Holy Innocents
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Today is the feast of the Holy Innocents, the little children murdered by King Herod in his effort to prevent Jesus from becoming King.
These little children did what no one else has done. They suffered and died to save the life of God. By their death Herod believed he had killed the Messiah, the newborn king of the Jews, and thus Jesus was saved. In a way God is eternally indebted to them and in return he rewards them with the crown of martyrdom and eternal life.
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The Feast of the Holy Innocents teaches us three things: First, the purpose of life is to get to heaven; second, life is short; and third, we should use our pain to help others get to heaven.
The primary purpose of this life is to get to heaven. Even though the earthly life of these little children was short by our standards, they achieved that purpose – they are glorified in heaven. Oh, and by the way, these children didn’t miss out on anything except sin. Life is not over when we die. Eternal life begins. Heaven is real life. A life without end. And Heaven is dynamic rather than static. It is growth and learning and adventure and relationships. Heaven is living at the highest level, which they have been doing with God ever since Herod sent out the decree.
The purpose of this life is to prepare for heaven. Are you living with the right purpose?
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Whether it is 2 years of 90, in comparison to eternity this life is very short.
St Paul writes: This life is just a slight momentary affliction preparing us for an eternal weight of glory.
This life is short because it is only meant to be the passageway to our true home, Heaven. To be worldly is to try to make this our lasting home. To live with hope means to be on our way home. Just passing through. We should spend our time on earth getting ready for heaven. Heaven is union with God and to be like God. Are we making the best use of our time? Are we using our time to reach union with God and to become like Him? That is all that will matter at the end of this short time.
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Our greatest fear that a loved one who is not interested in God will not be with us in heaven.
Jesus came on a rescue mission. He invites everyone to help him. The Holy Innocents were the first to help Jesus save the world by their suffering and death which enabled Jesus to escape to Egypt until the appointed time.
They teach us that we also are called to offer up and join our pain and suffering, our own personal cross to that of Jesus. What you did not choose, do not like and cannot change, offer it up.
This is our greatest means to help get our loved ones to heaven.
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When we are in pain, we are not victims, we are Agents of Change
Jesus was not a victim. He said “No one takes my life from me, I lay it down of my own accord and I take it up again.”
We can say the same thing “Nothing and no one can take from me my freedom and power for doing good.”
Jesus was the greatest Change Agent by His suffering
Now He is inviting us to join our suffering to his to help him save souls, especially those of our loved ones.
2 Tim 2:3 Join with me in suffering like a good soldier of Christ Jesus
Learn the lesson of today’s feast;
· The purpose of life is to get to heaven;
· Our time here is short;
· We should offer up everything to Jesus to help him rescue souls.