From Grief to Glory: The Martyrdom of the Innocents

December 28, 2024 - Saturday, Feast of the Holy Innocents, martyrs

1 Jn 1:5—2:2; Ps 124:2-3, 4-5, 7cd-8; Matt. 2:13-18

In recounting Jesus' birth and early years (Matt 1-2), Matthew weaves in five prophetic statements, echoing the five Books of Moses. This structure helps Matthew to portray Jesus as a new Moses, leading humanity out of the slavery of sin. In today’s passage, we encounter two of these prophetic statements: one from Hosea (Hosea 11:1) and another from Jeremiah (Jer 31:15).

The first prophecy, “Out of Egypt I called my son,” casts Jesus as a new Israel. In Exodus, God commands Moses to tell Pharaoh that Israel is His firstborn son and must be set free (Ex 4:22-23). By quoting Hosea, Matthew underscores that Jesus’ life inaugurates a new Exodus, one that will bring liberation and form a new Israel composed of believers from both Jewish and Gentile backgrounds.

The second prophecy about Rachel weeping for her children is rooted in Jeremiah’s writings. Rachel, symbolizing the nation's mother, laments as her children are exiled. This imagery captures the grief of loss but also hints at eventual comfort and restoration. The passage refers to the first deportation of the Jewish people to Babylon gathered at Ramah to begin their journey into exile. Jeremiah was among them but he was allowed to return to the city. And so just as Jeremiah was permitted to return to Jerusalem, so too would Israel eventually return from exile.

In today’s Gospel, Herod takes on the role of both Pharaoh and the Babylonian oppressors. He seeks to kill Jesus, the world’s Savior, and mercilessly oppresses his people. Historians document Herod’s notorious cruelty; anyone perceived as a threat, even within his own family, was swiftly eliminated. The execution of innocent children to protect his power would not have troubled him.

The tragic death of these innocent children prefigures Jesus' own suffering and death. As Rachel wept for her children, so, according to tradition, Mary would weep for her Son. Yet, amid this tragedy, there is hope beyond human comprehension. In Psalm 124, we hear the words, "Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth." God is our unshakable refuge, preserving us even when “raging waters” threaten. And in the First Letter of John, we are reminded that “God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all” (1 Jn 1:5). God’s light pierces through the darkest tragedies, assuring us of His eternal presence.

So, if the children are no more, is there hope beyond tragedy? Our answer is rooted in faith in the resurrection. Jesus himself teaches, “He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive” (Luke 20:38). The Holy Innocents, martyred for Christ, are alive in God’s presence, and the Church honors them as saints and martyrs. Their brief earthly lives find fulfillment in God’s everlasting light, and they stand as witnesses of our faith in God who brings hope from grief and life from death.