December 28th – The Holy Innocents

[Weedy]

December 28th – The Holy Innocents

The slaughter of the Holy Innocents marred the mood created by the
birth of the Prince of Peace. If the Child was hailed appreciatively
by the simple shepherds and the wise Magi, his death was soon sought
by the local king.

Herod in no way deserved the obsequious title bestowed on him: “The
Great.” He was a petty tyrant who would stop at no cruelty to preserve
his throne and retain the support of the Roman Emperors, although even
they barely tolerated him. When he learned of the birth of the Messiah
from the Magi, he pretended to show kindly interest in this newborn
“king of the Jews”. But to prevent Jesus from ever becoming his
political rival, he ordered that all boy-children in Bethlehem up to
the age of two be massacred.

Jesus, of course, escaped the blood-letting. His hour to die had not
yet come, so God through an angel told Joseph to hurry the Mother and
Child out of the country. But the other boy infants of Bethlehem were
slain. The number of victims may not have been more than a dozen since
Bethlehem was a small village. But for that village the decimation was
a disaster, and the “sobbing and loud lamentations” of its mothers
rose to high heaven.

Since those days, many Christian mothers have lost children who for
one reason or another were never baptized, or could not be baptized
because of circumstances. This has been for them a true anxiety,
because of the official teaching of the Church, following Christ, that
“no one can enter into God’s Kingdom without being begotten of water
and Spirit” (John 3:5). It is also a general concern of Christians in
these days of the new Holocaust, the slaying of infants – by abortion
– in the womb. Will those who suffer death before birth also be
deprived by God of heaven because nobody baptized them?

People who are sincerely worried about the fate of unbaptized infants
can find consolation in the feast of the Holy Innocents. These little
victims were not old enough to receive baptism by desire. Although the
Church venerates them as martyrs, they were certainly not typical
martyrs. The typical martyr is one who chooses to obey God rather than
man; and the Holy Infants had no such choice. Yet the Church has
always held that they are in heaven, despite the lack of baptism of
water or blood or desire. As St. Augustine said, they are the “flowers
of the martyrs” – “the first buds of the Church killed by the frost of
persecution; they died not only for Christ but in His stead.”

If Jesus demanded that all men – including infants – be baptized by
water or at least by blood or by desire, we must heed that rule, and
be most careful to have our children baptized as quickly as possible.
That is vital. But the fact that God laid down this rule does not mean
that He himself cannot make exceptions to it. Other passages in
Scripture testify that Jesus died for all mankind, and that He wanted
all mankind to be saved. These passages must be balanced with the
passage on baptism; for they show the mercy of the Creator.

So let those who have lost children before their baptism, and those
who worry about the salvation of the victims of abortion, console
themselves with the thought that God does not forget any of His
children. Who are we to place limits on His special generosity?

Since Vatican II there has been a lovely new Mass in our missal called
“Funeral Mass of a child who died before Baptism.” The opening prayer
will give comfort to the Rachels of today: “Father of all consolation,
from whom nothing is hidden, You know the faith of these parents who
mourn the death of their child. May they find comfort in knowing that
he (she) is entrusted to your loving care.”
–Father Robert F. McNamara


Reflection: That the Holy Innocents may be invoked to be preserved
from illusion is the Church’s belief. Herod’s illusion of threat from
the newborn King cost their lives... How few, perhaps, of these
innocent little ones, if they had lived, would have escaped the
dangers of the world! From what snares, what sins, what miseries were
they preserved! Surely they rejoice now in their fate. We often
lament, as misfortunes, many accidents which in the designs of Heaven
are the greatest mercies.

Bible Quote
Therefore let us follow after the things that are of peace; and keep
the things that are of edification one towards another. (Romans
14:19)


<><><><>
Father, the Holy Innocents offered you praise
by the death they suffered for Christ.
May our lives bear witness
to the faith we profess with our lips.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ,
your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen