December 28 

Feast: Holy Innocents, Martyrs

1st Reading: 1 John 1:5-2:2

God Is Light
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[5] This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you,
that God is light and in him is no darkness at all.

Walking in the Light. Rejecting Sin
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[6] If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness,
we lie and do not live according to the truth; [7] but if we walk in the
light,as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and
the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. [8] If we say we
have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. [9] If
we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins
and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. [10] If we say we have not
sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

[1] My little children, I am writing this to you so that you may not
sin; but if any one does sin, we have an advocate with the Father,
Jesus Christ the righteous; [2] and he is the expiation for our sins,
and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

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Commentary:

1:5-2:29. This section describes what communion with God is, and
the demands it makes on us. We can say there are two parts in the
section: the first (1:5-2:11) teaches that communion with God means
walking in the light and, therefore, rejecting sin and keeping the com-
mandments. The second (2:12-19) warns the readers to guard against
worldly concupiscence and not trust false teachers.

St John is writing as a pastor of souls who has lived the life of the
Lord and reflected deeply upon it. His teaching interweaves truths of
faith with moral and ascetical demands because he wants Christians
to live in a way consistent with their faith. Therefore, the text does
not really divide into a doctrinal section and a moral section.

5. "God is light": the imagery of light/darkness was much employed in
ancient times--sometimes to promote the notion that the world had two
principles, one good and the other evil. In St John the image clearly
has a different meaning, one connected with biblical teaching on light.
When God reveals himself to men, in one way or another light usually
plays a part: examples range from the burning bush (cf. Ex 3:1ff) to
the coming of the Holy Spirit in the form of tongues of fire (cf. Acts
2:1ff). This imagery is used to show God's sublimity--as we find also
in St Paul: "the Lord of Lords,...who dwells in unapproachable light,
whom no man has ever seen or can see" (1 Tim 6:15-16).

The image of light also helps to show what revelation involves: God has
made himself known to us, enlightening our hearts (cf. 2 Cor 4:6). Thus,
we can say that God is light, Jesus Christ has made him known to us,
and Christian revelation is the splendor of that light. In St John's Gos-
pel the idea of Christ as the light which enlightens the world occurs
very often (cf., e.g., Jn 1:4, 9; 8:12; 9:5). St Thomas Aquinas explains,
in this connection, that philosophers prior to Christ had a certain light
which allowed them to attain some knowledge of God through reason;
the people of Israel had much more light, through divine revelation in
the Old Testament; angels and saints, because they have greater
knowledge of God by virtue of grace have divine light to a special de-
gree; but only the Word of God is the true light, because he is by his
very essence the light which enlightens (cf. "Commentary on St John",
1, 9).

The expression "God is light" has also a moral dimension: in God
there is no darkness because there is no sin; he is sovereign good
and all perfection. The light/darkness imagery, therefore, helps to un-
derline the gravity of sin: "the light has come into the world, and men
loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil" (Jn
3:19). Those who lead a holy life are called children of light (Jn
12:36; Lk 16:8; Eph 5:8; 1 Thess 5:5); whereas those who do evil
live in darkness (1 Thess 5:4), which is the symbol of sin (Lk 22:53).

St John uses the statement that "God is light" to encourage Christians
to live in an upright way; as does St Augustine, who comments that we
must be united to God and "darkness should be cast away from us so
as to allow light to enter, because darkness is incompatible with light"
("In Epist. Joann. ad Parthos", 1, 5).

6-10. The clause "if we say" introduces three suppositions--very proba-
bly claims made by some early heretics, especially Gnostics (who
boasted of having attained fullness of knowledge and thought they were
incapable of sinning).

St John is using the literary technique of parallelism, much employed
by Semitic writers: the first sentence states an idea which is repeated
and filled out in the later ones. Here, the first statement ("we lie") is
later extended to "we deceive ourselves" (v. 8)..., and then to "we make
him [God] a liar" (v. 10). This literary device shows that the author of
the letter was familiar with this style of writing, very common in the
Old Testament.

6-7. Walking in darkness/walking in the light--a graphic description
of sinful conduct and upright conduct. St John insists that one cannot
justify a life of sin by claiming to have communion with God: "mere con-
fession of faith is in no sense sufficient", St Bede declares, "if that faith
is not confirmed by good works" ("In I Epist. S. Ioannis, ad loc.").

