Monday, December 28, 2009

The Holy Innocents

I'm posting this very late at night so by the time most of you read this the Feast of the Holy Innocents will have past us by. Every year, on December 28th, in the Octave of Christmas, the Church gives us the feast day in memory of all the innocent babies slaughtered by the orders of King Herod.

Still disturbed by the news of the birth of a newborn King and concerned about his own power, Herod orders the massacre of all baby boys in Bethlehem under the age of two. These holy innocents, these precious little boys became the first to bear witness to the coming of Christ as the Word made flesh with their very lives. The Church pays honor to all of them on this special day. We, living some two thousand years later, can follow the example of these holy innocents. We most likely will not be called to do this with our lives. But we are called to follow their example by our witness and our full faith and belief in Christ the Lord and His Church. And we are called to give that witness too by defending innocent life, particularly the life of the most innocent among us, the baby in the womb.

On a feast day like today, when we read the account of this slaughter, it feels particularly yucky to live in a nation that so readily slaughters thousands of holy innocents every day. May we pray more fervently for an end to abortion and call on the intercession of the Holy Innocents in this petition. And may their example encourage those among us who can support the pro-life cause with financial support, volunteer effort or sidewalk ministry to do so.

So on this, the fourth day of Christmas, we remember the Holy Innocents and we pray to support life, from conception to natural death.

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