Memorial of the Holy Innocents. Prayer for all those who, from the mother's womb to the latter years of life, die as victims of violence. Read more
Memorial of the Holy Innocents. Prayer for all those who, from the mother’s womb to the latter years of life, die as victims of violence.
Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Glory to God in the highest
and peace on earth to the people he loves.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Matthew 2,13-18
After they had left, suddenly the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, 'Get up, take the child and his mother with you, and escape into Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, because Herod intends to search for the child and do away with him.' So Joseph got up and, taking the child and his mother with him, left that night for Egypt, where he stayed until Herod was dead. This was to fulfil what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: I called my son out of Egypt. Herod was furious on realising that he had been fooled by the wise men, and in Bethlehem and its surrounding district he had all the male children killed who were two years old or less, reckoning by the date he had been careful to ask the wise men. Then were fulfilled the words spoken through the prophet Jeremiah: A voice is heard in Ramah, lamenting and weeping bitterly: it is Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted because they are no more.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Both the Eastern and Western Churches honour the holy innocents - victims of Herod’s attempt to eliminate Jesus. “They cannot speak yet and already they confess Christ! They are not able to take on the struggle but they already triumphantly carry the palms of martyrdom,” sings an ancient Father of the Church. Herod’s cruelty is shocking. The fear of losing his power, even to a baby, pushes him to unthinkable cruelty. Truly Herod seems to personify the violent and cruel force of evil that even strikes innocent children. In his heart lies the homicidal fury that unleashes pain, tears, cries, and lamentations. Herod wants to save his power at any cost, even by committing an unthinkable and unjustifiable slaughter. The ferocity of evil is opposed by Joseph, who is powerless but strong through faith alone. Joseph once again listens to the angel who speaks to him and obeys his word: “Take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt.” This Gospel passage is not relegated to the past; the massacre of children and of the defenceless still continues today in many parts of the world. Millions of infants are decimated by hunger and disease; many are the object of violence, kidnapping, and exploitation. And how many children in our time, fleeing from war and conflict, find death instead amidst the cruel indifference of those so focused on themselves that they turn their hearts to stone and are incapable of being moved even by these little ones, whom we could call the “new innocent martyrs.” Cruelty towards children is a terrible plague that has struck the entire world. There needs to be more indignation about this cruelty. There also need to be more Christians and men and women of good will who listen to the Lord’s angel, like Joseph, and take the little ones, the weak ones, away with them so as to save them from the murderous slavery of the prince of evil, who continues to have foolish servants who allow themselves to be caught up in his homicidal cruelty.
Prayer is the heart of the life of the Community of Sant'Egidio and is its absolute priority. At the end of the day, every the Community of Sant'Egidio, large or small, gathers around the Lord to listen to his Word. The Word of God and the prayer are, in fact, the very basis of the whole life of the Community. The disciples cannot do other than remain at the feet of Jesus, as did Mary of Bethany, to receive his love and learn his ways (Phil. 2:5).
So every evening, when the Community returns to the feet of the Lord, it repeats the words of the anonymous disciple: " Lord, teach us how to pray". Jesus, Master of prayer, continues to answer: "When you pray, say: Abba, Father". It is not a simple exhortation, it is much more. With these words Jesus lets the disciples participate in his own relationship with the Father. Therefore in prayer, the fact of being children of the Father who is in heaven, comes before the words we may say. So praying is above all a way of being! That is to say we are children who turn with faith to the Father, certain that they will be heard.
Jesus teaches us to call God "Our Father". And not simply "Father" or "My Father". Disciples, even when they pray on their own, are never isolated nor they are orphans; they are always members of the Lord's family.
In praying together, beside the mystery of being children of God, there is also the mystery of brotherhood, as the Father of the Church said: "You cannot have God as father without having the church as mother". When praying together, the Holy Spirit assembles the disciples in the upper room together with Mary, the Lord's mother, so that they may direct their gaze towards the Lord's face and learn from Him the secret of his Heart.
The Communities of Sant'Egidio all over the world gather in the various places of prayer and lay before the Lord the hopes and the sufferings of the tired, exhausted crowds of which the Gospel speaks ( Mat. 9: 3-7 ), In these ancient crowds we can see the huge masses of the modern cities, the millions of refugees who continue to flee their countries, the poor, relegated to the very fringe of life and all those who are waiting for someone to take care of them. Praying together includes the cry, the invocation, the aspiration, the desire for peace, the healing and salvation of the men and women of this world. Prayer is never in vain; it rises ceaselessly to the Lord so that anguish is turned into hope, tears into joy, despair into happiness, and solitude into communion. May the Kingdom of God come soon among people!
For the sick, in memory of the dead, for peace
