By Joseph Inbaraj csc –
Readings: 1 Jn 1: 5 – 2: 2; Mt 2: 13-18
Today we celebrate the Feast of Holy Innocents. St. Augustine would say “They are the first buds of the church killed by the frost of persecution; they died not only for Christ but in his stead.”
Though King Herod was great and well known for his rule, he was afraid of losing his kingdom as he heard about the new born baby whom three Magi referred to as king. Due to his pride and the selfishness, he wanted to kill the infant Jesus. In the process, he ended up killing thousands of innocent babies.
Today’s Gospel passage speaks about the angel of the Lord appearing in a dream of St. Joseph to warn about the plot of King Herod to kill Jesus. A great responsibility was entrusted to Joseph to take the child and his mother to Egypt to save the life of the child. Jesus was saved but a lot of infants lost their lives.
In the present, there are so many Herods trying to assassinate the lives of many innocents, just for their wellbeing. On the other hand, we get a call just like St. Joseph to save them and uplift their living standard. How good are we to see their challenges and respond in our daily life?