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December 28, 2019My friend Daniel is five years old. He loves to hang out with his grandfather. They’re the best of friends. Every two weeks Daniel accompanies his grandfather to the barbershop and gets his hair styled just like his grandfather. One afternoon his grandfather was late picking Daniel up for their haircut. So Daniel waited on the curb outside his house. When his grandfather arrived, he apologized for being late and making Daniel worried that he had forgotten Daniel. Without missing a beat Daniel said, “I wasn’t worried grandpa because grandpa’s always keep their promises.” Our daily lives and our faith lives are built on promises.
In today’s Gospel, there are no jubilant shepherds, no sheep or oxen, no hosts of angels chanting, “Glory to God in the highest.” Instead, Matthew describes the harsh realities of Jesus’ world – a world to which we can relate. The sobbing and loud lament of Rachel thunders in the deserts and mountains, inner cities and suburbs of every nation today. The brutality and injustice that marked Herod’s tyrannical reign continue to hold many people captives of fear, oppression, and death. Yet, even in the midst of these situations we, like Matthew, trust in God’s power to filter through the violence and bring justice. With Matthew, we affirm that God, Immanuel, is with us and working through us to help bring about a more just and peaceful world. Today we join Mary and Joseph as we listen to what the Spirit of God is saying to us concerning the protection of the innocent: those fleeing from violence or struggling against oppressive governments. For we, with Mary and Joseph, trust that no one or nothing can defeat the fulfillment of God’s promises - for God is a promise keeper.
