The Long And Brightening Line

Fourth Day within the Octave of Christmas

Feast of the Holy Innocents, Martyrs

They will walk with me dressed in white garments, says the Lord, 
because they are worthy.         
                                                     Lauds



Celebrating the feast of the Holy Innocents, martyrs: the unimportant, disposable, unnecessary of man's history. The slaughter of babies back in Bethlehem and now in abortion clinics.  In God’s eyes we are all full of dignity and shared divinity in His life.  That any suffering for Him, or dying for Him, should go unnoticed or for nothing; the incalculable value of being, even all the unborn who die for convenience's sake. The long and brightening line of martyrs lighting the footfalls of Christ our Lord, here on earth and in heaven.

How inadequate our rationale.  His thoughts are not our thoughts.  God, our Father, loving all into being, creating dignity in each, counting the myriad sparrows of the air.  How much more can He give than to die for us who slaughter, in countless ways, the innocents, in the name of power, in the name of love.