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, according to 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.
Reflect:
It appears that the birth of Jesus unleashed much violence in the world – we have a series of
stories of martyrs following Christmas. Even today, as per available statistics, Christians form
the most persecuted religious group in the world. Why does it happen? Such violence results
due to the inability of the powers-that-be to stand the truth of the Gospel. The massacre of the
Holy Innocents that we keep memory of today resulted because King Herod simply could not
accept the birth of Jesus, whom he mistakenly took to be a challenger to this throne. The
Gospel continues to be inconvenient for many in the world and they would do anything to
silence its voice. However, as Tertullian wrote in his Apologeticus, “we spring up in greater
numbers the more we are mown down by you: the blood of the Christians is the seed of a
new life.” May the Holy Innocents sustain our faith!
© Copyright Bible Diary 2022