PRAYER PAUSE

Friday, 28 December 2018. The Holy Innocents

HE HAD ALL THE MALE CHILDREN KILLED

Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading.  “Herod was furious and had all the male children killed who were two years old or under.” (Matthew 2:13-18)

Reflection.  Mathew builds on the links with the Old Testament: Egypt, the place of slavery, and the slaughter of the Jewish male children by Pharaoh. He does not record that God, seeing all the suffering Jesus was causing from the moment of his birth, regretted the Incarnation.  The scriptures are clear that God knows that this great enterprise of sending his Son into the world is going to cause havoc.  There will be a great price to be paid by Jesus and all those who will be associated with him.  Christmas is a time of great joy.  But it is also a time when we place our struggles within the context of the great plan of God to purify his people so that they may be capable of receiving the life he offers.  

Prayer.  Lord, as we mourn the death of the innocent children in Yemen, Syria and other places, help us to understand your plan and labour that children everywhere may have a better life. Amen.