Matthew 2:13-18
Psalm 124
Where were you at Midnight, January 1st, in the Year of our Lord 2000? Our family was at Grace Church in Alexandria, Virginia, for a Eucharist that began at 11 pm. Our son, nine-years-old, was one of the torchbearing acolytes. We counted down those final seconds, shouted, "Happy New Year!" Then the Priest shouted, "And the Peace of the Lord be always with you!" To which we replied, "And also with you!" Then we started looking for people to embrace. I ran over to John, who was jumping up and down as high as he could. He leaped into my arms, and we hugged.
What was so special about that turn of the Millennium? Having lived with the fear of nuclear annihilation, I was grateful that we hadn't destroyed ourselves. But that wasn't John's concern. Perhaps we were celebrating that two thousand years after the Life that is the light of all people had come into the world; that light still shone among those who believed that love was more powerful than hate, and innocence more powerful than cynicism.
Of course, innocents have been crushed by the cynical who believed that if they couldn't take their toys with them, they could still compete to see who left the most toys behind them. Herod didn't care how many innocent children he had to kill. Their mothers needed to be comforted, as do the weeping mothers of today. But the child he most wanted to dispose of, he didn't get. And in that, hope stays alive, two millennia later. Just ask the children.
We remember today, O God, the slaughter of the holy innocents of Bethlehem by King Herod. Receive, we pray, into the arms of your mercy all innocent victims; and by your great might frustrate the designs of evil tyrants and establish your rule of justice, love, and peace; through Jesus Christ 0ur Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
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