Reflecting on the feast of the Holy Innocents
Opinion
The children that Herod killed in attempting to eliminate the Christ-child are considered martyrs. Their lives were taken in witness to Christ. They are not forgotten but remembered each year in our Masses and prayers on December 28, the feast of the Holy Innocents.
They live on in eternity and are still deeply connected with us in the union of all who believe in Christ, the communion of saints.
We acknowledge the eternal value and dignity of their lives, although so short. It is God who knew them, loved them and through their parents brought them to life.
It is God who gives them this unreplaceable value and planned their purpose and mission in life.
Their worth cannot be subject to coming to maturity and then making something of their lives.
In God’s eyes it is already there, and all is missing is the full flowering of their human potential. And now within the presence of God, they pray for believers in Christ and inspire and empower us all to follow them in living our lives for him.
They were silent witnesses but we are called to be active witnesses. Ours is not a limited perspective on any human life. This vision cannot be overlooked, according to another’s blurred perspective or limited agenda as was the case with Herod.
Because God has come into this world in the same way as these children, by being conceived and carried in Mary’s womb before birth, it says that God affirms every child in its mother’s womb and its God-given dignity and worth. This is a further message of Christmas. Our faith rightly teaches the dignity and right to life of every child from the earliest moment in the womb until natural death. It is God who gives life and God who takes it away.
In this light we cannot overlook the fact that in our State today abortion is legal and available up until birth. How could this be?
Many choose to see only from a limited and personal perspective. It’s a health care issue and so needs to be provided for in our hospitals. It’s been passed into law, it’s legal, so it must be alright. It’s a woman’s issue and so a woman alone must be free to decide whether to carry her child to birth. It’s not human until birth. It’s a matter of freedom of choice.
But it needs to be said that freedom has no value and is an illusion if the question of being right or wrong is not first asked. Our consciences will always call us to do what’s right.
What clouded vision allows one to expect a free choice when it comes to the life of another?
As we remembered the Holy Innocents just after Christmas last year, we remembered all the lives of children lost through abortion not just in our State, but in our nation and indeed throughout the world. We know that they are with God, sharing forever in their God-given destiny. We know that they remain deeply and forever connected to their mothers and fathers and that these bonds cannot be broken.
But as we acknowledge clearly the wrong that abortion is, we do not condemn anyone who is involved. We grieve the loss as we would for any child, but we don’t judge.
This is for God who abounds in love, mercy and forgiveness. His Son was carried in the womb of Mary so that one day he could carry the sins of all the world on his shoulders and in dying on the cross, pay the price and gain forgiveness.
Now we can say to mothers and fathers and anyone involved, know that in Christ there is forgiveness and love. Know that in Christ there is freedom from the grief and unexplained sorrow that you carry. Your child will be praying for this grace of Christ for you, that you may be reunited one day in eternity with him or her.
The Justice, Healing and Inclusion Office of the Archdiocese now has a pro-life focus called ‘Embrace Life’. Here we affirm and promote all the good work that is occurring amongst us to respect and support life.
It is in this context that I mention the upcoming Walk for Life event which is being held on Saturday February 8 at Pennington Gardens, North Adelaide.
Where there is a narrow and clouded vision of the eternal dignity of all unborn, our faith commands us to witness truth within our society. Our faith commands us to do all we can to support parents facing an unplanned pregnancy.
Embrace Life will continue to call for your involvement in this endeavour.
– Fr Dean Marin is Vicar General of the Adelaide Archdiocese.
