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Feast of the Holy Innocents, Martyrs
1 John 1:5-2:2
Psalm 124:2-3, 4-5, 7CD-8
Matthew 2:13-18
Summary
The writer of 1 John explains that God is light, and to walk in God’s light is to
have fellowship with one another. When we turn from darkness, the blood of
Jesus cleanses us from all sin. But if we mislead ourselves into thinking that we
have no sin, then we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
Reflection
In September of this year, Pope Francis presided over Mass at Madison Square
Garden in NewYork City.The Pope’s trip to the United States was memorable –
he addressed a joint session of Congress, spoke at the United Nations, and
prayed at Ground Zero. At the Madison Square Garden event, the crowd was
entertained by musicians Jennifer Hudson, Harry Connick Jr., and Gloria
Estefan.
Jennifer Hudson sang a powerful rendition of “Hallelujah,” a popular song writ-
ten by Leonard Cohen. At first, this may seem like a peculiar choice for an audi-
ence which included the leader of the Roman Catholic Church. The song is not
especially uplifting. In the third verse, Jennifer Hudson sang:
Maybe there’s a God above
And all I’ve ever learned from love
Is how to shoot at someone who outdrew you.
And it's not a cry that you hear at night
It's not somebody who's seen the light
It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah.
Hallelujah means “God be Praised.” But
how can someone who has not “seen the
light” declare a Hallelujah? What is a cold
and broken Hallelujah, anyway?
During the Mass that followed the concert,
Pope Francis’ homily centered on the
theme of “The people who walked in dark-
ness have seen a great light,” (Isaiah 9:1).
This theme is similar to our reading for to-