Today in the Gospel of Matthew we not only read about one of the most faithful men in the Bible, but we read about one of the most devastating events in the Bible. First we hear about St. Joseph’s obedience, and then we remember the Holy Innocents.
St. Joseph was not just the foster father of Christ; he was the faithful husband who took care of Mary when she was expecting Baby Jesus. He supported Mary throughout her pregnancy and through Jesus’ birth. He protected Mary and Jesus when King Herod sought to kill Him. And we can assume that he taught Jesus carpentry and served as a valuable role model for how a father and husband should treat his family. Although we never hear any spoken words of St. Joseph in the Bible, we can discern from his actions that he was obedient, loving, kind, and generous. We know that he was the very epitome of what a father and husband should be.
The Holy Innocents were baby boys under the age of two whom King Herod ordered to be killed after he learned that Baby Jesus was born. Herod felt so threatened by Jesus that he couldn’t stand to let any baby boy within that age range continue to live. This infanticide still shocks and saddens us today.
These two men show us both love and the antithesis of love. Joseph was a compassionate father who cared for his family. Herod was a king who should have had the best interests of his people at heart, but who, in a horrible display of hatred, ordered the slaughter of the innocents.
Though some estimates offer higher numbers, today’s estimates say that about 14,000 babies were killed. Regardless of the actual number, we know that all of those children were senselessly and needlessly killed. The grief the parents felt must have been crushing.
As we think about this model father and these lost babies today, let us reflect on the fathers in our lives, the kind of father we want for our children, and the kind of father you are if you are a father. Let us also think about the holy innocents of our day—the 2,900 babies killed every day in the US through abortion. Let us pray for their souls, for their mothers and fathers, and for the souls of everyone involved in the abortion industry.
Herod is alive and well in abortion clinics today, but we have the power to help stop this modern-day slaughter of the innocents. And so we need the intercession of St. Joseph to pray for families, to give strength to fathers, and to protect all babies who are in danger of abortion. St. Joseph, pray for us!
Daily Reading
Feast of the Holy Innocents, martyrs
Reading 1 1 Jn 1:5—2:2 Beloved:This is the message that we have heard from Jesus Christand proclaim to you:God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all.If…
Saint of the Day
Feast of the Holy Innocents
Upon the birth of Our Lord, Herod ordered the murder of all all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity two years old and under, known as the massacre of the Holy Innocents.
The post Feast of the Holy Innocents appeared first on uCatholic.