 | All Good Comes from God Whatever is good, true, or beautiful comes from a single source: God. The generosity and faithful love that God showed in creation can become a constant reminder of our need to live out a generous and faithful love. Our ability to do that grows as we grow. Create a moment today to thank God for Jesus's Incarnation and be ready for that to change your life. —from the book Peace and Good: Through the Year with Francis of Assisi | †Quote
"We must always remember that God does everything well, although we may not see the reason of what He does."
— St. Philip Neri † MEDITATION OF THE DAY
"Prayers are God-filled words in which our love and God's love are joined. That love embraces the people for whom we are praying, and love always changes people and situations. This doesn't mean that we will always get what we want, but Jesus does promise that we will get what we need."
— Rev. Jude Winkler, OFM, p. 14
AN EXCERPT FROM
Daily Meditations with the Holy Spirit † VERSE OF THE DAY
"Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts. See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."
Psalm 139:23-24 SAINT OF THE DAY HOLY INNOCENTS
The Holy Innocents (1st c.) are the children mentioned in the account of Jesus' birth in Matthew's Gospel (2:16-18). When the Magi came to Jerusalem to find and adore the Baby Jesus, the newborn King of the Jews, King Herod requested that they inform him of the Child's location under the pretense of offering Him adoration, too. After paying the Child homage and offering Him their gifts, the Wise Men were warned in a dream not to betray Jesus' location, and departed for their home country by another route. Meanwhile the Holy Family was warned by an Angel to flee into Egypt. King Herod fell into a jealous rage over the Magi's failure to report back to him. He ordered all the baby boys aged two years and under to be killed, according to the appearance of the Bethlehem Star to the Three Wise Men, in an attempt to kill the Baby Jesus. These baby boys died not only for Christ, but in his stead. The Church venerates them as martyrs. It it is uncertain how many children were killed, whether a small number, or in the thousands. The Latin Church instituted the feast of the Holy Innocents in the fifth century. The Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome is believed to possess the bodies of several of the Holy Innocents. Their feast day is commemorated on December 28th. |  click to read more | | Holy Innocents Saint of the Day for December 28 Herod "the Great," king of Judea, was unpopular with his people because of his connections with the Romans and his religious indifference. Hence he was insecure and fearful of any threat to his throne. He was a master politician and a tyrant capable of extreme brutality. He killed his wife, his brother, and his sister's two husbands, to name only a few. Matthew 2:1-18 tells this story: Herod was "greatly troubled" when astrologers from the east came asking the whereabouts of "the newborn king of the Jews," whose star they had seen. They were told that the Jewish Scriptures named Bethlehem as the place where the Messiah would be born. Herod cunningly told them to report back to him so that he could also "do him homage." They found Jesus, offered him their gifts, and warned by an angel, avoided Herod on their way home. Jesus escaped to Egypt. Herod became furious and "ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity two years old and under." The horror of the massacre and the devastation of the mothers and fathers led Matthew to quote Jeremiah: "A voice was heard in Ramah, sobbing and loud lamentation; Rachel weeping for her children…" (Matthew 2:18). Rachel was the wife of Jacob (Israel). She is pictured as weeping at the place where the Israelites were herded together by the conquering Assyrians for their march into captivity. Reflection
The Holy Innocents are few in comparison to the genocide and abortion of our day. But even if there had been only one, we recognize the greatest treasure God put on the earth—a human person, destined for eternity, and graced by Jesus' death and resurrection. The Holy Innocents are the Patron Saints of:
Babies | Feast of the Holy Innocents, martyrs
Lectionary: 698 Reading 1 1 JN 1:5—2:2 Beloved:
This is the message that we have heard from Jesus Christ
and proclaim to you:
God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all.
If we say, "We have fellowship with him,"
while we continue to walk in darkness,
we lie and do not act in truth.
But if we walk in the light as he is in the light,
then we have fellowship with one another,
and the Blood of his Son Jesus cleanses us from all sin.
If we say, "We are without sin,"
we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
If we acknowledge our sins, he is faithful and just
and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from every wrongdoing.
If we say, "We have not sinned," we make him a liar,
and his word is not in us. 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. Responsorial Psalm PS 124:2-3, 4-5, 7CD-8
R. (7) Our soul has been rescued like a bird from the fowler's snare.
Had not the LORD been with us—
When men rose up against us,
then would they have swallowed us alive,
When their fury was inflamed against us.
R. Our soul has been rescued like a bird from the fowler's snare.
Then would the waters have overwhelmed us;
The torrent would have swept over us;
over us then would have swept the raging waters.
R. Our soul has been rescued like a bird from the fowler's snare.
Broken was the snare,
and we were freed.
Our help is in the name of the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.
