WEDNESDAY, December 29 Holy Innocents (tr)

Matthew 2:13-18. When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under.

The horrible crimes against humanity committed by tyrants send chills down our spines. We like to think that the world has made some progress in the past two thousand years, and perhaps it has. Yet the mass murders under totalitarian regimes, which have not—never have—spared children, have reached incredible proportions in our own day. To our shame, nations like our own are also guilty of massacres.

The account of the Holy Innocents is indeed most oddly placed in the calendar. It seems it should come after Epiphany. Yet this is the kind of world into which Jesus was born, and in which his gospel continues to call out for justice, peace, and the end of oppression.

“Our help is in the Name of the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth” (Psalm 124). (2002)

PRAY for the Diocese of Kyushu (Japan)

Ps 124; Jeremiah 31:15-17; Revelation 21:1-7

View the daily Lectionary Readings at Satucket.com.
Or view the Bible passages at Biblegateway.com.

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Pray for Iraq

Dec 29, 2010 at 8:09 am

Written by Stephen,

The writer alludes to our countries transgressions. Christians in Iraq are under constant attack after our decimating of their country. There is no moral equivalence to taking out Saddam Hussein. We are not a Christian nation and never were, but fundamentalist from Islam and the U.S. think we are, and I fear what that means for us and them. I pray the Kingdom of God be unbound from this oppression and we can live without the boundries of ignorance and that true faith guide our leaders.

-1

Priest retired

Dec 29, 2010 at 9:18 am

Written by Timothy M Nakayama,,

I was "a child in prison camp" at 10 years of age - over 70 years ago - incarcerated by the Government of Canada during WW II just because I was of Japanese ancestry, and classified quite incorrectly as an "Enemy Alien". Our family and all Japanese Canadians, were banished from the Pacific Coast - sent to the gold-mining "ghost" town of Slocan City, in the remote deeply forested mountains at the headwaters of the Columbia River in SE British Columbia. How ironic - On the same day of this meditation we prayed for the Diocese of Kyushu. The city of Nagasaki is in that diocese - the place in Japan that first heard and received the "good news" of the Christian Gospel. That was also the city, along with Hiroshima (also in that same diocese), where the US dropped atomic bombs that first fell on humans.

Californian

Dec 29, 2010 at 11:07 am

Written by Marti,

Oh, Timothy....please forgive us. I am so sorry and ashamed for what happened to you and your family during WWII. Tears rolled down my face as I read your comment. One of my best friends as a child was a girl named Ann Tashima. Her father owned a nursery in Southern California. We used to play in the green houses. They were Episcopalians and we went to the same church. Her mother sewed all of the acolyte vestments. Her brothers were acolytes. I thank God that my parents were not prejudiced (this was 1946), but I often wonder why we as a nation built on diversity and freedom could be so scared. God bless you and your family. May His light continue to shine upon you and be gracious unto you, now and forever.

To Our Shame, Nations Like Our On Are Guilty Of Massacres

Dec 29, 2010 at 11:28 am

Written by Donald Basenberg,

You must be going back to the days of the USA dealing with the Native Americans, to say nations like our own are guilty of massacres. Otherwise, I don't understand that statement.

-1

Donald Basenburg

Dec 29, 2010 at 11:59 am

Written by Amethyst,

Going back to the days of Native Americans? Not hardly. Statements like this make me sad and remind me of the fundamentalists I grew up with who use the Bible to justify their wars, their killing, and their hate and prejudices.

You can start with any war from the World Wars to Vietnam to Iraq and Afghanistan. Don't forget witch hunts, torture, and even today's bombings at abortion clinics and the beating (sometimes to death) of gay people. Even now there are those preaching from the pulpits that gays should all commit suicide, but if they don't it is okay to help them along. I also grew up in the deep South (US) where the KKK is still alive and kicking. Thankfully, there are no public massacres in this area these days, though many would like to go back to that.

To deny that these atrocities have occurred and continue is unfathomable to me.

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