Oftentimes we have the tendency to romanticize the first Christmas, what with the carols and poems composed to commemmorate and celebrate the unique event of the becoming man of God. Indeed the awe and wonder evoked by the mystery can not be expressed in mere prose. It always appeals to the poet in us. But the harsh realities surrounding the birth of Jesus Christ must not escape us, for they carry as much significance as the mystery of the incarnation.
And the Gospel on the feast of the Holy Family illustrates the danger and threat the child Jesus had to face right after his birth. Herod, perceiving him to be a threat to his throne, plotted to have the child killed. And in his anger at being deceived by the magi, he ordered all male children 2 years and below to be killed. Thus, the slaughter of the Holy innocents. How ironic it is that a small helpless clueless innocent child be considered a threat by a king who has at his disposal all the elements of earthly power. Which goes to show us how pathetically insecure he is even with the greatest and strongest of armed troops and high fortress. Translated to our times, how terribly threatened one is even with one's millions in the banks and mansions in gated subdivisions.
May this Christmas season lead us to the true treasure which is found not in the king's palaces or the banker's chest, but in the lowly manger of Bethlehem, in our time, in the quiet place before the sacred host of the blessed sacrament, as well as in the poor and downtrodden in the margins of society.
Happy Feast of the Holy Family!
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