The Unauthorized Homily

By Bill Dunn

A commentary on the Scripture readings from the Sunday Lectionary

(Scripture readings for Sunday, January 4th: Isaiah 60:1-6; Ephesians 3:2-3, 5-6; Matthew 2:1-12)

‘SLAUGHTER OF THE INNOCENTS’ NOT A PLEASANT TOPIC

This week is the Epiphany of the Lord, commemorating the visit of the magi, the mysterious visitors from the east. (Were there three of them? Surprisingly, Scripture doesn’t say.)

Epiphany has been the subject of many Unauthorized Homilies over the years. If you are interested, you can find some at:

http://www.boomertrek.com/archives/fa595.htm
http://www.boomertrek.com/archives/fa542.htm
http://www.boomertrek.com/archives/fa490.htm
http://www.boomertrek.com/archives/fa437.htm
http://www.boomertrek.com/archives/fa280.htm
http://www.boomertrek.com/archives/fa228.htm

In the Gospel reading this week, when the magi said they were looking for the newborn king of the Jews, we read, “When King Herod heard this, he was greatly troubled.” The result of Herod being “greatly troubled” occurs in verses 16 thru 18 in Matthew’s Gospel, chapter 2. However, this week’s reading ends at verse 12, and when we do have a Gospel reading from the rest of the chapter, on the Feast of the Holy Family during Year A, this is exactly what is proclaimed at Mass: Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23.

Verses 16 thru 18 are skipped! Apparently, the folks in charge of selecting the readings do not want people to hear the gruesome story known as the “Slaughter of the innocents.” As you may have heard somewhere (but not at Mass), when Herod realized the magi had already left the country and were not going to tell him the location of the baby Jesus, he “gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under” (v. 16).

In verse 18, Matthew quotes the prophet Jeremiah: “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be consoled because they are no more.”

Yeah, that is pretty gruesome, and I guess I can understand why some might prefer not to hear that story in church. But sometimes we need to hear the truth, regardless of how gruesome. When we refuse to acknowledge the reality of evil in the world, we certainly will not be motivated to do anything about it. When we pretend evil actions don’t exist, we actually enable them it to keep on happening.

The “Slaughter of the innocents” topic came to mind when I read Archbishop Henry Mansell’s column in the December ’08 issue of The Catholic Transcript, the official monthly newspaper of the Archdiocese of Hartford, CT.

The archbishop wrote about the recent presidential election, and expressed alarm and concern about a promise President-elect Obama made while giving a speech before a Planned Parenthood group. Obama said once he was sworn into office he would sign into law the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA).

Mansell listed what will happen if this terribly misnamed piece of legislation becomes law:

• All federal and state laws enacted during the past 35 years that provide modest restraints and regulations on the abortion industry will be wiped off the books. These include laws regarding informed consent, parental notification, physician’s licensing, clinic safety, and taxpayer funding.
   
• Partial-birth and other grisly late-term abortion procedures will be legal and unrestricted in all 50 states.
   
• Infants born alive after a “failed abortion” will have no legal protection, and will be left to die.
   
• FOCA will ban all existing laws protecting the right of conscientious objection, and will require health care workers and hospitals to perform abortions, regardless of their moral and religious beliefs. If this happens, Catholic hospitals might be forced to shut down.

Sometimes the slaughter of the innocents is a story from 2,000 years ago we prefer not to hear at church during the Christmas season. Other times the slaughter of the innocents takes place on the other side of the globe in some “primitive” culture, and if we don’t want to think about it we can switch the channel from CNN to a rerun of “The Simpsons.” And still other times the slaughter of the innocents occurs right in our own states and cities and towns at health clinics, where what goes on inside is anything but healthy.

If Rachel wept because of what Herod did in the little town of Bethlehem, what might she be doing now in response to the 50 million American children who are no more? When the lawyers were preparing that satanic legal case in 1973, I wonder if they used three letters that are found in the name “Herod” to come up with the word “Roe.” Just a thought.

There’s a story that goes like this: A person appeared before God and pleaded, “Lord, why don’t you send a great scientist to earth who can cure the AIDS virus?” God answered, “I already did, but you aborted her.”

This is not a cheerful meditation this week, and I’m getting more depressed as I write. But I just wonder if all the folks who voted for “hope and change” knew they also were voting for FOCA? Maybe it’s not too late to lobby our elected officials, including our soon-to-be President. Maybe it’s not too late to convince him that FOCA is not freedom, it’s not choice, it instead comes from the pit of Hell.

Please…write letters, make phone calls, raise your voices—and most of all, pray. Pray as if life itself depended on it, because it does.

©2008