My children, I am writing this to you
so that you may not commit sin.
But if anyone does sin, we have an Advocate with the Father,
Jesus Christ the righteous one.
He is expiation for our sins,
and not for our sins only but for those of the whole world.
F ear makes reasonable people do stupid things. And worse, it feeds on its own exaggerations, driving the formerly-reasonable into foolishness, pigheadedness, and murder. It must do evil, they say, to prevent the evil that might happen.
The United States invaded Iraq to prevent their use of WMDs ("weapons of mass destruction") although our Intelligence had already determined they had none. It was a pretext for war, driven by the MIC -- the Military Industrial Complex. WMDs were its "justification."
As if war can be justified. Or wants to be, or should be, justified. We're going to do it anyway, whether we justify it or not. So why do we bother to justify it? I suppose it persuades the gullible who are disinclined to favor the cost and carnage of an unnecessary, futile exercise. "Perhaps they're right." they say, although any fool can see it's only a pretext for war. The "land of the free and the home of the brave" is governed by fear.
Herod had his reasons for ordering the killing of Bethlehem's boys. He might have told his soldiers; he might have informed the citizenry of Jerusalem. But they knew he was a coward who would kill anything and anyone who made him feel uneasy. If he wasn't killing the boys in Jerusalem, they were content to say nothing. And he would certainly avenge any objections had anyone spoken up.
Abortion as a means of birth control is a flagrant killing of the innocent and helpless. It is driven by fear of poverty, inadequacy, confusion, and uncertainty. In that respect it is precisely the same as uncalled for invasions and the killing of Holy Innocents.
The Son of God fearlessly went to Jerusalem to offer himself as an "expiation for our sins, and not for our sins only but for those of the whole world."
This feast reminds us of who Jesus must be. He can be no other than the Son of God, for the horror of this violence can be erased only by a God who...
so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.