The Feast of the Holy Innocents (December 28, 2020)

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be alway acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, our Strength and our Redeemer. Amen.

A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they were no more.

Introduction

Today is Holy Innocents, the day we remember those infants murdered by King Herod in our Gospel lesson. From a literary perspective, Matthew’s depiction of the story is meant to harken back to Pharaoh’s murder of Hebrew boys by throwing them into the Nile river. Of course, Herod’s case is even worse because he is killing his own people. However, Pharaoh’s plan of subduing the Hebrews by murdering their children is eventually foiled by Moses, saved from the genocide by his parents in a floating basket raft, who would rise up and deliver Israel from slavery in Egypt. Christ is delivered from Herod’s genocide by fleeing to Egypt, the same land which was responsible for the enslavement and genocide in Moses’ day. This land of Gentiles, previously known for its hostility toward and enslavement of Israel was safer for Jesus and his family than his own homeland.

Little Ones

Children figure prominently in Matthew’s Gospel. In chapter 18 verses 3-5, Our Lord says, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me.” Jesus creates a new community in Matthew’s Gospel, a place where the weakest are elevated and the strong made weak. The little ones, then, are paradigmatic for living this new life. For this reason, Herod’s actions are particularly depraved. In his quest for power, he sinks to heinous levels of depravity by exterminating those who are weakest.

Slaughter of the Innocents

In describing the events surrounding the murder of the infants, Matthew quotes Jeremiah 3:15, “A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they were no more.” This even was predicted by the prophet Jeremiah. Rachel, the ancestor or Israel, weeps for the cruelty of Herod’s inhumane acts. Herod’s explicit rejection of Jesus, the Messiah, which leads to the slaughter shows that Herod is not the one who is to be king of the Jews (and he later dies a violent death himself, being punished by God). Herod’s actions here look forward to the cries at Jesus’ trials where the people urge Pilate to crucify Christ, crying “His blood be on us and on our children." Because children are the victims of Herod’s violent actions, many consider them the first Christian martyrs because they died for Christ. St. Cyprian said, “The children’s smallness (or Innocence) prefigures the humility of all martyrs.” This is what our collect gets at this morning. The Holy Innocents are a template for us: “Mortify and kill all vices in us, and so strengthen us by thy grace, that by the innocency of our lives, and constancy of our faith, even unto death, we may glorify thy holy name."

Abortion

It is easy for us to write off the actions of Herod as emblematic of the brutality of the ancient world. To do so would be to engage in chronological snobbery. Herod, in his quest for power, did horrifically slaughter most likely thousands of children.But moderns aren’t any better. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s monitoring, even with a sharp decline in abortion rates, 623, 471 children were aborted in 2016. While it is some consolation that the rates have been on a steady decline from their peak at almost 1,500,000 in 1990, it is still 623,471 too many. That decline does not erase the fact that from 2010-2016, 4,753,889 children were murdered by the abortion industry.

And why? Because we live in a culture where we celebrate autonomy, particularly when it comes to sexuality, to the point that violence becomes insidiously sanitized. We have detached sex from reproduction based on the myth that children are an inconvenience or that growing up poor is a justification for a culture of disposability.

The Gospel means that the weak and helpless are near and dear to God’s heart. This is what we say in the Magnificat at Evening Prayer:

He hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.

He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and hath exalted the humble and meek.

On Holy Innocents, our remembrance of martyrs murdered by Herod functions as an impetus for us to prayerfully oppose the evil of abortion in our own day. We do this knowing that “we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” So we pray for women who might have abortions, we pray for women who have had abortions, we pray for doctors, nurses, and all others who participate in the industry that perpetuates this systematic violence. And we pray for the souls of those babies who have been aborted, that light perpetual may shine upon them.

Conclusion

Holy Innocents leaves us with two important realities.

First, is found in Matthew 18:3-5, “Truly I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me.” We are all called to have faith like children, laced with simplicity and humility. And we are called to extend open arms to those who are weak and marginalized. So we model our lives after these first Christian martyrs.

The second reality is that we should prayerfully resist our culture of disposability and dehumanization while repenting for the astounding violence perpetuated here and elsewhere in the “civilized world."

Lord have mercy.

Christ have mercy.

Lord have mercy.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.