"Fellowship with one another": If there were an exact parallelism be-
tween the parts of the passage, we would expect it to read "fellowship
with him", which is how some Fathers read it. If the text reads different-
ly, it is because mutual communion, the fellowship with the Church to
which St John is referring, is a pledge and sign of fellowship with God:
"the Church, in Christ, is in the nature of a sacrament--a sign and ins-
trument, that is, of communion with God and of unity among all men"
(Vatican II, "Lumen Gentium", 1).

"The blood of his Son Jesus cleanses us from all sin": this idea is
often found in the Book of Revelation when it says that the blood
of Christ sets us free (cf. Rev 1:5), cleanses souls and makes them
white (cf. Rev 7:14), ransoms them for God (cf. Rev 5:9) and defeats
the enemies of salvation (cf. Rev 12:11). It is made quite clear that the
blood of Christ purifies all types of sin, past and present, mortal and
venial. (On the blood of Christ as atonement for all sins, see the
notes on Heb 9:12, 14.)

8. "If we say we have no sin": the Old Testament often says that all
men are sinners (cf. 7:70; Job 9:2; 14:4; 15:14; 25:4; Prov 20:9; Ps
14:1-4; 51; etc.) and this is also clear from the New Testament (cf.
especially Rom 3:10-18). The Council of Trent condemns anyone
who says "that a man once justified cannot sin again and cannot
lose grace" ("De Iustificatione", can. 23).

Loss of the sense of sin is a danger that threatens man in all epochs.
The Apostle's warning (to his contemporaries in the first instance) has
particular relevance in our own time." "Deceived by the loss of the
sense of sin," John Paul II reminds us, "and at times by an illusion of
sinlessness which is not at all Christian, the people of today also need
to listen again to St John's admonition, as addressed to each one of
them personally: 'If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and
the truth is not in us', and indeed 'the whole world is in the power of the
evil one' (1 Jn 5:19). Every individual therefore is invited by the voice of
divine truth to examine realistically his or her conscience, and to con-
fess that he or she has been brought forth in iniquity, as we say in the
"Miserere" Psalm (cf. Ps 51:7)" ("Reconciliatio Et Paenitentia", 22).

9-10. "If we confess our sins": the Council of Trent quotes this text
(without intending to define its exact meaning) when it teaches that
confession of sins is of divine institution: 'The Catholic Church has
always understood that integral confession of sins was also instituted
by the Lord (Jas 5:16; 1 Jn 1:9; Lk 17:14) and is by divine law neces-
sary for all falls after Baptism" ("De Sacramento Paenitentia", chap.
5).

The sacred writer puts emphasis on the interior disposition of the
Christian: he should humbly admit that he is a sinner; and St Augus-
tine explains: "If you confess yourself to be a sinner, the truth is in you:
the truth is light. Your life does not yet shine as brightly as it might,
because there are sins in you; but now you are beginning to be enligh-
tened, be- cause you confess your iniquities" ("In Epist. Joann. Ad
Parthos", 1, 6).

"Faithful and just": a translation of two Hebrew words which literally
have to do with love and faithfulness. The Old Testament uses this
expression to stress that God's faithful love is always ready to
forgive.

1-2. In order to make sure that no one makes a wrong appeal to divine
mercy so as to justify their continuing to sin, St John exhorts all to
avoid sin. It is one thing to acknowledge that we are sinners and to be
conscious of our frailty; it is a very different matter to become complete-
ly passive or pessimistic, as if it were not possible to avoid offending
God. "Jesus understands our weakness and draws us to himself on
an inclined plane," Monsignor Escriva explains. "He wants us to make
an effort to climb a little each day. He seeks us out, just as he did the
disciples of Emmaus, whom he went out to meet. He sought Thomas,
showed himself to him and made him touch with his fingers the open
wounds in his hands and side. Jesus Christ is always waiting for us to
return to him; he knows our weakness" ("Christ Is Passing By", 75).

