Dear Parishioners and Friends,
Today at the Wednesday service, we observed the feast of the Holy Innocents (transferred). In the midst of the celebration of the joyous birth of our savior, we get a stark reminder of the forces of evil that are at work in the world.
Having heard rumors of a rival king (or so he thought), King Herod, incandescent with rage at having been duped by the wise men who left town without telling him the location of the Holy Family, ordered all children two years of age and younger to be slaughtered. In my reading of scripture, especially the New Testament, this is one of the most shocking and horrifying passages of all. Even after having read it over and over, the grief and terror never cease to cut through my heart. Having walked the streets of Bethlehem, I can only think, “If those stones could talk, what a story they would tell.”
Where is the good news, one might ask. It lies in the fact that not even the rage of a tyrant could snuff out the light of Christ and God’s plan for our salvation. Nor could death itself stop our Lord from giving us the greatest gifts that were ever given: forgiveness, adoption, and eternal life. Still, we must remember the Holy Innocents, and through them all innocent life that suffers at the hand of man. Human kind, the animals, and all of the natural world are part of a magnificent tapestry that is at the center of God’s heart. We are stewards of it all, and we are our brother’s and sister’s keeper.
We remember today, O God, the slaughter of the holy
innocents of Bethlehem by the order of King Herod. Receive,
we beseech thee, into the arms of thy mercy all innocent
victims; and by thy great might frustrate the designs of evil
tyrants and establish thy rule of justice, love, and peace;
through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with
thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and
ever. Amen. BCP p.186
Blessings,
Father Rick
917.658.6314
