HOLY INNOCENTS 28 12 2025
FIRST READING: Jeremiah 31.15-17
NEW TESTAMENT READING: 1 Corinthians 1.26-29
GOSPEL Matthew 2.13-18
Today is observed as Holy Innocents Day, we remember the Children killed by Herod the king. When the wise men from the east came in search of Jesus the Messiah, they came a long way to offer their gifts to Jesus and worship and adore him. They go to Herod the king thinking that Herod will know the where abouts of the child born to be king. Herod had no clue, he summons his scholars and they tell him, ‘In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet: “And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
who is to shepherd my people Israel.”’
Herod then asks the wise men to find the child and come and tell him the location for him to go and pay his respects. The Wise men were warned in a dream not to go and inform Herod but go another way. The wise men accordingly leave Bethlehem in a different route and this angers Herod and he orders the massacre of children aged two years and under. In the meantime, Joseph is warned in a dream to leave Bethlehem and go to Egypt to save the child. Jospeh, Mary and Baby Jesus leave Bethlehem and go to Egypt and live there.
It is at this time Herod murders all the little innocent children. They are commemorated as God’s innocent children. Matthew the gospel writer sees this atrocity as the fulfilment of the prophecy of prophet Jeremiah who said, ‘A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more.’
A similar situation occurred in Egypt when the Pharoah the king of Egypt wanted to destroy the Hebrew people, he ordered the midwives to kill male babies born of Hebrew women. So many children were massacred.
While we read about these massacres, our hearts are filled with great grief and anguish. However the massacre of innocent children continues even in the present time. Children are the worst affected in places of war and conflicts.
At least one Palestinian child has been killed every hour on average by Israeli forces in Gaza over nearly 23 months of war, with the number of children killed now surpassing 20,000, Save the Children says.
Jesus at his birth was a homeless child, then as a child he was a refugee fleeing to Egypt along with Joseph and Mary. Being a refugee and fleeing their land for safety is not an easy thing. They are at the mercy of people in the land to whom they are fleeing. Joseph, Mary and Jesus had to live as refugees in Egypt for some years.
As we hear about the Holy Innocents, we turn to Jesus who constantly highlights the importance of children.
‘Take care that you do not despise one of these little ones; for, I tell you, in heaven their angels continually see the face of my Father in heaven. (Matthew 18:10)