"My little children": it is difficult to translate this and other similar ex-
pressions in St John, charged as they are with tenderness and a
sense of pastoral responsibility. They express a deep, strong love,
like that of Jesus at the Last Supper (cf. Jn 13:33). This same Greek
term appears six more times in this letter (2:12, 28; 3:7, 18; 4:4; 5:
21); at other times he uses words equivalent to our "my little ones"
(cf. 2:14, 18) or "dearly beloved" (2:7; 3:2, 21; 4:1, 7, 11; 3 Jn 2,
5, 11). All these expressions reflect how very close St John was to
the faithful.

"We have an advocate with the Father": Jesus Christ, who is the only
Mediator (cf. 1 Tim 2:5), intercedes for us. He, who has died for our
sins (he is "the expiation"), presents his infinite merits to God the
Father, by virtue of which the Father pardons us always. The Holy
Spirit is also called Paraclete or Advocate insofar as he accompanies,
consoles and guides each Christian, and the whole Church, on its
earthly pilgrimage (cf. note on Jn 14:16-17).

"St John the Apostle exhorts us to avoid sin", St Alphonsus says,
"but because he is afraid we will lose heart when we remember our
past faults, he encourages us to hope for forgiveness provided we are
firmly resolved not to fall again; he tells us that we have to put our af-
fairs in order with Christ, who died not only to forgive us but also (after
dying) to become our advocate with the heavenly father" ("Reflections
on the Passion", Chap. 9, 2).

Gospel Reading: Matthew 2:13-18

The Flight Into Egypt
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[13] Now when they (the Magi) had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord
appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Rise, take the Child and His mother,
and flee to Egypt, and remain there till I tell you; for Herod is about to search
for the Child, to destroy Him." [14] And he rose and took the Child and His
mother by night, and departed to Egypt, [15]and remained there until the death
of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, "Out of
Egypt have I called My Son."

The Massacre of the Innocents
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[16] 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 child- ren 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. [17] Then was fulfilled what was spoken
by the prophet Jeremiah: [18] "A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud
lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled,
because they were no more."

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Commentary:

14. St. John Chrysostom, commenting on this passage, draws a particular
attention to Joseph's faithfulness and obedience: "On hearing this, Joseph was
not scandalized, nor did he say, `This is hard to understand. You yourself told
me not long ago that He would save His people, and not He is not able to save
even Himself. Indeed, we have to flee and undertake a journey and be away for
a long time...'. But he does not say any of these things, because Joseph is a
faithful man. Neither does he ask when they will be coming back, even though
the angel had left it open when he said `and remain there till I tell you.' This
does not hold him back: on the contrary, he obeys, believes and endures all
trials with joy" ("Hom. on St. Matthew", 8).

It is worth noting also how God's way of dealing with His chosen ones contains
light and shade: they have to put up with intense sufferings side by side with
great joy: "It can be clearly seen that God, who is full of love for man, mixes
pleasant things with unpleasant ones, as He did with all the Saints. He gives
us neither dangers nor consolations in a continual way, but rather He makes
the lives of the just a mixture of both. This was what He did with Joseph"
("ibid".).

15. The text of Hosea 11:1 speaks of a child who comes out of Egypt and is a
son of God. This refers in the first place to the people of Israel whom God
brought out of Egypt under Moses' leadership. But this event was a symbol or
prefiguration of Jesus, the Head of the Church, the New People of God. It is in
Him that this prophecy is principally fulfilled. The sacred text gives a quotation
from the Old Testament in the light of its fulfillment in Jesus Christ. The Old
Testament achieves its full meaning in Christ, and, in the words of St. Paul, to
read it without keeping in mind Jesus is to have one's face covered by a veil (cf.
2 Corinthians 3:12-18).

18. Ramah was the city in which Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, concentrated
the Israelites he had taken prisoner. Since Ramah was in the land of Benjamin,
Jeremiah puts this lament for the children of Israel in the mouth of Rachel, the
mother of Benjamin and Joseph. So great was the misfortune of those exiled to
Babylon that Jeremiah says poetically that Rachel's sorrow is too great to allow
for consolation.

"Rachel was buried in the race course near Bethlehem. Since her grave was
nearby and the property belonged to her son, Benjamin (Rachel was of the tribe
of Benjamin), the children beheaded in Bethlehem could reasonably be called
Rachel's children" (St John Chrysostom, "Hom. on t Matthew", 9).


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Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States. We encourage readers to purchase
The Navarre Bible for personal study. See Scepter Publishers for details.

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