[stephenkhoo]

Scripture Reflections
Wednesday, 28 December, 2011, Feast of the Holy Innocents
THE SUFFERING OF THE HOLY INNOCENTS
SCRIPTURE READINGS: 1 JOHN 1:5-2:2; MATTHEW 2:13-18

One of the biggest obstacles in believing that God is love is the suffering of the innocent. How could the innocent suffer? How do we explain the untold tragedies, especially of the young who suffer silently because of abortion, rape, molest, pedophilia, divorce and a dysfunctional family? Extending the net wider, how do we explain the suffering of innocent people killed in wars, natural catastrophes or through the injustices of their fellowmen because of political, religious or racial persecution? This God seems to be anything but cruel and indifferent to the pain and misery of humanity. Before such a God, how do we believe that He is Love or even to think that He exists!

Christmas proclaims the message that God is love in Jesus. He is the gift of the Father in person. In Him, as the final visitation of God, we see the love of God as one who suffers for and with us silently and unjustly. Jesus shows us the way to innocent suffering. Firstly, the Second Person of the Trinity had to empty Himself of His divinity to assume our humanity. Then we are told that Christ suffered all things in obedience to the Father, even unto death. Right from the outset, since the day He was born, Jesus, the Holy Child, the Lamb of God, already had a foretaste of the greater persecution that was to come. For now, His parents, Joseph and Mary, could shelter Him from harm, from the evils of wicked men. But when He grew older, He would have to confront His enemies Himself. Throughout His ministry, He was misunderstood, abandoned, opposed by people of all sorts, political and religious leaders, until His death. Although He did no wrong, He was punished for our offences and our sins.

But why is there suffering, especially innocent suffering? The answer is simply because of sin and the consequences of sin. With the first sin of our parents, all of us are assumed into the community of sinners because as individuals, the seed of sin lives in us and as a community, we provoke each other to sin. Wounded, frightened and fearful in a selfish world, we seek to defend ourselves by being self-centered, protective of our vested interests through hoarding, amassing wealth, raising one’s status and influence, vying for power and when threatened, we become judgmental and vindictive, using all kinds of harsh words, slandering others even to the extent of destroying people’s reputation and killing them.

This sin is concretely portrayed in the person of Herod. We read that “Herod was furious when he realised that he had been outwitted by the wise men, so in Bethlehem and its surrounding district he had all the male children killed who were two years old or under, reckoning by the date he had been careful to ask the wise men.” He killed the innocent out of fear, without regard for their lives simply because he feared that his throne might be taken away.

Fear knows no limits. Out of fear, we too kill others, even if not physically, we assassinate their character. We kill each other for power, wealth and even for love, perverted love! Why do parents abort their babies if not out of fear? Fear that they would not be able to provide for them in all aspects. Fear of having to face the wrath of their own parents, and of being ostracized by society should they be found to be with child out of wedlock. So abortion is done basically out of selfishness as we put our self-interests and survival before that of the baby. Simply put, we love ourselves more than our babies! Fear springs from the fear of death, physical and emotional death, of being unloved. In the final analysis, fear springs from selfishness because we are not willing to die in the place of others, or for others. Fear drives out love.

But the greatest tragedy of all is that we who judge others fail to judge ourselves! Instead of leaving judgment to God as St Paul tells us (cf 2 Cor 4:6), we condemn people. We make it as if we are impeccable and have no sin in us. It is within this context that John wrote, “If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not live according to the truth; but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”

So during this Christmas period, God tells us we are loved into existence and eternally. This is the central message of Christianity. “God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” The thought, or rather the fact that God gave up His only Son for us, should be enough to cast out all fear from our lives, since fear is the cause of all our sins and misery.

The Good News is that all of our sins are forgiven! We do not have to condemn ourselves or allow the weight of sins to burden us. We do not have to fear judgment or condemnation, for St John assures us, “I am writing this to you so that you may not sin; but if any one does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the expiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” So with Jesus our Advocate before the Father, and having conquered sins especially death, we need not fear death and so can live a life of freedom in love and for love, emptying ourselves of our insecurity and self-centeredness. Jesus warns us as well that the man who loses his life for His sake will find it and the one who tries to save his life will lose it.

Indeed, this is the consequence of walking in the light of Christ. If we truly believe that Jesus has forgiven our sins and that He is the Light of Humanity, then we want to live in Him, with Him and like Him. Again, St John teaches us, “God is light and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not live according to the truth; but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.”

We have the shining examples of St Stephen, St John and the Holy Innocents in living out our redemptive suffering. When we suffer innocently and quietly, especially for our enemies and difficult people around us, offering our tolerance, acceptance, forgiveness and patience with their human frailties, we will bring conversion first to ourselves by growing in humility and faith in God. The refusal to pay back evil for evil but goodness for evil; love for hatred, patience for intolerance, forgiveness for unjust suffering, magnanimity for protectionism, will surely win over our enemies eventually, for love is greater than hate, goodness than evil. More than that, we are arresting the perpetuation of sin in our own lives and that of our loved ones in our family and organization. By responding with anger and violence, we only reinforce the hatred in our hearts and then pass on to our loved ones as well. Let us therefore find comfort in God who suffers for us.

In a special way, let us give due attention to the suffering of innocent unborn babies and children. Every fetus is more than just a lump of material but it contains the seed of intelligence, freedom and love. We too should in our endeavour to protect innocent children consider those who are exposed to hunger, abandonment, neglect, sickness, abuse, violence and not least, sexual and labour exploitation. That is why the Church constantly exhorts us to recognize our responsibility to the suffering of the truly innocent children. Pope Benedict exhorts us thus: “He has the right not to be treated as an object to be possessed or as a thing that can be manipulated at will, not to be reduced to a pure instrument for others’ advantage and interests. The person is good in himself and his integral development must always be sought.”

Nevertheless, even in our suffering and helplessness, we know that God will not leave us in the lurch. God will save us from our enemies as the responsorial psalm testifies: “Our soul has been rescued like a bird from the fowler’s snare. Had not the Lord been with us when men rose up against us, then would they have swallowed us alive, when their fury was inflamed against us. Then would the waters have overwhelmed us; the torrent would have swept over us; over us then would have swept the raging waters.” Truly, God is our protector, redeemer and deliverer. “Broken was the snare, and we were freed. Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.”

In the final analysis, life is more than life on this earth and more than merely living without suffering. Suffering does not make us sad so long as we suffer for love. The joy of suffering sometimes is even more intense that mere joy that comes from having things our own way. Joy comes from love and giving from the depths of our hearts. At Christmas, the message is that it is greater to give than to receive. Christmas is not so much an exchange of gifts but the desire to experience the joy of giving and forgiving as God did by giving us His only Son through the giving of ourselves to others.