37. December 28, Holy Innocents
Meditations no. 560 (unofficial computer-aided translation)
The martyrdom of the Holy Innocents. They witness to Christ, non loquendo, sed moriendo.
Our Lord Jesus Christ has just come into the world. The echoes of the angelsâ canticle still linger in the air, as the Church again reminds us that the stable is the anteroom of the Cross. The defenceless Child at Bethlehem already points toward Golgotha. The priestâs vestments are red, the colour of martyrs, in memory of those Innocents who gave testimony to Christ, non loquendo sed moriendo, not by speaking but by dying, as first fruits for God and the Lamb.
The Magi, after adoring the Child, are warned by an angel in a dream to return home by another road. Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, was in a furious rage. Our Father says: My children, look at how upset Herod is when the wise men fail to return to tell him where the King of the Jews can be found, the Child wrapped in swaddling clothes. He becomes furious and instigates an atrocity.
Even nowadays you find re-enacted this Gospel scene. There are those who, lacking Herodâs power, use their tongues to destroy not one person alone, but hundreds of people. They poison young people, reacting diabolically, more or less as Herod did when informed about an Infant who was God.
By Herodâs command, a detachment of soldiers leaves Jerusalem with orders to kill all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time which he had ascertained from the wise men. The city of David is filled with the cries of innocent children and their mothers. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah: âA voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they were no more.â
The children die without knowing what is happening; mothers see their innocent lives cut short without knowing why. There is no apparent explanation. The childrenâs suffering at first glance seems useless and unjust. Their lives bear witness to a truth they arenât even aware of. But God rewards their total self-sacrifice with eternal glory, with the enjoyment and direct vision of God. And the little ones, wrenched from their mothersâ arms and made co-redeemers with Christ at such a young age, enjoy in heaven the fruitfulness of their sacrifice: These innocent children were slain for Christ. They follow the spotless Lamb, and proclaim for ever: Glory to you, Lord.
Our witness is the heroism of a hidden, cheerful and silent sacrifice.
Our Lord asks us for the witnesses of our love. Ordinarily, he will not ask us to give our lives for him all at once. Rather he wants us to truly spend ourselves for his glory, day after day, without reservations. Our is a continual and cheerful dedication that does not attract attention, that can and should pass unnoticed. Our Father opened his heart with gratitude to God: So often in these thirty-one years Iâve been able to witness my childrenâs way of living. How well they have done things! They spread peace and joy to all around them. And those who live with them hardly realize it. Only when time passes and your brother is no longer there do you say: how good he was! But while they are still alongside us they pass unnoticed.
Many who would let themselves be nailed to a cross before the astonished gaze of thousands of spectators, wonât bear the pinpricks of each day with a Christian spirit!
But think, which is the more heroic?
It is heroic to live our vocation down to its final consequences. It is heroic to fulÂfill the norms each day, punctually. It is heroic to pour ourselves out, working for others, never thinking about ourselves. It is heroic to finish our work well, when we are tired and exhausted. It is heroic to continue our ascetical struggle in the points indicated to us, with humility and determination: You ask me, âWhy that wooden Cross?â And I quote from a letter: âAs I raise my eyes from the microscope, my sight comes to rest on the Cross- black and empty. That Cross without a Corpus is a symbol; it has a meaning others wonât see. And I, tired out and on the point of abandoning my work, once again bring my eyes close to the lens and continue. For that lonely Cross is calling for a pair of shoulders to bear it.
The heroism asked of us is an everyday heroism of silent and hidden sacrifice. We can never feel vainglory for things so small. Yet our sacrifice tempers our will and makes our lives fruitful. Since we act out of love, our sacrifice is a willing one that seeks no apÂplause; we donât even call it a âsacrifice.â We receive each dayâs annoyances without complaint, as coming from Godâs will, with respect and love, with joy and peace. And we strive to fulfill the duty of each moment willingly, although it is hard, since it is Godâs will for us.
Our Father says: My children, are you and I determined to live a life that serves as a model and lesson for others? Are we determined to be other Christs, to behave like children of God? Itâs not enough to say it; we have to prove our determination by our deeds⌠Are you happy with how you have behaved up until now? You, who are another Christ, who are a child of God, do you deserve to have it said of you that you have come to do and to teach, facere et docere (Acts 1: 1): to teach others by your behaviour to do all that is good, that is noble, that furthers the Redemption?
Bearing witness in word and deed.
Our way is to work without attracting attention, without getting discouraged in the face of daily difficulties. We have to be witnesses to Christ and his Gospel by our lives more than by our words: non loquendo, sed moriendo. We do so by our hidden everyday dedication: by our ordinary work, by the exact fulfilment of our duties, by our constant proofs of affection for others, by our interior struggle in little things, by our apostolate. Indeed, one rarely gets the opportunity to do great things for Christâs Church; on the other hand, it is typical of the spirit of the Work to make great, through Love, the little services of every day.
Wherever he finds himself, each member of Opus Dei must give with all sincerity, without subterfuge or tactics, the Christian light that people expect from us, since we are for the people.
Our gestures, our way of speaking, our way of seeing and doing things, our dealings with others and, in general, our whole life and behaviour as members of the Work should be accompanied by the simplicity that flows from our being other menâs equals. If others were ever to falsely think that we were not like them, it would make it impossible for us to reach them. We would not be able to serve souls.
Backed up by the good example of our dedicated life, we will also bear testimony by our words: My children must seek out occasions to speak, to communicate the marvels God has entrusted to us. Itâs not enough to âbe presentâ to work in a Christian way. Itâs not true! Those who are ashamed of Christ say so. Jesus made himself present, and he spoke and he gave doctrine.
Our tongue is for speaking, even âimprudently.â We go through life cheerful and âimprudentâ: the more âimprudentâ the better. Always, but especially now, I keep in mind the times of St Paul and his exhortation: Argue, obsecra, increpa ⌠opportune, importune (2 Tim 4: 2). I was saying that I often think about St Paulâs times, about the Roman empire, so filled with pompous behaviour. The emperorâs vanity and pride even led him to lower his head so that the magnificence of his person would fit under the arches of triumph.
Those pagan men lived like animals, thinking only about their stomachs, their sensuality, their power. And Paul, faced with that panorama, sets out to preach Christ. He preached a Jesus who demanded humility, who led a spotless life⌠It is the exact opposite of the atmosphere of those times. But St Paul, who has known and deeply savoured the joy of belonging to God, sets out confidently to preach without respite, even in prison.
Let us ask holy Mary to obtain for us the strength we need to live our vocation heroically.