Slaughtering Innocents – then and now
1st Sun. after Nativity, Dec. 26/2021, Matt. 2:13-23; Flight to Egypt
Christ is Born! Today we consider the flight of Joseph and Mary with the newborn infant Christ into Egypt to escape Herod’s murderous intent to kill Jesus – which resulted in 14,000 male infants under 2 years of age being slaughtered. Immediately upon Christ assuming flesh and being born as an infant, the enemy uses the hostile, twisted and sinful condition of our world to attempt to destroy its very Creator. Christ God, the King and Creator of all that exists, comes rescue the entire human race, in love and humility, becoming one of us as a little child. He completely immerses Himself in our pain and suffering and redeems all, becoming the first true and complete human being. (Trop. of the Forefeast tone 4) “Christ comes to restore the image which He made in the beginning.” The only solution to our pain and suffering is to throw ourselves under His care and protection, seeking shelter, forgiveness and restoration in His loving arms.
Holy tradition in our feast day services tells us in much about our most blessed Theotokos, her blessed parents Joachim and Anna and her protector St. Joseph the betrothed. The respected 2nd century writing, “The Protoevangelium of James” and the writings of St. Epiphanius of Salamis (4th century), are treasured sources. Joseph is reported to be an 80-year-old widower when being chosen to look after the young virgin Mary, and he had 4 sons and 2 daughters from his marriage to his first wife. The eldest was James the Just, who became the first bishop of Jerusalem and the Christian Church. We learn through the gospel of Mark (6:3) that James the Just, had three other brothers, Joses, Simon, and Judas the apostle (not the traitor), and at least two sisters, Mary and Salome. Salome was one of the myrrh-bearing women, the wife of Zebedee, and the mother of the apostles James and John. Talk about a royal family!
So Christ is Born, the wise men, having presented their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, representing purity, worship, and love, have departed back home, deliberately avoiding meeting King Herod. King Herod is about to unleash his fury at being deceived by the wise men on the holy innocents around Bethlehem. St. Joseph, Christ’s protector is told to take his family and flee to Egypt, leaving in the night as His enemies were seeking to destroy Him. Perhaps the gifts of the Magi provided the funds to make this very hurried trip. In great humility, the Creator and Lord of all that exists, flees in the night as a refugee from a ruthless ruler. We see in some icon’s His brother James leading the donkey. Throughout the history of the Church, many have had to flee on a similar journey.
Herod’s slaughter of the innocents, starts the new testament assembly of martyrs we read about in Revelations (6: 9-11) who are asking “…how long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood… and a white robe was given to each of them…and they were told to rest a little while longer until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who would be killed was completed” When we remember the slaughter of the innocents we can’t help but reflect upon the greatest slaughter in history, the slaughter of holy innocents, now numbering over a billion infants who have been and continue to be slaughtered in our time through abortion. It is now a huge choir asking, “How long?”
Today, these holy innocents are most often sacrificed for interfering with their mother’s and/or father’s envisioned future, and personal convenience. Such selfishness and focus on putting our own personal rights above all, is becoming the over-riding value of our present culture. These innocent babies are embraced by God, and may God grant that somehow their prayers and love for their mothers, and fathers can help to cause their parents to come to God in repentance, finding forgiveness and life in Christ. These little ones are much loved by God and in their purity they can be powerful intercessors. Here is a passage from the [Canon Ode 9, The Service of Burial of an Infant] so you can understand the Church’s love and understanding of their precious lives. “Your departure from this earthly life is a cause of grief and sorrow for your parents and all who love you, O little child; but in truth you have been saved by the Lord from sufferings and snares of many kinds. O Savior and Master of our life: comfort the faithful parents of this departed child with the knowledge that to innocent children, who have done no deeds worthy of tears, are granted the righteousness, peace and joy of Your kingdom”
The Church has always condemned abortion in the most firm and unequivocal manner, while always seeking to bring healing and forgiveness to all who come seeking God’s mercy. From the very first centuries of the Church, there has been complete rejection of the practice of abortion. The Didache – written in the late 1st or early second century says, (2:2) “…do not kill a fetus by abortion or commit infanticide.” Pretty clear! Fathers in every century, Sts. Clement of Alexandria and Athenagoras in the 2nd century, Sts. Basil, Chrysostom in the 4th, and many others, have all condemned the practice.
Abortion is not a new thing, but in this present age, it has somehow become twisted into a sensible and even commendable act. It has also become technically very easy to accomplish. However, behind the diabolical rhetoric of those who profit from this multi-billion-dollar baby killing industry, lies the terrible spiritual and psychological damage that each participating mother must afterwards grapple with. Of course these mothers naturally love and are deeply connected to their children, growing in utter dependence within them. The pain of loss must then somehow be pushed deep inside and buried for the Mother to be able to continue to function. To keep a lid on this inner burial tomb, where the pain remains, always alive, threatening to surface and break through into conscious awareness, these mothers often feel the need to espouse the fierce false ideology of denial, delusion and blame, covering their pain with the armour of self justification, heavily promoted by the abortion industry. Many succumb to depression, addiction or even suicide. A 2011 British Journal of Psychiatry study of 877,000 mothers, 164,000 of whom had had an abortion reported that the mothers who had suffered through an abortion were 81% more likely to develop a serious mental health condition, 110% more likely to suffer from alcohol abuse, and 155% more likely to commit suicide. You won’t hear these statistics from Planned parenthood. Millions of mothers are suffering far more from the burden of their decision than the holy innocents whom they have aborted. Their dear infants now dwell with God in a place of brightness and rest, where all sickness, sorrow and sighing have fled away.
It is important that we pray with great compassion and love for these mothers and fathers, who in their pain and delusion allowed their children to be taken. It is with great compassion that the Church must regard the mother who has gone through the soul-destroying trauma of an abortion; frequently done in confusion under pressure from family, society, poverty… Such unfortunates should not be beaten further, but compassionately supported and restored to life in Christ, in tenderness and love.
There are many of these, our restored sisters in Christ who have accepting God’s ever available grace and forgiveness, receiving healing from the pain, through the forgiveness and grace of God in His Church. Today we commemorate King David. He received the forgiveness of God and relief from the crushing weight of his great sin of murdering his faithful servant Uriah, and stealing Uriah’s wife Bathsheba. As God was faithful and forgiving to David when he truly and honestly repented, forgiving him both in this life and in the world to come; all who come to Christ in tears and pain and repentance, will find the same tender forgiveness in the ever compassionate and loving embrace of God and His Church. He wants to gather every one of us as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, granting His forgiveness, protection, and restoration. For we have a good God who loves us and all of mankind! CHRIST IS BORN!! GLORIFY HIM!!!