The Holy Innocents

The Massacre of the Holy Innocents by Duccio di Buoninsegna

If there is one day in the twelve days of Christmas that's liable to put a lump in your throat, I would say it would have to be today. For the calendar for this date commemorates the round up of all the male babies in Herod's kingdom for slaughter. The King was afraid; there was a new king that had been born, one more powerful than himself. And so Herod knew what had to be done: kill him.

Isn't that how so many respond to the threat of someone or something else that challenges "the norm"? Kill it. Kill them. Kill the "others". I can't help but think about the situation in Africa with the LGBT community... or the senseless murders of transgender people in this country... when I think of how Herod sought to stamp out Jesus through a massacre of all Jewish males of a certain age. Fear of the "other" has always led to horrible actions.

We remember today, O God, the slaughter of the holy

innocents of Bethlehem by King Herod. Receive, we pray,
into the arms of your mercy all innocent victims; and by your
great might frustrate the designs of evil tyrants and establish
your rule of justice, love, and peace; through Jesus Christ
our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the
Holy Spirit,, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.