know that our rebirth is in Christ in the resurrection. So even if we suffer innocently for justice and truth, our suffering like the Holy Innocents will not be in vain. God will use our innocent suffering just like that of Jesus’ innocent suffering on the cross to redeem the world from their sins and from evil. Our real birthday is when we are reborn in Christ at our baptism and when we die, sharing in His resurrection.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
No comments:
Post a Comment