Then was fulfilled what had been said through Jeremiah the prophet:A voice was heard in Ramah,sobbing and loud lamentation; Rachel weeping for her children, and she would not be consoled, since they were no more. -Jer 31:15
God is good, all the time. Friends: The church's designation of “Holy Innocents” for all the boys two years and under, who were brutally massacred by Herod's orders, should be understood as extending to the many babies lost through miscarriages or abortion as well. These children remain truly holy innocents, and they go back to God.
On the feast of the Holy Innocents, it is profound that we pray for parish families and families worldwide who have painfully suffered miscarriages and lost the babies they were looking forward to receiving into this beautiful world.
It is also behooving on us Catholics to pray for tremendous respect and adherence to the sanctity of human life, particularly among those who belong to the household of God. The need to pray for a change of heart towards abortion and advertent destruction of human life by those who so irreverently and easily yield to cultural pressure and the quest for advancing personal "choice" and "rights" becomes more urgent in the face of the gospel reading for today.
Rachel, the matriarch of Israel, weeps for the deaths of her innocent babies whose lives are terminated, as revealed in Jeremiah 31:15. A voice was heard in Ramah,sobbing and loud lamentation;Rachel weeping for her children,and she would not be consoled,since they were no more. We learn again from the prophet, Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, before you were born, I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations (Jer 1:5).
The consecration of the nation to the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary by the U.S. Catholic bishops, would not make it an exaggeration to wonder how much the holy mother of God laments for all "her children” who are no more because their lives are cut short by human decisions.
It is essential as Catholics to understand that our faith and doctrines about the dignity and respect for life are not narrowed to the heinous offense of abortion but also all forms of premature deaths advertently caused by others. "We believe that every person is precious, that people are more important than things, and that the measure of every institution is whether it threatens or enhances the life and dignity of the human person."(USCCB, Life, and Dignity of the Human Person).
Let us add to our prayers for the dignity and respect for life the prayer of St. Joseph.
Hail, Guardian of the Redeemer, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary. To you God entrusted his only Son; in you Mary placed her trust; with you, Christ became man Blessed Joseph, to us too, show yourself a father and guide us in the path of life. Obtain for us grace, mercy, and courage, and defend us from every evil. Amen.