December 28, 2019 Feast of the Holy Innocents Readings: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/122819.cfm
A Loss of a child is a very difficult event to have happen. Be it a death due to an accident, surgery gone wrong or a miscarriage. I have quite a number of brothers and sisters that I never got a chance to meet. I obviously was able to meet by living brother Jeff and sister Cynthia… I also got to meet for a very little bit Kathleen and Jennifer who were born too early to survive in the medical technology of the day.
The Ordering is evil
In our Gospel today we hear of the ordering of the death of the Holy Innocents. In this case it was not a natural cause, it was an evil decree ordered by a king. King Herod the great he was the King of Judea at the time of Jesus’ birth He was a very prideful man and really liked the power of being a king
Responsibilities
He expanded the Temple and the footprint using his engineers and builders, but he was so fearful of losing power that he ordered the killing of all children around Jesus’ age. The Magi inadvertently gave Herod enough information that he knew the age of the “new king”.
Perhaps it may be good to go over the rights and responsibilities of being a king.. at least from a Judeo-Christian Perspective. So a King was the center of government and made all of the decision affecting the kingdom. He chose all of the advisors and ministers. Being a King (or Queen) was a hereditary right. The King had many freedoms due to his divine right and had prerogative, but was still obligated to follow the law.
The Kings main duties were to defend the realm, maintain the law and to do justice. So these are the duties of being a ruler. And even in our own United States we claim to these responsibilities.
Now of course, we expect from these promises, the attempt to copy as humanly possible, the example of the Ultimate King, which we know as Jesus.
Jesus is our True King
From that we infer that a ruler should be humble and serve their people. They are to act in the best interest of the people. In today’s Gospel we see that Joseph and Mary served their King… their true King The one who does all the things which we just talked about.
And we see the Holy Innocents. They gave their lives, their parents suffered great pain and loss for King Herod. As a ruler we see him fail in the most basic of responsibilities. This earthly king who killed their children for power and pride.
However, we must remember that the children and their parents also served their ultimate king… they gave all that they had to protect the king of the Universe Even if they did not understand their gift.
Herod’s Legacy
King Herod left a legacy of pain and misery. His children and grandchildren made a mockery of being a ruler. While he served Rome, he was the ruler of Judea. While they rule, we see them do very little of any redeeming quality. We see the rule of law being obliterated
The lesson from all of this is that God can make good from the bad. The Holy Innocents served Jesus and allowed Him to advanced [in] wisdom and age and favor before God and man.
The Herod’s well they would not last .. by the 2nd century they had been deposed by their rulers. We know the Roman leadership collapsed…. Many other regimes have come and go throughout history… not one has lasted all that long.
The New Regime
There is a singular exception… one that has lasted for 2000 years since its first leader was anointed and showed all how to lead. No matter how man (Internally or externally) has tried to make it go away… it has stood the test of all time It has been since the inception of time…. and will continue to be until time stops. The One, holy, catholic, and Apostolic Church of Jesus Christ.
This is the realm which every other leader and every other person must bend their knees and declare that Jesus Christ is King. The people in the Church will err and make mistakes… some small… And there has been and will be some whopper mistakes made.
But the Church founded by God himself will not have Sin or error.
We should keep in mind a quote by ArchBishop Fulton J. Sheen:
Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen
“Judge the Catholic Church not by those who barely live by its Spirit, but by the example of those who live closest to it. “
See as an example, Joseph and Mary who lived the closest to Our Christ.