Good News Reflection
Feast of the Holy Innocents
December 28, 2010
Available as a Good News Ministries Podcast:
http://gnm.org/DailyReflections/podcasts
Today's Feast: The Holy Innocents
The prayer from my book for this Feast is not available online;
to order the book, please go to http://gnm.org/books.htm
Today's Readings:
1 John 1:5 – 2:2
Ps 124:2-5, 7-8
Matthew 2:13-18
http://www.usccb.org/nab/122810.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_12_28.mp3
The Light of Christ has come!
Jesus is the gift of light for a darkened world. In today's first reading, we read that God is light; in him there is no darkness. Thanks to our baptisms and our daily decisions to love God, his light shines within us, but we should examine how bright our life is.
If we claim we're following Christ while deliberately doing or condoning what is unGodly and dark, "we are liars". If we try to be Godly and think we can get through a day without sinning, we're lying to ourselves. But when we admit our sins, Jesus intercedes for us to the Father, offering himself in our place in order to gain forgiveness for us (bringing his death on the cross into our lives today).
The Light of Christ has no origin, no batteries that wear down, no plug that jolts electrons into brightness, no chemical combustion that explodes into sunshine. The Light of Christ is pure holiness. The Book of Revelation (see chapter 21:23) explains this light. In heaven, we do not need the sun and the moon for light; the glory of God provides the light, and the Lamb (Jesus) is the lamp. Since nothing impure exists in heaven, there is nothing to interfere with this light.
Imagine this amount of God's light shining here on earth! Well, it can and it does – through you and me. The more we purify our lives and purge our sins – the more we work at becoming holy – the brighter God's light shines through us. People become attracted to the presence of Jesus in us the way moths are attracted to the light on your front porch.
Although you and I will probably never shine as brightly as the Saints while on this side of heaven's door, we can at least glow like heaven's porch light. Our lives should be drawing others toward heaven, not toward darkness. When people come to us because of our love and compassion and helpfulness, they're being attracted to the Light of Christ within us.
On this day of remembering the Holy Innocents in today's Gospel reading, let us call to mind today's children who are victims of darkness. These include the youth who are being drawn into the occult through activities that are supposedly "harmless" games and fantasy books and movies (Harry Potter included). They are the children whose minds are being trained in immorality, greed and selfishness through television shows and other entertainment that glorifies the self, violence, sex outside of marriage, and other fascinations of darkness.
Take a few moments to make a list of children and young adults you know who are being seduced by darkness. Post this list where you will see it every day, or place it in your bible. Make a commitment to pray for them from this Christmas season until next. Pray with me that the Light of Christ will shine in their darkness and deliver them from evil. Pray what we proclaim in today's responsorial reading, that their souls will escape "like a bird from the hunter's snare." Together, our prayers will penetrate their darkness more brightly with the light of Christ.
NOTE: If you're a parent whose children need prayers, join our online e-group, Parents Who Pray, at http://gogoodnews.net/GNMcommunities/Parents
© 2010 by Terry A. Modica
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