FEAST OF THE HOLY INNOCENTS - MARTYRS, 2020

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS  

We praise you, O God,

we acknowledge you to be the Lord;

the noble army of martyrs praise you, O Lord.

1 JOHN 1:5-2:2

My Soul's Beloved,

Only Your Blood has the power to purify, to wash clean, to make whole, to remove every stain of sin from our soul. Sin leaves the soul wounded, sick, dark, and the greater the sin the more impenetrable it is for the divine light of grace to enter it.  

You are the Light of the World while the sinner is in darkness and the two have nothing in common. We cannot be united with You if we choose to live in the dark night of sin and sinful desires. We are all sinners and unless we first root out our sinful desires we cannot embrace the truth. No one who is in sin can have union with You but the Good News is that You came for sinners and not the righteous and every repentant sinner will find forgiveness and healing in You. 

All of us without exception have sinned this is why the Father gave us a Savior. You plead for sinners night and day at the right hand of the Father and it is Your atoning Sacrifice alone that redeems us. However, only when we acknowledge our sins and confess them can we be forgiven and saved. 

The unholy alliance of the world, the flesh, and the devil come together to propagate the lie that there is no such thing as sin. Sin is real, and the consequence of sin is death, and anyone who claims otherwise calls God a liar. 

Let us close our ears to the lies, wake up to the truth, and stop sinning. Yes, we will fall, perhaps many times in a day, so let's not lose heart when we do for we have a Savior whose atoning sacrifice has the power to take away our sins and the sins of the whole world. 

PSALM 124:2-5,7-8

My Soul's Beloved,

We can never thank God, our Father enough for sending You into the world to save us. Had He not done so we would have lived dreary, desperate, unhappy lives devoid of all hope. Yes, we live in a world where it would seem that evil far outweighs the good, where the wicked triumph and prosper, and the poor, the weak, the good are trampled upon and cast aside.

Too often the evil in the world threatens to overwhelm us, we are caught in its currents and swept away by its force. The world looks increasingly bleak and hopeless, and yet this is not true. The Cross has broken the snares of sin that held us captive. Your victory over death has set us free and now all our help comes from You, our Lord, and our God who made heaven and earth. 

MATTHEW 2:13-18

My Soul's Beloved,

All human suffering finds an echo in Your life to a greater or lesser degree this is why You understand and empathize when we come to You in our personal pain, suffering, and misery. 

Although You are God, in perfect obedience to the Father, You came into the world in human likeness identifying with us in all things save sin in order that we might unite with You and become like You.

When Herod gave orders to search and kill You, Joseph, instructed by the angel of the Lord, flees to Egypt with You and Mary and stays there until he is informed it is safe to return home.  Yet another prophecy is fulfilled, 'I called my son out of Egypt,' for You are the new Moses who comes out from Egypt to deliver Your people from slavery to sin. 

Matthew gives us a description of what happens in the wake of Your departure to Egypt. Herod orders all male children two years old and under be slaughtered. The words of the prophet Jeremiah is fulfilled in the cries of the heartbroken women weeping and wailing at the massacre of their baby boys.

A voice was heard in Ramah,
sobbing and loudly lamenting:
it was Rachel weeping for her children,
refusing to be comforted because they were no more.

Through the centuries this cry has not ceased as innocent babies are slaughtered in abortuaries. The rivers of blood that stained the streets in Bethlehem and the surrounding districts red continue to stain the consciences of innumerable men and women. The weeping and lamenting will cease only when this slaughter of innocents in the womb ceases.