The turn of the century in 2000 was obviously a milestone for many people. I remember serving as President of the Chicago Veterinary Medical Association during that year. We had the Y2K fears. And the excitement of being alive when the New Year saw four brand new digits as the ball fell at Times Square in New York City. But the year 2000 held a not so exciting aspect for me and my family. My older brother, Joe, and his family visited Elise and I in Chicago that year to celebrate the New Year. A few months later a got a call from my younger brother, Paul, that Joe had suffered a massive brain aneurysm and was in the hospital in Manhattan. In the brain trauma ward. He was in a coma. I immediately flew out to be with my family as we struggled to make sense of what had happened and aid in whatever decisions needed to be made. I took on the job of keeping the extended family updated on what was happening. The prospect of losing my older brother at 48 years of age was surreal. After a couple months, and a few surgeries, Joseph came out of the coma and went into a neurological rehab hospital in New Jersey. He initially improved but after 2-3 years of life as, basically, a 5 year old, he began to slip further, began having seizures and was transferred into a nursing home. His wife decided it was best for her to divorce him. He hung on with my Mom caring for him at the nursing home until his passing in 2011. It was an event that has repercussions for our family still to this day.
Today’s Gospel recounts the story of the martyring of the Holy Innocents. Once King Herod became aware of the birth of Jesus, and the prospect of Jesus assuming his role as King, he began to make plans to have him killed. Just as he had murdered any other threat to his throne. Including his wife and children. He made the decision to have killed any male child less than 2 years of age born in Bethlehem. Reminiscent of Pharaoh’s murdering of first born male Israelite children in Egypt. We all know the story of how God told Joseph in a dream to take Mary and Jesus to Egypt to escape the slaughter. He succeeds in getting the Holy Family to safety but not in preventing the death of innocent children. I recently watched the Netflix movie “Mary”. I would give it mixed reviews but the one interesting liberty taken was having Mary’s Father, Joachim, murdered by soldiers as he tried to keep them at bay from finding his daughter, son-in-law and grandson. Another innocent death.
While we can admire Joseph’s courage in saving his family, and giving us our Savior, we also have to feel sorrow for the loss of life surrounding Jesus’ birth. Some would ask that, if God gave Joseph a warning in a dream, why not send a dream to the parent’s of the children murdered by Herod’s troops? And why did God “take” my brother?
Rabbi Harold Kushner lost his 14 year old son to a disease called progeria. A condition that leads to rapid aging. As a response to the loss, Rabbi Kushner did some soul searching to find meaning in his son’s death and explore the very question posed concerning the loss of the Holy Innocents. Why does a good, all powerful, God allow the death of innocent beings? And the result of this meditation, Kushner authored the book, “When Bad Things Happen to Good People” In the end he concluded that God did not cause these bad things to happen. That events causing tragedy were either random or the result of evil acts of evil persons. And with this view in mind, instead of blaming God, we take to seeking God for guidance and comfort. We pray not to change God but to bring us to a closer understanding of Him and to bring us to community with each other. After all, while Jesus rose Lazarus from the dead, he still died. As did the blind, lame and individuals with leprosy he cured. Jesus never said that he came in order to rid the world of evil. But He did come for us to rid the evil in our own hearts…if we just are open to receive Him.
That said, it does seem that God intervenes at times in the lives of some. As He did with warning the Holy Family to flee. As I think He does through His guardian angels. I can think of several times in my life where I was sure that an outside force steered me out of certain danger. So, it appears that God has circumstances where His plan for an individual warrants their protection. And it is in these circumstances that I think we cannot question God’s motives. Because we do not know the mind of God. Job learned this when the Lord caused so much havoc in his life. Job critiques God’s methods and wisdom. God responds in a variety of ways showing Job that he is incapable of understanding the reasons for His actions. He famously asks Job “if he is able to pull in Leviathan with a fishing pole, or take it home as a pet” (Job 41:1-7 Job is not the creator of the universe and cannot know God’s motives for action.
And such it is with us when we face tragedy in our lives. We turn to God for support, for comfort and to lead us out of the depths of our sorrow. To bring us community. But, ultimately, we cannot fully understand the course He has plotted for us. The Holy Innocents. My brother. Those who died when the tower of Siloam fell on them. Victims of school shootings. Lives taken by drunk drivers. The millions of aborted children. The fact is that all who die an untimely death have one individual with whom they share a similar fate. God’s only Son. Allowed to die on a tree on Calvary 2,000 years ago. But resurrected by God to re-enter the garden. The final destination for those who follow Him.
