Feast of the Holy Innocents

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Thursday, 28 December 2023 : Feast of the Holy Innocents, Martyrs (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today the Church celebrates the Feast of the Holy Innocents, also known as the Holy Innocents of Bethlehem or the Martyrs of Bethlehem, in which the innocent children of Bethlehem were massacred by the forces of King Herod the Great, the then ruler over the land, in his futile pursuit and effort to destroy the fledgling Messiah, prophesied to be born in the city of David, Bethlehem of Judea. This day we recall this moment of great infamy and evil which mankind had committed in the pursuit of worldly glory and power, and we are all reminded that we have to be careful lest we are tempted and swayed by the many worldly temptations and coercions all around us which may lead us to our downfall and destruction through sin.

Back then, as we listened through the Gospel passage, King Herod who got to know about the coming of the Messiah through the Three Magi or the Three Wise Men who came to visit and pay homage to Him, saw this Messiah as a great threat to his rule as king, and hence he likely wanted to remove this threat as immediately and quickly as possible, firstly by pretending to want to pay homage to this new King also, and when the Three Magi, warned by the Angel of God of Herod’s true intentions, did not return back to him, hence, in his desperation, he committed a truly great sin in murdering the young and innocent children, which were without blame, and were caught in the events that unfolded then. They were killed amidst Herod’s futile effort to secure his reign and power.

Perhaps we can better understand the context as we learn more about the history of that time, and how Herod the Great himself came to power. Herod was a usurper and not a rightful king of Israel, as he actually took power by deceit and plots, and through collusion and cooperation with the Romans, who sought to secure their rule in the region. Prior to Herod’s accession to power, the land of the Israelites were ruled by the Hasmoneans, the descendants of the Maccabean rebels who led the descendants of the Israelites in a rebellion against the former rulers of the land, the Greek Seleucid Kings and gained independence for them. The Hasmonean Kingdom lasted for about a century since then before internal discord eventually led to its downfall, and Herod was the son of Antipater the Idumaean, a foreigner hailing from the lands adjacent to Judea, whom the Romans found favour in.

Thus, it was how Herod eventually rose to power, through his connections and plots, and the Romans eventually entrusted Judea, Galilee, Samaria and other surrounding regions to Herod the Great, who became sort of a client king for the Romans, a tactic that was often employed by the Romans back then to help them secure the lands that they had just conquered or extended their dominion towards. However, from this point of view, Herod was indeed a usurper, and hence, the people of God did not truly accept him as king and ruler over them. That was why Herod was known especially for his many efforts and megalomaniac ambitions, with many grand projects designed to shore up his rule and legitimacy among the people.

Given this context, it was likely therefore that Herod was desperate in holding onto power after a whole lifetime of trying to expand his rule and power, dominion and glory, and he did not wish to let all of these escape him or his family. This was why, we are taught and shown here a lesson of why we should not allow worldly temptations to bring us to ruin because of their strong allure and hold on us, the desires and ambitions of the world, which then led to Herod committing such a grievous and terrible crime in the futile efforts to secure his rule, which in the context of history eventually faltered and failed not long after that moment of massacre. Herod’s kingdom did not long last his immediate descendants, and eventually met its end and downfall.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, something that may often make us wonder regarding this event of the Massacre of the Holy Innocents of Bethlehem is that, if God is so good and loving, why is it that He allowed such a terrible atrocity to take place? That is precisely because while God despises sin and evil, at the same time He also gave us the freedom to choose our course in life, the free will that He has given each and every one of us. We have been given the capacity to discern our course of action in life, the wisdom and the ability to choose our path in life because God did not want to take that gift of free will from us. Hence, it is our free will to choose to do what is good or what is evil and wicked in the sight of God, and for Herod, he chose to abuse that free will, doing what was wicked for his own selfish desires. That is also how suffering came to be in our world today, when mankind abuse their free will and encroach on others’ rights.

The same therefore can be said to what is now happening in our world today. As we all well know, that war is still currently raging on in the Holy Land, with people suffering and dying daily in this recent conflict, borne out of human greed, ego, pride and desire, the desire to retain power and for more worldly influence and glory, which is honestly not that different from what had happened two millennia ago at Bethlehem. This is why we should learn from the lessons of the past, and not allow ourselves to be misled yet again by our human greed and desires, all the things which had caused the downfall of so many throughout time. This Christmas, many of our brethren in the Holy Land are unable to celebrate the way that many of us have done and are doing, and they are under constant threat and hardships.

