the dark side of the season
keep Herod in Christmas
Holy Innocents, who we remember on the fourth day of Christmas. Why are these murdered little boys called “holy”? Why are these lives, taken by a paranoid tyrant, referred to in such a sacred way? Is it because they are the first, and helpless, martyrs to Christ?
There are other holy innocents. Every age has its Herods, those who open their mouths and bare their teeth: slick, ravenous ones who are merciless in their cowardice and violence.
Holy innocents abound. They are the ones forced into labor and denied the empowerment of education. They are the hidden ones, girls and boys, perhaps in our neighborhood, deceived and ripped from safety and trafficked for sex. They might have a confusion which is reinforced and given chemicals halting physical development. They are victims of mass murder in school.
And yet, holy!
The Christmas season is indeed bittersweet. Sometimes horrific events have occurred on December 25. For those who have lost a loved one, these days can be a painful reminder of the dearly departed. “It’s the most wonderful time of the year / With the kids jingle belling and everyone telling you, ‘Be of good cheer’ / It’s the most wonderful time of the year.” Be of good cheer—that’s an order!
And so, there is Herod, with the darkness he brings. However, the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it. The darkness did not grasp it. It did not comprehend it.
No matter what Herod does, in the end, his paranoid plans come to nothing. They cannot stand before the word, filled with poverty and power. The weapons of his warfare fail in the face of the one who comes.