The angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and told him to flee, because Herod was looking for the young child to destroy him. And so Joseph fled and the young child—Jesus, the Lord—was saved.
Herod, who couldn’t find the particular young child he was looking for, hedged his bets by killing every young child in Bethlehem (Mt 2:16). Another part of the Gospel (Mt. 2:17-18) quotes Jeremiah to explain how bad it was then in Bethlehem: Rachel weeping for her children and would not be comforted because they were not.
Why didn’t God send his angel to warn all the fathers of young children in Bethlehem? What happened to the heartfelt compassion and gentleness that Paul recommends in the Second Reading? Doesn’t God have gentleness for all young children? Doesn’t God have compassion for all parents of young children? Isn’t God perfect love? Why did he let all these children die?
But here is another question: why did God take care to make sure that the young child Jesus would live? Here is the answer: because Jesus came to die for all people, young children, adults, old people. Jesus came to die as an adult, on the cross. And so he couldn’t die as a young child.
Because he came to die, because he suffered and died on the cross, there is real life, unending life, for everyone who dies, at any age.
There is something worth inconsolable tears in the death of every human being, and especially in the death of children, so innocent, so lovely. And yet because Jesus lived to die, there is a consolation even for inconsolable tears.
In Jeremiah, the lines about Rachel weeping for her children are not the end of the passage. It finishes this way: thus says the Lord, don’t cry, don’t cry! Your children will come again! They will come again, in the end, to their own home. (Jer 31:16)
Art by Martin Erspamer, OSB
from Religious Clip Art for the Liturgical Year (A, B, and
C). This art may be reproduced only by parishes who purchase the
collection in book or CD-ROM form. For more information go http://www.ltp.org