Let us all therefore do our part to help them and to also strive for peace, that we should utterly and completely reject violence and all the wicked ways of the world so that we do not end up causing all these hardships and sufferings to others. Let us also in our lives be ever mindful of our actions in life, so that in our exercise of our freedom to choose our actions we do not cause inconvenience and difficulties for the people around us. Let the Lord our God, Whose birth we commemorate and celebrate this season be the centre and focus of our lives, and not our selfish desires and greed. May the Lord continue to guide us all that we may live our lives worthily as Christians as always. Holy Innocents of Bethlehem, Holy Martyrs, pray for us, especially for those now suffering in the Holy Land! Amen.

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Thursday, 28 December 2023 : Feast of the Holy Innocents, Martyrs (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Matthew 2 : 13-18

After the wise men had left, an Angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph and said, “Get up, take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and stay there 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 neighbourhood who were two years old or under. This was done in line with what he had learnt 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.

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Thursday, 28 December 2023 : Feast of the Holy Innocents, Martyrs (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Psalm 123 : 2-3, 4-5, 7cd-8

Had not the Lord been on our side, when people rose up against us, then they would have swallowed us alive; such was their anger against us.

A bit more and the flood would have engulfed us, the torrent would have swept over us, the raging waters would have swept us away.

The snare was broken and we were freed. Our help is in the Name of the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.

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Thursday, 28 December 2023 : Feast of the Holy Innocents, Martyrs (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

1 John 1 : 5 – 1 John 2 : 2

We heard His message from Him and announce it to you : God is light and there is no darkness in Him. If we say we are in fellowship with Him, while we walk in darkness, we lie instead of being in truth. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we are in fellowship with one another, and the Blood of Jesus, the Son of God, purifies us from all sin.

If we say, “We have no sin,” we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He Who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from our wickedness. If we say that we do not sin, we make God a liar, His word is not in us.

My little children, I write to you that you may not sin. But if anyone sins, we have an Intercessor with the Father, Jesus Christ, the Just One. He is the sacrificial Victim for our sins and the sins of the whole world.

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Wednesday, 28 December 2022 : Feast of the Holy Innocents, Martyrs (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we mark the occasion of the Feast of the Holy Innocents, referring to the Holy Innocents of Bethlehem, all those innocent children and infants who were slaughtered mercilessly in cold blood upon the order of the King of Judea then, Herod the Great. This event, which happened at the when the Lord Jesus was coming into the world serves as a good reminder to all of us just what kind of wickedness and evil that we mankind can do if we let the temptations of worldly desires and greed to affect us and to rule over our lives and actions. That is why we have to keep in mind to stay away from the path of indulgence and immersion in worldly power and glory, or else we may end up falling into the trap of sin, out of which it may be difficult for us to escape.

As we heard in our Gospel passage today, King Herod the Great feared that this Messiah or Saviour coming from God to His people would supplant him and his house in the reign over Judea and all of his other territories, and hence, he considered the Lord Jesus as his rival in power and tried therefore to eliminate Him before He could become a greater threat to his rule. He tried to trick the Three Magi or Wise Men who came to him asking about directions and information regarding the Messiah, but to no avail as the Angel of God warned the Three Magi that King Herod was trying to kill the Child and hence they did not go back to Herod to tell him where the location of the Child was. Infuriated by this, and blinded by his desire for power and glory, his selfish desires led to him not to see reason and plotted to kill his Rival even if He is but just a small little, newborn Child.

Hence that was what happened, as Herod sent his soldiers to strike at all the infants in Bethlehem, all those newborn and even everyone under the age of two. We can clearly see that Herod was hell-bent on securing his reign and power. Contextually and historically, King Herod the Great himself was also well-known for his megalomania and desire to prove himself as the rightful king of the Jewish people, of Judea and all of his territories. Perhaps by understanding a bit of the history of King Herod the Great, we can better understand the motivation of the actions of this wicked man, who chose to commit such a heinous crime like the slaughter of innocent infants, the Holy Innocents of Bethlehem, just so that he could secure his reign and power.

King Herod the Great was an Idumean, and was likely an Idumean Jew, descended from the Idumeans, a foreigner tribe living near the Jews in Judah, some of whom decided to convert to the Jewish customs and beliefs. Through his machinations and his father’s work, Herod the Great would seize control of the region from the then rightful rulers, the members of the Hasmonean dynasty, descendants of the Maccabees who led the people to fight for their freedom against their Greek oppressors. Hence, as Herod seized power using means that were considered inappropriate and wrong, he was widely considered and treated as a usurper. That is why for his entire reign, Herod tried his best to legitimise his rule by his many grandiose projects and megalomania.

