This week is not based on a sermon but on an essay on current events and how difficult it can be to accurately address the present issues.
The text reflects on the Feast of the Holy Innocents as a necessary disruption of comforting Christmas images, insisting that the Incarnation involves vulnerability, violence, and grief rather than just a soft-focus nativity.
Using the example of a new Lay Reader preaching on this challenging topic, it explores the moral courage required to address themes of terror, injustice, and the genocide of children in a way that avoids antisemitism while honestly engaging the historical and political context of the biblical narrative.
Drawing on scholarship (especially Daniel Harrington SJ), it presents Matthew’s Gospel as a deeply Jewish text whose harsh polemic has sometimes fuelled anti-Jewish readings, yet also holds strong potential for reconciliation and Christian–Jewish dialogue when read historically and theologically. The reflection urges careful, responsible interpretation, awareness of the reader’s experience, and vigilance against the risk of misusing Scripture.
It proposes concrete pastoral responses—prayer, outreach, education, and interfaith dialogue—to foster lament, solidarity, and moral vigilance. In closing, it challenges the community to resist Pilate-like detachment, remain with the complex story of the Holy Innocents, confront contemporary antisemitism and suffering, and choose uncomfortable truth over sentimental comfort as a path toward healing and genuine understanding.
Breaking Open 