Reeling until now from Sacred Scripture’s account of the “greatest story ever told”, we still find ourselves locked in wonder about the babe who is the savior of all but was born in a dingy animals’ stable. The readings at Mass some days past following the birth of Jesus still continue to linger and captivate us. Clearly, we may have felt completely justified in our faith because the promised Messiah has indeed come. Applause…applause! Heaven’s gate has opened!
But just like in the breath-taking comic serial “The Adventures of Superman” or in the intriguing daily television soap opera “Falcon Crest,” Christ’s birth is just like the beginning of a never-ending tale of adventures that see the forces of good and evil endlessly outdo each other until goodness triumphs forever.
One post-Nativity biblical account to note is the Flight to Egypt. At a glance, its story is anti-climactic to the theme of Christmas but its significance reveals the essence of Christ’s birth — salvation. Historically, God appeared to Joseph in a dream and instructed him to take the Baby Jesus and Mary to Egypt until the death of King Herod. Reason: Herod would kill the baby Jesus. Herod thus ordered the slaughter of all young boys aged two years and below in Galilee. Sordid is Rachel’s disconsolate wailing because she had lost her two sons in Ramah. The Feast of the Holy Innocents becomes a sore misfit in the slew of joyful liturgical readings in the season of Jesus’ birth. It’s a sad and infuriating crime story.
Oh what a grave crime indeed to commit is to hurt harmless, defenseless and innocent children! Spurned by jealousy and a self-absorbed fear, Herod used his empty power to destroy whom he had perceived to be his chief adversary. In our times now, we become distraught about news of children at the crossroads of war. We became disheartened upon seeing the bruised faces of frightened little ones in the war-ravaged Middle East and Africa. Seeing them as victims of human folly and frailty is unbearable. Young lives lost and wasted!
Here at home, we endured gazing at the looks of hapless children in Marawi splashed on the papers, shown on television and loaded in the Internet. Such a war was the culprit of ruinous emotional, physical, and psychological consequences. Ditto with the government’s war on illegal drugs. Furthermore is the glaring social malady of corruption. All these cause the disintegration of the human person, rendering ill effects on his or her immediate social circle, especially the family.
Whatever, whichever, the worst fatalities of wars and consequences of social chaos and corruption are always children. They either get directly hit by bombs and bullets or lose their parents in the cruel rough-and-tumble of human savagery. Most pitiful is that they could not carry their own cudgels. They cannot defend themselves alone. Their lives hang on the balance amidst the swirling stench of death. They are all left completely to the Mercy of God. Hesed.
It is also worthy to note that children are the life of a family. It is always the children who are the rallying point of concern and inspiration, the fount of hope and happiness. When anything happens to the little ones in a family, everyone else gets stirred. Elders are vulnerable to children. It is in this vein that God illumines His might on these little ones. The Mighty One comes to them. It is in their weakness that God’s grace and glory gush forth abundantly.
Thus the theme of the Campus Ministry Office’s lantern for this year’s Lantern Parade. It depicts the story of The Flight to Egypt. God has called His Son that he may not fall prey to the wiles of selfish human freedom. This highlights the love of God for the Baby Jesus and his mother, Mary. He entrusted His care to Joseph. God so loves His child, as the only begotten Son and the Holy Family as His church on earth that has given them His grace of salvation.
In the crucible of danger and death, God will always save His Child and His Church. He, the Mighty One, will do justice against those who persecute them. In the quagmire of our harried lives at present, when living becomes physically, emotionally, and morally daunting, God will always call us to take refuge under the mantle of His loving protection because we are His children, His Church. This is the lantern’s message.
Nothing is more precious and sacred in the season of giving than when a child of God and his family receives God’s gift of togetherness, protection and salvation.
