Octave of Christmas
28th December 2023 (Thursday) Readings and Reflection
Psalter: Proper
Reading of the Day
First Reading: 1 John 1:5-2:2
Beloved: This is the message we have heard from Jesus Christ and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.
Psalm 124:2-3, 4-5, 7cd-8 (R. 7ab)
R/. Our life, like a bird, has escaped from the snare of the fowler.
Alleluia
V/. Alleluia R/. Alleluia
V/. We praise you, O God; we acclaim you as Lord; the white-robed army of martyrs praise you.
R/. Alleluia
Gospel : Luke 11:02-32
When the wise men had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, 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.” And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfil what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.” Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah: “A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.”
Daily Gospel Reflection
The Reflection by Fr. Thumma Mariadas Reddy MSFS{alertWarning}
Highlight: Love that dies but lives on!
Guidlines: True love dies for the sake of the loved one. It is better to die for love rather than live in hatred{alertSuccess}
1. On 28th December we commemorate the death of the holy innocents. It looks strange that soon after the greatest birthday at Christmas we celebrate a series of deaths, of St Stephen on the 26th and today on the 28th, the holy innocents, on the 29th, St Thomas Becket and on the 30th, St Anysia.
2. Their death in fact is a birth to heaven. God came down from heaven so that we can go to heaven. He shared in our human life so that we can share in his eternal life. He became like us in our human misery so that we become like him in his divine glory. Every martyrdom for the sake of Christ is a new birth, a rebirth into heaven.
3. The children below two years of age get killed by Herod. It was a part of his desperate attempt to terminate the child Jesus. The newborn, the prophesied messiah would be a threat to his power and authority. His wrong understanding of the messiah and his clinging to power lead him to this merciless murderous act. The children become the helpless victims of his cruelty.
4. Why did Herod act so? The first reading from 1 John gives us the answer. It is because the light of God is not in him. He walks in darkness. He does not live according to the truth. He is steeped in a false life. He has no fellowship with God or with others.
5. On one hand, Herod stands before us as a negative example and on the other hand, the innocent children as a positive example. Herod serves as a caution for us not to walk in the darkness of sin or falsity, not to go against our fellowship with God and others and not to do harm to others.
6. The innocent children show us that life is meaningful and meritorious to live and even to die for the sake of Christ. Even though they did not die consciously and out of a free choice, what is important is that their life was offering on behalf of Christ. By their death in the place of Jesus, they in a way “saved” and “spared” the life of the Savor, the giver of life himself.
7. This also indicates that any suffering in the name of Christ, for his sake and on his behalf, whether voluntary or forced, whether conscious or unconscious, is certainly meritorious and rewarding. God needs all of us and each one of us can help God in our own little way in fulfilling his holy designs.
Practice: In life, the reasons for all the problems and sufferings may not be always clear and reasonable. But it is always better to live through them in a spirit of forbearance and courage{alertSuccess}