We are within the Octave of the Nativity of the Lord. A few days ago, we celebrated the entrance of Christ, “the light of the world,” into our history. Christ is born to fulfill God’s plan of salvation, by which He invites us to come out of the darkness of sin and death, to live in the kingdom of his inextinguishable light. Thus, this is a time marked by the joy of the newborn king and the peace that He brings to the whole world. However, today is also the Feast of the Holy Innocents, which reminds us that even if Christ came to establish a kingdom of light, we can choose to live in the kingdom of the darkness of sin and death. Today’s readings make this very clear.
In the first reading, St. John affirms that “God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all.” Moreover, he indicates that “if we live in light -that is, if we live in God- we have a share in another’s life, and the blood of Jesus…cleanses us from all sin.” Thus, to be in the light is to have God in us. The Spirit of Christ, that we receive in Baptism, dispels the darkness of sin from our souls. Freed from the burden that compels us to live for ourselves, we are enabled to experience a life of communion with God, with ourselves and with one another. We can glorify God for our lives. We can accept others for who they are; we can forgive; we can serve without expecting anything in return, and we can love like Christ loved: in the dimension of the cross!
However, we can also reject the Lord, and remain instead in the darkness of our own selves. That is what happened to Herod. When the Magi announced to him that Jesus, the king of the Jews, had been born, Herod was troubled. What for the wise men had been manifested through the special light of a star, which eventually filled them with joy, for Herod was the inconvenient news that his kingdom was at risk. What does he do? We see in today’s Gospel that, to eliminate this new king, “he had all the male children killed who were two years or older, reckoning by the date he had been careful to ask the wise men.” If light is communion, darkness is to be enslaved to our own ideas and plans of happiness. When we choose darkness, God’s designs for our life become heavy and difficult to accept. The other, instead of being someone I am called to love and serve, becomes an obstacle and a threat that must be avoided or eliminated at all costs. How many innocent children have been aborted because they posed a threat to the life of their parents? How many elderly people have been abandoned or given a merciful end, because they were an inconvenience or an obstacle to their children’s lives? How many innocent people suffer simply because their presence poses a threat to someone else’s plans of life?
Christmas is always a time that invites us to reflect on the gift we have received in the incarnate Word of God: the gift of the life that He planned for us from the beginning of time. Let us not allow the darkness of our own projects and ideas of happiness overshadow in us the light of this life. May the newborn king reign always in our hearts!
[Readings: 1 Jn 1:5-2:2; Mt 2:13-18]