That was why he built the great extension and expansion of the Temple of God in Jerusalem, which construction would last for many decades even after Herod had passed away. Herod also established a great fortress in Jerusalem called the Antonia Fortress, and also a grand amphitheatre and complex called the Herodium, and a great city named after the Roman Emperor, Caesar Augustus, that is Caesarea, to gain him support and favour from his main patron and supporter, the Roman Emperor himself. Yet, no matter what, Herod was still often seen as an outsider and usurper by many among the people, especially among the members of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish High Council. It is not surprising then that Herod would try whatever he could to make himself more legitimate or acceptable by the people, and if not, by imposing his will, and if necessary, use violence.

Through this example we can see the danger of worldly power and ambition, hubris and human pride. Herod was swayed by those temptations and succumbed to them, and led him to be blind to reason, and not minding even to cause great harm and lack of compassion even for young infants and children. What we heard and witnessed is an act of desperation by a tyrant who tried whatever he could to secure his power, his ambition, his rule and power by whatever means necessary, even against God’s Law and commandments, and against common sense and human morality. That is why today’s celebration of the Feast of the Holy Innocents is a very important reminder to all of us that we must not let the same thing happen to us as well. Some of us may also wonder why God did not intervene to prevent this tragedy from happening, but that is precisely why He granted us free will, to choose between doing good and evil, and some like King Herod chose to have his free will to cause hurt and harm to others. How about us, brothers and sisters? Will we do the same too?

If we do not allow worldly temptations and ambitions to sway us, and put Christ at the centre of our lives, then it will be less likely that we can be easily swayed by worldly things and temptations. We have to be firm in our conviction and desire to keep ourselves free from those temptations and to stay in the right path shown by the Lord. And the best way is for us to follow the Lord and commit ourselves to His ways, putting Him at the centre of our lives and existence as we should. We must not let our desires, greed, pride and ego from misleading us down the wrong path in life, as King Herod’s example has shown us. We must also therefore remind ourselves this Christmas season that all of our celebrations are not about our desires and wants for pleasures and good things, but rather we rejoice because the love and mercy of God has been shown and extended to us.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all redirect our focus and attention in life, that we may truly stay on the path of the Lord and His righteousness, and not lose sight on His salvation and grace simply because we fail to resist the temptation to sin, to resist the pressure of our desires and the weakness of our flesh. We have to keep in mind that God is ultimately the reason why we live our lives, and it is to serve Him and to glorify Him that we carry out our actions through life, not for our own personal ambitions and glory. After all, no worldly glory and power lasts forever, like the example of King Herod himself showed us, how after his death, his kingdom quickly fell apart and was divided and eventually absorbed by the Romans who supported his rule. The magnificent Temple that he had built was destroyed by the Romans during the Jewish rebellion merely few years after it was completed. Worldly glory and power is indeed fleeting and impermanent, but our faith in God will lead us to an eternity of true happiness and joy.

May the Lord continue to bless us and guide us in our way of life that we will stay true to the path that He has shown us and not be easily swayed by the temptations of our pride and desires. May God bless our every efforts and endeavours to glorify Him at all times, and may He remain with us and continue to strengthen us each day, and bless our current Christmas observances and celebrations. Amen.

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Wednesday, 28 December 2022 : Feast of the Holy Innocents, Martyrs (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Matthew 2 : 13-18

After the wise men had left, an Angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph and said, “Get up, take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and stay there 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 neighbourhood who were two years old or under. This was done in line with what he had learnt 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.

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Wednesday, 28 December 2022 : Feast of the Holy Innocents, Martyrs (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Psalm 123 : 2-3, 4-5, 7cd-8

Had not the Lord been on our side, when people rose up against us, then they would have swallowed us alive; such was their anger against us.

A bit more and the flood would have engulfed us, the torrent would have swept over us, the raging waters would have swept us away.

The snare was broken and we were freed. Our help is in the Name of the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.

by

Wednesday, 28 December 2022 : Feast of the Holy Innocents, Martyrs (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

1 John 1 : 5 – 1 John 2 : 2

We heard His message from Him and announce it to you : God is light and there is no darkness in Him. If we say we are in fellowship with Him, while we walk in darkness, we lie instead of being in truth. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we are in fellowship with one another, and the Blood of Jesus, the Son of God, purifies us from all sin.

If we say, “We have no sin,” we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He Who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from our wickedness. If we say that we do not sin, we make God a liar, His word is not in us.

My little children, I write to you that you may not sin. But if anyone sins, we have an Intercessor with the Father, Jesus Christ, the Just One. He is the sacrificial Victim for our sins and the sins of the whole world.

