IN REMEMBRANCE
Today’s gospel is difficult and sad. It tells of how Herod ordered the massacre of baby boys ages 2 and younger, thereby trying to eliminate the threat he felt in Jesus. Just two days ago we had the overwhelming joy of receiving Jesus in the world. This event following right after stands in stark contrast to everything the Christmas season seems to represent. In the face of a wondrous birth, we have a horrific massacre, and just after imagining Mary’s joy in holding her child, we now have “sobbing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children, and she would not be consoled, since they were no more.”
I struggled when reflecting on this reading. I’ve been so blessed to be able to get some time off and enjoy a vacation to see my family this Christmas, and I’ve been surrounded by love and warmth. When taking this gospel to prayer, I felt sadness at what happened but also a sense of great distance. I felt so removed from any reality like what happened to all those children and their families, especially with all the life and peace being ushered in by this season.
It took me a couple of days to realize that I am familiar with these feelings of sorrow and distance. I finally recognized them as the same feelings I get when terrible things happen in our world - massacres, murders, shootings, attacks, war. These are all features of our current world! So just as we are called to deepen in hope and joy during this season, we are also called to remember all our brothers and sisters who are enduring great suffering from atrocities born of hate and evil. The sadness of this gospel is repeated over and over in our world, and we are called to stay attuned to it! We offer those suffering up in prayer, we hold them in our hearts to deepen our own sense of gratitude, and we let our actions and decisions be guided by love of them as we do God’s work of transforming the world.
I pray that we all find room in our hearts to hold the brokenness, anger, toil and grief of those enduring extreme physical and emotional hardship in our world today as a result of human faults, failings and evil. May we be transformed by love of them, and may we not forget their sufferings as we experience the Christmas season.
Liana Merrill