Rachel Weeping for Her Children

Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.’ Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfil what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, ‘Out of Egypt I have called my son.’

When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah:
‘A voice was heard in Ramah,
   wailing and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
   she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.’

When Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child’s life are dead.’ Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And after being warned in a dream, he went away to the district of Galilee. There he made his home in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, ‘He will be called a Nazorean.’ Matthew 2:13-23

There was so much remembrance of 9/11, the loss of life, the horrible aftermath and so much life lost. Yet here we are, eighteen years on, children dying in our schools and less kind and caring than we once were. Our anger has gotten the better of us and we abuse the innocent, the land and our waters. There are many Rachels crying for the children. Our greed and angry selfishness has brought us to dangerous times.

Jesus is the innocent child, the delight of his parents, who were excited about returning home. Instead, they had to become refugees, aliens in a foreign land for his safety. A parent's dreams and wise actions kept the child from being another statistic. Yet it also made him an asylum seeker in a strange land among people who did not want him. We are invited today to remember all those who are strangers in our midst and to make them welcome. God calls us to move from selfishness to compassion for the love of the world.

Today, I ask God to help me hear the cries of those who suffer. May we all respond with loving, wise actions to protect the strangers and the vulnerable among us.