THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH

Her Doctrine and Morals

The Holy Innocents

28 December 2025

[Image]

The Sunday

Sermon

Click the button on the right to be told about updates. Your address will be kept strictly private.

Dear Friends in Christ,

Today we honor the innocent children who died at the hands of evil men in the pursuit of taking away the Life of the Infant Jesus. While our hearts ache with the parents of these little boys, we are consoled by their current happiness with Jesus in Heaven. They were the first to be found worthy to offer their lives as martyrs for Jesus.

This atrocious act was done through the malice of men, but God drew even greater good from it. A worldly king feared an innocent defenseless child. God respected the free will of Herod. Even though his intention was evil, God drew a greater good from it. The Son of God was safe and sound until it was God's time for the Sacrifice that would redeem humankind. The evil that was perpetrated against the neighboring families was blessed by God with infant saints in Heaven.

These are difficult truths for us to understand but we must strive to see the Hand of God and His ability to draw greater good from every evil or sin. Our Holy Mother the Church recognizes this in today's Mass. When this day falls on a Sunday the Mass color is red and we celebrate the infant martyrs in Heaven with the Gloria. When this day falls on any other day, the Mass color is violet; there is no Gloria or joy, and we enter into a penitential and mournful atmosphere.

These children suffered the ultimate sacrifice of their lives. The parents of these children also suffered great sacrifice in the loss of their children. Though these sacrifices were filled with great pain and sorrow in the beginning, after time and reflection, calmness and peace enter as we reflect upon their reward in Heaven. The example of these Holy Innocents should inspire and encourage us.

We need not fear the sacrifices that God asks of us or that the world imposes upon us. We can turn everything to our benefit when we cooperate with God as He makes greater good come from every evil. Jesus has given His life for us not only to redeem us but to give us an example to follow. Our greatest glory in Heaven will be the greatest sacrifices and offerings that we have made to God while we are here on earth.

While we can mourn and empathize with those who have lost their children in this evil massacre, we can also rejoice with these saints now in Heaven. Our Holy Mother the Church brings these thoughts and sentiments before us today not simply to entertain us, but more importantly to instruct us and to give us examples to follow in our own lives.

Very often our crosses seem unbearable, and this is true when we try to bear them alone or on our own shoulders. However, the moment we embrace them for the love of Jesus, He assists us and our burdens become light and filled with sweetness and joy.

We need to excite within ourselves that faith every day, but especially when we appear to be facing impossible challenges. There is no evil so great that God cannot bring forth greater good from it. There is nothing that is happening to us that God is not aware of. He has either willed for this to happen or He has permitted it to happen because He respects the free wills of all of His human creatures. In all cases, it is an opportunity for us to advance in grace and virtue. These evils become sources of great blessings to us.

It is because of evils that we are able to practice many of the virtues and therefore make greater spiritual progress. Without these crosses we would become spiritually stagnated or worse, we would spiritually decline. The crosses and required sacrifices become in this spirit great aids and blessings to us. No matter how great the evil may be, we never need to despair. The greatest darkness is just before the light. The greatest blessings spring forth from the greatest crosses.

It is not enough simply to have suffered, because everything strongly depends on our dispositions. A cross that is hated and fought against and even refused by our free wills will offer us little if any positive benefit. On the contrary, we will often have to suffer this cross and worse as we spiritually dig ourselves deeper and deeper into even eternal physical and spiritual suffering.

When we feel or see our daily cross before us, we may feel the pain and cry out with our prayers and petitions, but we must also lead our hearts and minds to accept this cross for the love of God. And though we may not currently see any good that can possible come from this, Faith assures us that everything brings forth greater good for those who love God. Rather than turn away from God, or beg Him to take away our crosses, may we embrace our crosses and beg of God the grace to carry them worthily.

May the Immaculate Heart of Mary inspire, guide, and protect us!