Unhappy Events

29Dec
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.’
-Matthew 2: 13-15


I hope everyone is having a happy Christmas season. As we celebrate this season in the Church, following the anticipatory season of Advent, we are met with this day, commemorating the Holy Innocents killed at the command of King Herod, as told in the Gospel of Matthew. And so, as I wish you a happy Christmas, I am tasked with writing about this most unhappy of events.


Herod, often called “Herod the Great” for the monumental and ornate structures completed at his command, is a dark figure. He was great in the original sense of the word – like the way the wandmaker Ollivander describes the actions of Voldemort in the first Harry Potter book, “He Who Must Not Be Named did great things – terrible, yes, but great.” – but Herod certainly was not a “great” man or ruler according to the modern usage of that word. Both in biblical and historical narratives, we know of many of the wrongs he committed in the pursuit of power, and then in the effort to maintain it. Jewish historian Josephus tells us that Herod had three of his own sons killed for fear that they may overthrow him. The killing of other people’s sons, then, as part of that same lust for power is not too farfetched.


What I always find interesting when looking at some of these “villains” of the Bible is how their horrible actions, motivated by the worst aspects of humanity, which continue to show up in powerful people today, ultimately end up serving God. Herod owns the responsibility for the blood on his hands, but the end of this verse shows us that rather than having the intended effect of exterminating a challenger, the Holy Family’s flight to Egypt, instead, furthered Jesus’ claim to power, albeit a very different kind of power than the one Herod was so desperately clinging to.


Even amidst the real horrors of a powerful leader commanding others to do horrible things in his name, the Holy Family, made refugees in a foreign land by that leader, were sowing the seeds of God’s good news. Likewise, even as we read of the horrible fate of the Holy Innocents, and even if many see similarities to our world today, it is a happy Christmas. Even as dark things happen in our world, God’s will is being fulfilled. Like with the Holy Family hiding in Egypt, good things are happening somewhere on the periphery, waiting for the chance to spread.


Happy Christmas!


Musical Reflection - Sara Bareilles - A Safe Place to Land (Live at the Village) ft. John Legend

 


God, help us to not lose sight of your hope amid great suffering, like that inflicted upon the Holy Innocents and like that that exists in the world today. And help us to proclaim your good news, and to look for it from those on the periphery, this Christmas season. Amen

Christmas

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