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Tuesday, 28 December 2021 : Feast of the Holy Innocents, Martyrs (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we mark the occasion of the Feast of the Holy Innocents, remembering the Holy Innocents of Bethlehem, all the infants aged two and below that had been massacred by King Herod the Great in his futile efforts and attempts to destroy the infant King of Israel, the One Who was prophesied by the prophets to come into this world and Who would rule over the people as King. King Herod henceforth feared that his rule and power would be taken over from him and his family, and handed over to this new King, and hence, he tried to eliminate Him no matter what.

Contextually, we can understand his actions better if we know more about how King Herod the Great rose to power. He was born as the son of Antipater the Idumaean, a high ranking official in the Jewish Hasmonean kingdom hailing from the region south of Israel known then as Idumaea or the ancient Edom, the neighbouring state bordering the land of Israel. According to historical traditions, the ancestors of Herod had converted to the Jewish faith, and dwelled among the descendants of Israel in Judea. Nonetheless, as he owed his rise to power to the assistance and support of the Romans, he has always felt insecure in his power and rule.

Why is that so, brothers and sisters in Christ? That is because he could be considered as a usurper, having usurped the rightful rule over Judea and the other traditional lands of Israel from the Hasmonean kings, the descendants of the Maccabees who won independence for the Jewish people a century prior. King Herod seized power from the last of the Hasmonean kings and forcibly took one of the Hasmonean princesses as his wife. And his rule in Judea and beyond was characterised with its megalomaniac nature and immense building projects, such as the rebuilding of the Second Temple of Jerusalem, henceforth known colloquially as Herod’s Temple, and also other major buildings such as the Herodion and many others.

Herod’s preoccupation with building such grand scale projects was a reflection of his great fear of being treated as a usurper, and as a usurper indeed he was, he feared that one day his rule and kingdom would be overcome by anyone who would contest his power and authority, being someone with greater claim to the kingship than himself. Hence, it was no wonder that the moment King Herod heard about the coming King of Israel through the three Wise Men or Magi that he began to do all that he could to find out more about the coming King, the Messiah of God, and later on, in his attempts to eliminate this threat to his rule.

Herod the Great’s paranoia and determination to hold onto power no matter what the cost ultimately caused him to commit the great and heinous sin of murder, as he ordered the murder of so many innocents in Bethlehem just that he might destroy his opponent, the newborn King of Israel. He ordered his men to commit such great murders, shedding the blood of the innocent children in order to secure his own power and authority, because he was only interested in maintaining his own glory and kingdom, and caring not for the plight of those whose lives he had destroyed, whose family members he had killed.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, through this historical example of the massacre of Bethlehem, we are all called to reflect on the dangers presented by sin on our daily living, for sin can easily corrupt us and mislead us down the wrong path, and cause us to succumb to evil deeds like what King Herod had done. That is how many of us had sinned and how many of our predecessors have fallen into sin, and even into damnation because of their inability to resist the allures of sin. Some of us even perhaps deny that we have sinned, and how everything we have done can be justified, for our own purposes and needs.

As St. John stated in his Epistle that we heard as our first reading today, we deceive ourselves if we say that we have no sin. All of us are sinners and the Lord alone has the power to forgive us and free us from the bondage of sin. That He has done, and He has come into this world, incarnate and born in the person of Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour as we celebrate in this Christmas season. He has shown us the way out of the darkness and into His new Light, and what we need to do is for us to follow Him, reject sin and refuse to allow ourselves to be swayed by it.

As Christians, all of us should look up to Christ, the True Light and Hope that God has brought upon us and that He has given to us, as the manifestation of His love for each one of us. Let us all remember the memory of the Holy Innocents of Bethlehem, holy and innocent martyrs of mankind’s greed and ambition, which had led to so much sufferings, pains and sorrows, as they abused the freedom given to them, the authority and power entrusted to them as Herod the Great himself had done. Let us all not fall to the same temptations and let us do whatever we can to follow the Lord wholeheartedly, committing ourselves to His cause from now on.

May God bless us all, and may He strengthen us in our faith, that we may always aspire to be better Christians, in all things and in all deeds. Let us all distance ourselves from sin, and be good role models for each other. Holy Innocents of Bethlehem, martyrs of purity and virtue, pray for us all, your fellow brothers and sisters, now and always. Amen.

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Tuesday, 28 December 2021 : Feast of the Holy Innocents, Martyrs (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Matthew 2 : 13-18

After the wise men had left, an Angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph and said, “Get up, take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and stay there 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 neighbourhood who were two years old or under. This was done in line with what he had learnt 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.