If we keep our heads about us and don’t let the frenzy of the
season intrude too deeply, the anticipation of Advent followed by the blessings
of Christmas fill us with joy. It’s a
time of family and remembrances and thankfulness for all that we have been
given, with the ultimate gift being the birth of Jesus. Our thoughts of that first Christmas are
filled with the sweetness of the child in the manger and of Mary as the perfect
embodiment of motherhood.
Perhaps because this experience of happiness is so fresh in
our hearts, thinking about today’s Gospel (Matthew
2:13-18) is so beyond understanding.
Sometime within two years after Jesus’s birth, Joseph and Mary, still
not fully comprehending the miracle that they have been given, are warned that
Herod wants to murder their child. In a
state of panic and fear, they leave Bethlehem for Egypt giving up all that they
know and all whom they love so that they might save their child. Then, while they find safety, Herod is so
infuriated that he calls for the murder of all the young boys in Bethlehem.
Mary and Joseph could not disassociate themselves from the
horror they were leaving behind. Their
act of protecting their child’s safety results in tragedy for other mothers and
fathers. We don’t know of a sadder line
than that from today’s Gospel, “Rachel would not be consoled since her children
were no more.” As this nation has come
to know through the events a couple of weeks ago in Connecticut, we all feel
the pain when we learn that someone has lost a child. There is no grief as deep; there is no touch
that can lessen the hurt. We hold our
own children tightly and give thanks for their safety and we pray that nothing
will ever harm them.
Of course, we don’t know what Mary thought but it is so
difficult to accept that someone could so hate a small child that he would call
for the child’s death. This was no doubt
a foretelling to Mary of what she might have to experience in the future, a
constant fear that she would come to live with.
And what of her thoughts of her neighbors and friends in Bethlehem who
suffered such a great loss? If she
could, how would she reach out to them and what would she say?
I think that she would echo a reading from the first letter of
John (1 John 1:5--2:2). This reading gives me hope for a world that
seems surrounded by darkness. Hope
because there is light in the world that brightens the darkness. For all the evil acts that blacken the world
around us there is God’s light shining through people who stand for justice,
truth and love. These are regular people
like you and me, coming from all faiths and cultures; people who brighten the
dark places of the world. We brighten
the world because we stand up against injustices, pursue God’s truth, and
reflect the love that God has for each one of us. We are not saints, but we are people who care,
we have been touched by God’s love and want to share the gift. By sharing God’s love we are lighting up the
world. As we celebrate the Christmas
season and the birth of God among us, we can be confident that the light we
bring to the world is making a difference.
Even those small daily acts of love, truth, and justice shared with
family, friends, and strangers are sending sparks of light into the world. We can’t undo the horrors of yesterday, but
we can bring light in the world today.
The world needs us to bring God’s love, hope and light into every
situation we encounter.
But our thoughts today go to Rachel and all the other mothers
lost in their grief. How do we reach out
to them and what should we say? We don’t
know, so we hold our children tightly.
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