THE MASSACRE OF THE INNOCENTS & HOPE
Today in the church-calendar (NC) we celebrate the ‘Holy Innocents’ killed in Bethlehem by Herod, an event to which the Evangelist Matthew applies the above-quoted, seemingly-hopeless prophecy of Jeremiah. But let’s look at the very next two verses in Jeremiah, especially if today we are weeping bitterly over the innocents being killed (or deported) today by the Herods of our time: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Refrain your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears; For your work shall be rewarded, says the LORD, and they shall come back from the land of the enemy. There is hope in your future, says the LORD, that children shall come back to their own border.” (Jer 31:16-17)
It’s impossible for us to comfort “Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted,” even as we weep with her and stand by her in heartbroken love. But where our words fail us, there are these words of the Lord: “There is hope in your future…” and “…your work shall be rewarded!” Those of us who believe Him can carry and pass on the faith and hope we always have in Him, even amidst impossible situations and seemingly-triumphing injustice, when the bad guys seem to be winning over the innocent.
It matters, and it changes things, sometimes quickly and sometimes slowly, when we are vessels not of confusion, fear and hopelessness, but of truth, faith and hope; and when we stand by the innocent, rather than justify the unjustifiable being done against them. Even when it seems we are living in times of darkness, let’s take some tender-loving-care of our hearts, and let ourselves hear this unbroken promise: “The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death Light has dawned.” This Monday, let us let the Light dawn on us, deep into our broken hearts, so that today we can be vessels of Light and not darkness to our world. Lord, hear our prayer!
