Innocent, the children were killed for the sake of Christ, they follow the Lamb without blemish and sing without ceasing: Glory to you, Lord!

First Reading: 1 John 1:5-2:2 Reading of the first letter of Saint John – Dear friends, 5th message that we heard from Jesus Christ and announce to you is this: God is light, and in him there is no darkness. 6If we say we are in communion with him, but we walk in darkness, we are lying and are not guided by the truth. 7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, then we are in communion with one another, and the blood of his Son, Jesus, cleanses us from all sin. 8If we say we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not within us. 9If we recognize our sins, then God shows Himself faithful and just, to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all guilt. 10If we say that we have never sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not within us. 2,1My little children, I write this so that you will not sin. However, if anyone sins, we have a defender with the Father: Jesus Christ, the righteous. 2He is the victim of atonement for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for the sins of the whole world. - Word of the Lord. Responsorial Psalm: 123(124) Our soul, like a bird, escaped / from the trap that the hunter had set for it. 1. If the Lord had not been by our side / when men attacked us, / they would certainly have devoured us / in the fury of their anger against us. – R. 2. Then the waters would have submerged us, / the current would have dragged us / and then, over us / these ever more impetuous waters would have passed. – R. 3. The bond suddenly broke, / and so we were able to free ourselves. / Our help is in the name of the Lord, / of the Lord who made heaven and made the earth! – R. Gospel: Matthew 2,13-18 Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. To you, O God, we praise, to you, Lord, we sing; / the army of your holy martyrs praises you! – R. Proclamation of the holy Gospel according to Matthew – 13After the wise men left, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said to him: “Get up, take the boy and his mother and flee to Egypt! Stay there until I tell you! Because Herod is going to look for the boy to kill him.” 14Joseph got up at night, took the boy and his mother, and left for Egypt. 15He remained there until the death of Herod, to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “I called my son out of Egypt.” 16When Herod realized that the magicians had deceived him, he became very angry. He ordered the killing of all the boys in Bethlehem and the entire neighboring territory from two years old and under, exactly according to the time indicated by the magicians. 17Then what was said by the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: 18“A cry was heard in Ramah, weeping and great lamentation: it is Rachel who mourns her children and does not want to be comforted, because they are no more.” – Word of salvation. Reflection: All Eastern liturgical calendars include this feast. In Rome, it appears in the 5th century. Victims of the cruelty of Herod the father, many children are massacred, for fear of a newborn about whom the magicians had spoken. Herod the son later orders the head of John the Baptist to be cut off, and finally mocks the innocent Jesus, who suffers. Herod-grandson orders James to beheaded and Peter imprisoned. Thus, from his birth, Jesus encounters total opposition, which will extend to his faithful followers. These are the little ones with whom Jesus identifies and who are part of his Kingdom. They have guaranteed salvation. In this sense, the entrance antiphon presents them as bearers of comfort and hope: “Innocent children were killed for the sake of Christ; they follow the Lamb without blemish, and sing: Glory to you, Lord!”

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