"Beads of Joy" by RosaryManJim: Respond

BEADS OF JOY 12-28-18

“Respond – Those Suffering”

My Friends,

Today’s Gospel: Matthew 2:13-18 (Flight To Egypt)

“Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there till I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him." And he rose and took the child and his mother by night, and departed to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, "Out of Egypt have I called my son." Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, was in a furious rage, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time which he had ascertained from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by 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 were no more."

Reflection:
Suffering can be a tough topic; how can we RESPOND? Today’s gospel brings us to an event where all male children two years and under were massacred. I admit I have such a hard time with this topic; it gets me so emotionally enraged, how do you RESPOND? Today's gospel begins with Joseph having the angel of the Lord telling him to flee to Egypt, because Herod was looking for the child to kill Him. And then when Herod couldn't find him, he had all the boys two years and younger in Bethlehem and the surrounding area killed, in the hopes that one of them would be Jesus. This story is reminiscent to when Pharaoh had all the Hebrew males killed, "Pharaoh then commanded all his subjects; "Throw into the river every boy that is born to the Hebrews, but you may let the girls live." Exodus 1:22.

Both of these mass killings of the innocent are a kind of genocide. In the past in history; whenever a certain group of people were no longer wanted or desired by the existing power in charge; in certain situations, they did all they can to try to terminate the unwanted. This type of genocide exists today. We must continue to pray for the murderers and all those countless millions of innocent babies who are killed.

When it comes to discussing this, I have no compromise for the murderers, in my decision about this. No child of God, no life, no baby deserves death. The innocent who is (prior to its birth) safely growing in its mother’s womb, basically gets executed. That is so sad. To me if anyone is promoting or agreeing that abortion is OK; they are either ignorant to the reality of it being a murder, or they themselves must be embracing the slaughter of the innocent. I cannot see this being any sort of a compromise when it comes to killing the innocent. I don't mean to offend anyone, but like I said in the beginning of all this, I have a very hard time with this topic. Because we must note that in the end, there is a dead innocent child.

See what I mean when it comes to this, it bothers me straight to the core of my heart. I feel like my heart is being ripped out of my body every time I hear people talking about this, like they are having a pimple removed. Just knowing that so many millions of innocent unborn babies around the world are being ripped apart inside their mother’s womb, only to be discarded into the garbage just drives me crazy. I digress. Unfortunately, many people in this world don't believe an unborn baby has any rights or is even a soul, how very sad. How do you RESPOND to today’s gospel? We must keep praying for those people involved. They can't be doctors, to the best of my knowledge, doctors heal; they don't kill. I know we must hate the sin of murder, not those doing or participating in them. Are we aware of the kind of Joy that can be found, when we fully surrender with faith and trust to God? Today’s topic was difficult indeed, so much to think about and pray about.

Dec 28 - Holy Innocents, Martyrs

Developing a Clear Vision in Life

w/ Fr. Mike Schmitz

(Insightful, very helpful.)

LOVE YOU GUYS !!!!

Your brother in Christ Jesus
And His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr OFS

Today is Friday: We pray the Sorrowful Mysteries:

The Sorrowful Mysteries

1^.Agony on the Garden (Sorrow for sin) –Matt 26:36-46
2^.Scourging at the Pillar (Purity) –Mark 15:1-16
3^.Crowning with Thorns (Moral Courage) –Matt 27:27-31
4^.Carrying of the Cross (Patience) –Mark 15:20-22
5^.The Crucifixion (Perseverance) –Luke 23:33-46

Thank you Lord for loving us so much…