“Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, was in a furious rage, and he sent and killed 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” (Matt. 2:16).
The Church considers as martyrs those male children of Bethlehem and her environs that were two years old or under, whom King Herod ordered killed in an attempt to safeguard his throne. They were martyrs, baptized in their own blood. They died for Christ without knowing it. They lost their lives in this world for the sake of Christ. They are therefore rewarded with a heavenly recompense. It is their voices that we in the responsorial psalm, “We have escaped as a bird from the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped!” (Ps. 124:7). So soon did they escape from this world to enter into the kingdom of their Father! Herod, without intending it, did them a favor. Furthermore, “These are the ones who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These were redeemed from among men, being first-fruits to God and to the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no deceit, for they are without fault before the throne of God” (Rev. 14:4-5 NKJV).
In commemorating these Holy Innocents, we are strengthened in our faith that our goal goes beyond this present life. We are made for something more, which is to see God and live in intimacy with him forever, first in heaven after death, then on the new earth (Isa. 65:17; 2 Pet. 3:13) with our risen bodies when Christ returns again to the earth in his glory with all his holy ones. Then we shall shine like the sun in the kingdom of our Father (Matt. 13:43). The Holy Innocents escaped from the sufferings of this world in a very short time and were thus among the first to enter into heaven, opened by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. They were “as first fruits for God and the Lamb” (Rev. 14:4).
As virgins, they are also the first fruits of Christian virgins and celibates,
consecrated to God and to the Lamb as to their only spouse with a completely undivided heart (2 Cor. 11:2; 1 Cor. 7:32-34). They are the first fruits of those “who follow the Lamb wherever he goes” (Rev. 14:4). They are, therefore, the first fruits not only of martyrs but also of Christian virgins and celibates, who are consecrated to God with all their heart, without any division whatsoever, not even for a human spouse. These are those who renounce marriage and family to follow the Lamb wherever he goes with all their time—full-time. They are therefore the first fruits of the religious life, the consecrated life. They are pure. They “have not defiled themselves with women” in fornication (Rev. 14:4). They live only for God and his kingdom. They represent for us the ideal of the monastic, religious, celibate, priestly life.
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