Sections The Daily B.R.E.A.D. Dec 28, 2009 - “Niños Inocentes” (The Holy Innocent-Martyrs) Feast Day
| Dec 28, 2009 - “Niños Inocentes” (The Holy Innocent-Martyrs) Feast Day |
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| Sections - The Daily B.R.E.A.D. | |||||||
| Written by Bobot Apit | |||||||
| Thursday, 24 December 2009 20:26 | |||||||
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F rom what and for what did Jesus save us? These are questions we must ask ourselves. For a new Christian in the first century, the answer was clear: It meant saved from despair, helplessness, meaninglessness – features that characterized the cultural world of the Roman empire . Even though, as Christians, they became subject to persecution and possible martyrdom, those first Christians found that their lives now had meaning, that what they did made a difference, that they shared God’s life now and would do so forever in eternity – the pledge of their baptisms. In our increasingly secularized, post-Christian society, there is plenty of helplessness and meaninglessness to go around. Jesus not only saves us from that, but saves us for something – for taking the message to our world that life does have meaning, meaning found precisely in the self-giving of Jesus, as modeled by those who go by the name of Christian. Paraphrasing one of the great Roman collects, “Christian is the name you call us; Christian is the Gospel we preach. Help us to live what we are.” Feast of the Holy Innocents 1 John 1:5—2:2 Psalm 124:2-3, 4-5, 7cd-8 M atthew 2:13-18 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there till I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him." (14) And he rose and took the child and his mother by night, and departed to Egypt , (15) and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfil what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, "Out of Egypt have I called my son." (16) Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, was in a furious rage, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time which he had ascertained from the wise men. (17) Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah: (18) "A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they were no more."
Meditation by Robert P. Heaney M sgr. Martin Hellriegel, one of the great pastoral liturgists of the last century, was fond of saying that the Church, in its planning for the three days following Christmas, brought three key representatives of its spiritual treasury to worship at the crib in Bethlehem – Stephen, representing all martyrs, John, representing all clergy and religious, and the Innocents, representing all children. Clearly this selection of feasts was not arbitrary, and the fact that two of the three were killed for Jesus certainly underscores the fact that the crib at Bethlehem stands in the shadow of the cross at Calvary . That may seem like a gloomy sentiment for this time of year. Christmas is for rejoicing, for happiness, for celebration. Don’t remind us of the sequel to the crib. Especially don’t remind us that followers of Jesus – serious followers – can expect something like the same fate. Well, Christmas is a time for celebrating. We say: “This is the birthday of our Savior.” We rejoice in the fact that God has given Himself to us, has saved us. Saved? Do we have any feeling for that, any since of having been saved, any sense, even, of a need to be saved? Sure, it’s nice to know I am loved, but basically I am doing OK. I go to church regularly and pretty much keep the commandments. Salvation for me is more a catechism concept. It happened long ago, before I was born. From what am I saved now? The Lutheran pastoral theologian, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, preached an Advent sermon 70+ years ago at the time of the rescue of German coal miners from a mine disaster, precisely to make the fact of salvation tangible to his congregation. The passengers of the U.S. Airways jet that landed in the Hudson River a year ago felt that they had been saved, too. That kind of salvation is something we can identify with. The mine rescuers and the plane captain had saved people from likely death. They knew what they had been saved from, and they knew who had saved them. From what and for what did Jesus save us? These are questions we must ask ourselves. For a new Christian in the first century, the answer was clear: It meant saved from despair, helplessness, meaninglessness – features that characterized the cultural world of the Roman empire . Even though, as Christians, they became subject to persecution and possible martyrdom, those first Christians found that their lives now had meaning, that what they did made a difference, that they shared God’s life now and would do so forever in eternity – the pledge of their baptisms. In our increasingly secularized, post-Christian society, there is plenty of helplessness and meaninglessness to go around. Jesus not only saves us from that, but saves us for something – for taking the message to our world that life does have meaning, meaning found precisely in the self-giving of Jesus, as modeled by those who go by the name of Christian. Paraphrasing one of the great Roman collects, “Christian is the name you call us; Christian is the Gospel we preach. Help us to live what we are.” Supplementary Reading WAITING, SoARING
In February 2007, I had an overseas job offer. The agency told me that I could leave in two to three months’ time. By mid-April, I had already submitted all the documents required so I was hoping to leave by May. But my long-awaited visa was not yet released. Excitement came as the estimated departure date drew near. But May came and I still had no visa. Today’s verse, “They that hope,” is rendered in some versions of the Bible as, “They that wait.” Still, in some versions, the word “hope” is translated as “trust.” What this means to me is waiting in faith or “resting in expectation and patience,” as Webster defines it. Waiting is one of the most excruciating experiences you can have. You become impatient, irritated, hot-tempered — emotions that negate the fruit of the Spirit. But I choseto wait patiently. Meanwhile, a local company offered me a consulting job that would pay me almost what I would earn overseas! Praying about it, I decided to forego the job abroad. But God’s thoughts are way above mine. The overseas employer counter-offered and gave me an unexpectedly high salary. Now that’s what I call soaring! --- Danny Tariman R EFLECTION:
For the vision still has its time, presses on to fulfillment, and will not disappoint. If it delays, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not be late. (Habakkuk 2:3) Thank You, Lord, for the grace to wait patiently for the fulfillment of Your plan for me. Amen.
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Quote of the Day
There is no mistake so great as that of always being right !!!~My Fortune Cookie
Suffering, reality In our life. The sanctification of suffering.
Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, was in a furious rage, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time which he had ascertained from the wise men (Matt 2:16).
There is no easy explanation for suffering, least of all for the suffering of the innocent. St Matthew’s narrative, which we read in today’s Mass, shows us the suffering, apparently useless and unjust, of some children who gave their lives for a Person and for a Truth whom they didn’t even know.
Suffering is indeed a mystery. Yet, through faith, the Christian can discover in the darkness of his own or other people’s suffering, the loving and provident hand of his Father God who knows so much more and sees so much further than he himself can. Then he begins to understand to some extent the words of St Paul to the first Christians in Rome: We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him (Rom 5:28), including everything that seems to us piercingly inexplicable or incomprehensible.
Nor must we forget that our greatest happiness and our most authentic good are not always those which we dream of and long for. It is difficult for us to see things in their true perspective: we can only take in a very small part of complete reality. We only see the tiny piece of reality that is here, in front of us. We are inclined to feel that earthly existence is the only real one and often consider our time on earth to be the period in which all our longings for perfect happiness ought to be fulfilled. There is anguish for us, twenty centuries later, in thinking of the slain babies and their parents. For the babies the agony was soon over; in the next world they would come to know whom they had died to save and for all eternity would have that glory. For the parents, the pain would have lasted longer; but at death they too must have found that there was a special sense in which God was in their debt, as he had never been indebted to any. They and their children were the only ones who ever agonized in order to save God’s life …(F.J. Sheed. To Know Christ Jesus, p45-6)
Suffering comes in many forms. No one willingly looks for it in any of them. And yet, Jesus proclaimed as blessed (privileged, happy, lucky) those who mourn, that is to say, those who in this life carry a heavier cross: illness, handicap, physical pain, poverty, slander, injustice ... Faith transforms the meaning of suffering. In union with Christ’s suffering it is changed into a sign of God’s love, into something very valuable and fruitful.
With permission from Scepter UK. Short excerpt from IN CONVERSATION WITH GOD by Francis Fernandez. Available at SinagTala or Totus Bookstore 723-4326 or at www.totusbookstore.com ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )
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