Day Four — Tuesday 28 December 2021 — The Holy Innocents
The Word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us. O come, let us worship.
Gustave Doré (France, 1832–83.) Massacre of the Innocents, ca. 1869. New York Academy of Art
Jeremiah 31:15-20
Thus says the Lord:
A voice is heard in Ramah,
lamentation and bitter weeping.
Rachel is weeping for her children;
she refuses to be comforted for her children,
because they are no more.
Thus says the Lord:
Keep your voice from weeping,
and your eyes from tears;
for there is a reward for your work, says the Lord:
they shall come back from the land of the enemy;
there is hope for your future, says the Lord:
your children shall come back to their own country.
Indeed I heard Ephraim pleading:
‘You disciplined me, and I took the discipline;
I was like a calf untrained.
Bring me back, let me come back,
for you are the Lord my God.
For after I had turned away I repented;
and after I was discovered, I struck my thigh;
I was ashamed, and I was dismayed
because I bore the disgrace of my youth.'
Is Ephraim my dear son?
Is he the child I delight in?
As often as I speak against him,
I still remember him.
Therefore I am deeply moved for him;
I will surely have mercy on him, says the Lord.
Psalm 124
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
If it had not been the Lord who was on our side
—let Israel now say—
if it had not been the Lord who was on our side,
when our enemies attacked us,
then they would have swallowed us up alive,
when their anger was kindled against us;
then the flood would have swept us away,
the torrent would have gone over us;
then over us would have gone
the raging waters.
Blessed be the Lord,
who has not given us
as prey to their teeth.
We have escaped like a bird
from the snare of the fowlers;
the snare is broken,
and we have escaped.
Our help is in the name of the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
1 John 1:5-2:2
This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true; but if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.
Matthew 2:13-18
Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.’ Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfil what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, ‘Out of Egypt I have called my son.’
When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah:
‘A voice was heard in Ramah,
wailing and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.’
John Harbison (1938 - ). The Flight Into Egypt. Los Angeles Philharmonic, cond. David Hoose. Cantata Singers. Janice Felty, Roberta Anderson, Sanford Sylvan.
Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936). "The Flight into Egypt" from Four Symphonic Impressions: Church Windows (1926). Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, cond. Sergiu Comissiona (1985).
We remember today, O God, Herod's slaughter of the infants of Bethlehem. Receive into the arms of your mercy all victims of violence, by your great might frustrate the designs of evil tyrants, and establish your rule of justice, love, and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Impulses of Deeper Birth
Felicity Currie
Where can the persecuted find a berth,
A stable land that can be called a home?
No company of shepherds or of cattle,
Just bombs and drones that give birth to death’s rattle.
Grave beckons whether you lie still or roam—
You might as well be born under the earth.
Whether we choose to celebrate or mourn
No meaning lives unless Life is reborn.
A Life that rescues the lost birth of good,
Gives truth and justice hope and strength to be
And recreates a world of could and would:
The will that conquers power and will bring
A birth that lasts and changes everything—
A birth not of the self, but empathy.
—December 2012
May the Lord, who has called out of darkness into his marvellous light, bless us and fill us with peace. Amen.