Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according Saint Matthew 2, 13-18
When the magi had departed, behold,
the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said,
“Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt,
and stay there until I tell you.
Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him.”
Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night
and departed for Egypt.
He stayed there until the death of Herod,
that what the Lord had said through the prophet might be fulfilled,
Out of Egypt I called my son.
When Herod realized that he had been deceived by the magi,
he became furious.
He ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity
two years old and under,
in accordance with the time he had ascertained from the magi.
Then was fulfilled what had been said through Jeremiah the prophet:
A voice was heard in Ramah,
sobbing and loud lamentation;
Rachel weeping for her children,
and she would not be consoled,
since they were no more.
Innocence is a gift
1. Joseph. In him, we see the person who accepts God’s will and is willing to take a risk in his life. There are moments in life when you have to take risks and you cannot stand by idly, waiting for others to do what is really up to you. In Joseph, we see docility to what God asks… something that is difficult for us, because when God changes our plans, it hurts and it’s hard for us to accept that; but, over time, we understand that God’s plans obviously prove to be better than ours.
2. Herod. He is the figure of a person who seeks power over everything else. His ambition and thirst for power lead him to tyrannical attitudes. Many people seek power and want to rule. They want to be the center of attention. Don’t manipulate people! Don’t seek to destroy innocent people to have more power. Even within the Church, we can fall into that: there are priests who are capable of destroying their brother priests to have a higher position. There are religious men and women who will fight to reach the position of superior. Some even destroy their brother or sister who has a leadership capacity because they see it as a threat to that power that they seek. The same can happen in your church group or movement. Tyranny is everywhere. That is why we must pray; take care of our spirit, since no one is exempt from being a “Herod”. As Cardinal Sarah would say: “We are experiencing the mystery of iniquity, the mystery of betrayal, the mystery of Judas.”
3. The innocent. Today there are many who silently give their lives for the Church, for the world, and for you. Many people seek to make a better world every day, and we do not know about them. There are people who help others with what they have, not from what is leftover; people who do so much good, but anonymously, silently, so we never hear about it. There are many innocent people who suffer today, and there are times when we hurt or destroy them with our tongues. Today, let’s pray for the innocent who have no voice, but who speak with God every day and are loved by Him.
Always remember that something good is on the way!
God bless you, be with you and protect you in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
