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The killing of the Innocent

Gospel
Matthew 2:13-18
The massacre of the innocents

After the wise men had left, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother with you, and escape into Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, because Herod intends to search for the child and do away with him.’ So Joseph got up and, taking the child and his mother with him, left that night for Egypt, where he stayed until Herod was dead. This was to fulfil what the Lord had spoken through the prophet:

I called my son out of Egypt.

Herod was furious when he realised that he had been outwitted by the wise men, and in Bethlehem and its surrounding district he had all the male children killed who were two years old or under, reckoning by the date he had been careful to ask the wise men. It was then that the words spoken through the prophet Jeremiah were fulfilled:

A voice was heard in Ramah,
sobbing and loudly lamenting:
it was Rachel weeping for her children,
refusing to be comforted because they were no more.

Reflection
The killing of the innocent is one of the greatest tragedy that relates to the birth of Christ . The innocents are considered to be the first martyr for Christ. Why  did this happen? It is because Herod lives in fear of losing his throne. As a result he make the wrong judgement call. What we can learn from this when we live a life of fear we make the wrong judgement. The only way is trust in the Lord. Do you trust the Lord your God Jesus Christ?

Let us pray
Lord Jesus may we live without fear by putting our trust in you.

Amen





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