Today is the day in the calendar that we remember those who
are known as the Holy Innocents, those children Herod had put to death after
the visit of the Magi as recounted in Matthew 2. Remember the Magi came looking for the king
who had been born as heralded by the star and they were warned not to return to
Herod to tell of this king. In response
Herod ordered all Hebrew children in Bethlehem and the region under the age of
two to be killed. There is certainly a
parallel to the story of Moses in there as the one who came to deliver His
people and who survived the attempt by a ruler to destroy Him. It is one of God’s ironies that the family
fled to Egypt for safety before returning.
Here in the Isaiah passage we hear the nation being
comforted by the news that when they return to the Land there will not be
enough room to contain all the children because He will so greatly bless them
in this regard. Again and again the
prophet sees the image of abundant children in the Land, so many that the women
will not believe it possible that they could have borne them. We live in an age where there are Holy
Innocents as well, children who were never born because it was inconvenient or
for some other reason. Our situation is
worse because we the people have been complicit in this situation. The citizenry has not only allowed it but
funded it and supported it in defense of the right to choose. Every year on this day I experience deep
sadness and contrition that for too long I bought into that “right” and failed
to lend my voice to truth.
When the disciples ask who is the greatest Jesus gets a
child and sets him in the middle of the group and answers the real question,
“What can I do to be great?” The answer
is to humble yourself like a child. In
that culture children were not idealized and the center of attention in the
family or in the society. Children were
important to the extent they were the ones who would carry on the traditions
and the faith but they were to be instructed until the age they could read
Torah for themselves, the high points of childhood were survival of birth and
the day they could read Torah and therefore become responsible members of
Jewish society. The child was under
guidance during those years and submitted to parents and teachers. This, Jesus says, is the model for greatness,
humility and submission. Teaching
children to sin was a terrible sin in itself Jesus says, everything you do
teaches and leading a little one astray was a serious offense in the
kingdom. It would have been shocking for
Jesus to answer in this way. In baptism,
we take this passage seriously when the community vows to be responsible for
their upbringing and education in the faith.
We have a solemn and sacred responsibility.
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