{"id":3719,"date":"2021-12-14T10:22:38","date_gmt":"2021-12-14T14:22:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/consistent-life.org\/blog\/?p=3719"},"modified":"2024-12-10T12:48:23","modified_gmt":"2024-12-10T16:48:23","slug":"december-28","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/consistent-life.org\/blog\/index.php\/2021\/12\/14\/december-28\/","title":{"rendered":"December 28: Day of the Massacre of the Innocents"},"content":{"rendered":"

Happy Holidays!<\/span><\/h1>\n

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For the source on the Massacre of the Holy Innocents, see the Biblical book of Matthew, chapter 2. This echoes Exodus 1:16.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Shane Claiborne, Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove and Enuma Okoro<\/h3>\n

Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals<\/em>, pp. 80-81
\n(reading for) December 28<\/p>\n

After Jesus was born, Matthew\u2019s gospel records that King Herod was so disturbed by the news of a potential contender for the throne that he ordered a preemptive strike, executing all boys in Bethlehem under two years of age. Since its earliest centuries, the church has remembered these \u201choly innocents\u201d who died because Jesus\u2019 coming posed a threat to those in power. Today we remember all the little ones, born and unborn, who are sacrificed in a culture of death that has not yet welcomed the good news of Jesus. And we recall that Herod\u2019s kingdom is now long gone, but the kingdom of God goes on.<\/p>\n

Pope Francis<\/h3>\n

Letter of His Holiness Pope Francis to Bishops on the Feast of the Holy Innocents<\/a>
\nDecember 28, 2016<\/p>\n

Christmas is also accompanied, whether we like it or not, by tears. The Evangelists did not disguise reality to make it more credible or attractive . . . For them, Christmas was not a flight to fantasy, a way of hiding from the challenges and injustices of their day. On the contrary they relate the birth of the Son of God as an event fraught with tragedy and grief . . .<\/p>\n

We are asked to protect this joy from the Herods of our own time . . . who devour the innocence of our children. An innocence robbed from them by the oppression of illegal slave labour, prostitution and exploitation. An innocence shattered by wars and forced immigration, with the great loss that this entails. Thousands of our children have fallen into the hands of gangs, criminal organizations and merchants of death, who only devour and exploit their neediness. . . .<\/p>\n

Christian joy does not arise on the fringes of reality, by ignoring it or acting as if it did not exist. Christian joy is born from a call . . . to embrace and protect human life, especially that of the holy innocents of our own day. Christmas is a time that challenges us to protect life, to help it be born and grow.
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Massacre of the Innocents (1565)<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u00a0<\/em>Artist<\/em>:\u00a0Pieter Bruegel the Elder<\/a>\u00a0(1525-69)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Kathy Kelly<\/h3>\n

World Beyond War, January 22, 2021
\nAbout Suffering: A Massacre of the Innocents in Yemen<\/a><\/p>\n

Depicting multiple episodes of gruesome brutality, Bruegel conveys the terror and grief inflicted on trapped villagers who cannot protect their children. Uncomfortable with the images of child slaughter, the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolph II, after acquiring the painting, ordered another reworking. The slaughtered babies were painted over with images such as bundles of food or small animals, making the scene appear to be one of plunder rather than massacre.<\/p>\n

Were Bruegel\u2019s anti-war theme updated to convey images of child slaughter today, a remote Yemeni village could be the focus. Soldiers performing the slaughter wouldn\u2019t arrive on horseback. Today, they often are Saudi pilots trained to fly U.S.-made warplanes over civilian locales and then launch laser-guided missiles (sold by<\/a>\u00a0Raytheon, Boeing and Lockheed Martin), to disembowel, decapitate, maim, or kill anyone in the path of the blast and exploding shards.<\/p>\n

Note: Unfortunately, Kathy Kelly is not a consistent-lifer \u2013 but her comment on the famous painting is spot on. <\/em><\/p>\n

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The Christmas Visit. Postcard, c.1910<\/p><\/div>\n

\u00a0=====================================<\/em><\/p>\n

This is a list of holiday editions of our weekly e-newsletter,\u00a0Peace & Life Connections<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

In 2010<\/a><\/u>, we showed \u201cIt\u2019s a Wonderful Movement\u201d by using the theme of what would happen if the peace movement and the pro-life movement hadn\u2019t arisen. We also had quotes from Scrooge (against respect for life) and a Martin Luther King Christmas sermon.<\/p>\n

In 2011<\/a><\/u>, we covered the materialism-reducing \u201cAdvent Conspiracy<\/a><\/u>\u201d and offered two pieces of children\u2019s art: a 1938 anti-war cartoon called \u201cPeace on Earth,\u201d and the anti-war origins of \u201cHorton Hears a Who,\u201d whose tagline \u2013 \u201ca person\u2019s a person, no matter how small\u201d \u2013 is irresistible to pro-lifers.<\/p>\n

In 2012<\/a><\/u>, we had a couple of quotes showing the pro-life aspects of two prominent Christmas tales:\u00a0A Christmas Carol<\/em>\u00a0with Ebenezer Scrooge, and the movie\u00a0It\u2019s a Wonderful Life<\/em>. We also quote from John Dear about Jesus as peacemaker and Rand Paul about the 1914 spontaneous Christmas Truce; he then related it to the culture of life.<\/p>\n

In 2013<\/a><\/u>, we shared several quotations reflecting on Christmas.<\/p>\n

In 2014<\/a><\/u>, we offered a quotation from a lesser-known Christmas novella of Charles Dickens and cited the treatment of abortion in the Zoroastrian scriptures.<\/p>\n

In 2015<\/a><\/u>, we had a list of good holiday movies with consistent-life themes \u2013 check it out for what you might want to see this season. We also had information on Muslim nonviolent perspectives.<\/p>\n

In 2016<\/a><\/u>,\u00a0we discussed how \u201cThe Magi were Zoroastrians\u201d and detailed how good the Zoroastrians were on consistent-life issues. The ancient roots of the consistent life ethic run deep!<\/p>\n

In 2017<\/a><\/u>, we covered Interfaith Peace in the Womb.<\/p>\n

In 2018<\/a>, we detailed Strong Women against Violence \u2013 Connected to the Holidays.<\/p>\n

In 2019<\/a>, we showed Christmas as a Nonviolent Alternative to Imperialism.<\/p>\n

In 2020<\/a>, given what was most on people\u2019s minds at the time, we covered Pandemics Related to Christmas.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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Happy Holidays! For the source on the Massacre of the Holy Innocents, see the Biblical book of Matthew, chapter 2. This echoes Exodus 1:16. Shane Claiborne, Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove and Enuma Okoro Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals, pp. 80-81 (reading for) December 28 After Jesus was born, Matthew\u2019s gospel records that King Herod was… <\/p>\n