Feast of the Holy Innocents, martyrs

Lectionary: 698

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."

The history of Christmas is complex. It first appears in the eastern church on January 6. The Roman Church had its own reasons for preferring December 25, and since it was the more aggressive of the two, most of the world -- secular and religious -- keeps the Roman date, with a nod toward the eastern tradition twelve days later. 

At some point, the western church assigned the first part of Saint Matthew's infancy narrative to January 6, and called it Epiphany. (The word means revelation or showing with wonder and surprise.) But, unfortunately, the feast of the Holy Innocents appears apart from Epiphany and several days ahead of it. 

And so our gospel today begins with, "When the magi had departed..." although they haven't arrived yet. The feast of the Innocents is separated from Epiphany; and the story of the children appears as an afterthought. If the devout who attend daily Mass know of it, the secular world which capitalizes on the Christian feast never hears of it.

But when we read Saint Matthew's account, it's obvious he never supposed they could be read separately. The homage of the magi appears in sharp contrast to King Herod's homage; and the gospel challenges its hearers, "Which homage do you offer?" 

The world knew King Herod and what he was capable of. Realizing what Herod would do about "a newborn king of the Jews," the magi returned to the east by another route, and Joseph fled with his wife and son into Egypt. Herod represents the world which does not know God and despises the faith with its traditions, rites, songs, and stories. It makes every effort to smother and destroy our belief in the Friend of Abraham and supplant faith with the regime of the powerful. 

They use compassion to defend their practices of abortion, euthanasia, and "gender transitioning;" even as they force the innocent and defenseless to submit to their standards of conformity. They rail against any opposition, declaiming it as evil. But they sing lovely Christmas songs with all the hypocrisy of a Herod. 

In response, priests and deacons should read Saint Matthew's entire infancy narrative on both occasions, December 28 and January 6. The practice might restore the apocalyptic dimensions of our faith and demonstrate more clearly why God's people must oppose the wholesale exploitation of the unborn, of children, the poor, the defenseless, and the Earth.