R. Our soul has been rescued like a bird from the fowler's snare. Alleluia See Te Deum
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
We praise you, O God,
we acclaim you as Lord;
the white-robed army of martyrs praise you.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel MT 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. | Meditation: Matthew 2:13-18 The Holy Innocents, Martyrs (Feast) When Herod realized that he had been deceived by the magi, he became furious. (Matthew 2:16) King Herod was a volatile man. Whenever rumors surfaced that someone was plotting to overthrow him, he flew into a rage and ordered the immediate execution of the conspirator—even if the rumors were untrue. Among those who suffered this fate were three of his sons and one of his ten wives. So it would not have been at all out of character for him to order the killing of a few dozen children in Bethlehem. What was behind Herod's anger? Why did he move so swiftly and ruthlessly against innocent children? Probably fear. When you live by the sword, as he did, you sense deep down that sooner or later, that sword will come for you. So you live under a cloud of paranoia, fear, and dread. That's the funny thing about fear: it often hides behind other emotions like anger, hurt, apathy, or anxiety. Sometimes we don't even know it's there! For example, we may overreact to a young child's misbehavior because we're afraid that their acting out is a sign that they will have a hard time in school. We may take offense when it's not warranted because we have a longstanding fear of rejection. Or maybe we decide not to try to reach out to a hurting friend because we fear that if we do, we will fail. Our fears probably won't take us as far as Herod's fears took him. But there are plenty of other ways fear can harm us and the people around us. More than anything else, they can convince us that there is no way out. We can feel so bound by fear that we can't even imagine a life free of it. But it is possible. All things are possible with God. You don't have to be ruled by fear—especially hidden, buried fear! Take some time today to ask Jesus if there are some unacknowledged fears in your life, and then see what comes to mind. If you detect something operating under the surface, ask him to help you. You might not feel any different at first, but don't give up—keep asking! "Jesus, I don't want to live in fear. Set me free from all that binds me!" 1 John 1:5–2:2
Psalm 124:2-5, 7-8 | 2 cents :
"If we acknowledge our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from every wrongdoing."
I gotta say, every day is a day from God, a chance at mercy, if we live another generation, it is God's mercy alive. In a merciless world, there is mercy, there is hope, there is Jesus. | Let us pray: "Our soul has been rescued like a bird from the fowler's snare. Broken was the snare, and we were freed. Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth." We have been rescued. That's nice? Right? What does your salvation mean to you? Does it mean to you, that you should give thanks? Is it a one time "thank You Lord" and that's it? You have been granted salvation. You don't live in a world where you are enslaved to sin and fear. Or are you? King Herod was. And it caused great devastation...not only to the world, but to his self. | In the Holy Gospel, we heard "...the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt...".for Herod wanted to DESTROY Him. Like the dragon in Revelation. And so the dragon took down other stars, other souls, other lives. This is what a sinful soul does: It takes others down to save itself. Pride makes an atrocity happen. Like hurting other people's feelings or worse, just so you can appear better or stronger. Why is there such evil in the world? Because, once it was set "free", we set our own traps with sin. That's why Jesus came, to set the bird free from the snares of evil. Left to our own devices, we can ruin ourselves. We need our Lord. So, question; are today's toddler boy's, the Holy Innocents, are they martyrs for Jesus? Did they give their lives to Jesus? Or was it a senseless mass murder? I was asked to do a funeral, about a week or two before Christmas for a toddler. I said that in my studies of theology, I believe the innocent children are blameless before God. They belong, through God's grace, in Heaven. Some, in near death experiences, have experienced a sibling, in a miscarriage, growing in Heaven.
This day in Mexico and in Spain, is like April fool's day, playing practical jokes on one another. Cruel jokes. Cruelty. I've seen some people almost have a heart attack at the expense of laughter. A cheap thrill. What does sin cost? Sometimes, a person's life.
So what have we to learn in today's Gospel? Be careful the Herod. That spirit still pervades. I just read how Youtube is censoring a pro-life group, just because they show how innocent children are aborted. Yet, I was looking up "short film" to watch with my kids and all sorts of XXX rated things eventually started popping up. How twisted is the world? In politics, people will fight for abortions and gay rights, but not for the innocents, who will be laid traps to be snared, forever. Why? So long as there is freedom, there is people left to their own devices. I'd like to call it the "power trip", where people have big heads, and attack others, lording their power. It is a power grab. It is the fall of Lucifer, and it is the fall of Adam and Eve. This power grab was what had happened when Jesus entered our world, in the Jewish world, there was no room for Jesus. Yet, He still came, and still broke the snare.
Will it be our fall? It has been. But, we now have been rescued from this snare.
For those who believe "If we acknowledge our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from every wrongdoing." | | |
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