Rachel weeping for her children, and she would not be consoled
1 Jn 1,5; 2,2; Ps 123,2-5.7-8; Mt 2,13-18.
28 DECEMBER
The prophecy of Jeremiah is a word of consolation. Rachel, a figure, image and symbol of Jerusalem, cries because her children have been led into exile. The Lord replies that his children will be restored to her, they will be brought back within its walls. The God of Israel is the Creator of true hope. Crying is transformed by Him into great joy.
At that time, says the Lord, I will be the God of all the tribes of Israel, and they shall be my people. Thus says the Lord: The people that escaped the sword have found favour in the desert. As Israel comes forward to be given his rest, the Lord appears to him from afar: With age-old love I have loved you; so I have kept my mercy toward you. Again I will restore you, and you shall be rebuilt, O virgin Israel; Carrying your festive tambourines, you shall go forth dancing with the merrymakers. Again you shall plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria; those who plant them shall enjoy the fruits. Yes, a day will come when the watchmen will call out on Mount Ephraim: “Rise up, let us go to Zion, to the Lord, our God.”
For thus says the Lord: Shout with joy for Jacob, exult at the head of the nations; proclaim your praise and say: The Lord has delivered his people, the remnant of Israel. Behold, I will bring them back from the land of the north; I will gather them from the ends of the world, with the blind and the lame in their midst, The mothers and those with child; they shall return as an immense throng. They departed in tears, but I will console them and guide them; I will lead them to brooks of water, on a level road, so that none shall stumble. For I am a father to Israel, Ephraim is my first-born. Hear the word of the Lord, O nations, proclaim it on distant coasts, and say: He who scattered Israel, now gathers them together, he guards them as a shepherd his flock. The Lord shall ransom Jacob, he shall redeem him from the hand of his conqueror. Shouting, they shall mount the heights of Zion, they shall come streaming to the Lord’s blessings: The grain, the wine, and the oil, the sheep and the oxen; They themselves shall be like watered gardens, never again shall they languish. Then the virgins shall make merry and dance, and young men and old as well. I will turn their mourning into joy, I will console and gladden them after their sorrows. I will lavish choice portions upon the priests, and my people shall be filled with my blessings, says the Lord.
Thus says the Lord: In Ramah is heard the sound of moaning, of bitter weeping! Rachel mourns her children, she refuses to be consoled because her children are no more. Thus says the Lord: Cease your cries of mourning, wipe the tears from your eyes. The sorrow you have shown shall have its reward, says the Lord, they shall return from the enemy’s land. There is hope for your future, says the Lord; your sons shall return to their own borders. I hear, I hear Ephraim pleading: You chastised me, and I am chastened; I was an untamed calf. If you allow me, I will return, for you are the Lord, my God. I turn in repentance; I have come to myself, I strike my breast; I blush with shame, I bear the disgrace of my youth (Jer 31,1-19).
The children of Bethlehem were removed with cruelty and ferocity from their mothers. Consolation must be found only in the God of Israel. He will give them the glory of martyrdom and the palm of eternal victory. Their mothers will have them shining with divine light. They will be enveloped by the glory of the resurrection of Jesus. Martyrdom for Him is life.
When they had departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you. Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him.” Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed for Egypt. He stayed there until the death of Herod, that what the Lord had said through the prophet might be fulfilled, “Out of Egypt I called my son.” When Herod realized that he had been deceived by the magi, he became furious. He ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had ascertained from the magi. Then was fulfilled what had been said through Jeremiah the prophet: “A voice was heard in Ramah, sobbing and loud lamentation; Rachel weeping for her children, and she would not be consoled, since they were no more.”
Whoever believes in the God of true hope does not fear in the face of every cruelty of man towards man. God will always transform every death inflicted by man’s iniquity because of his own righteousness into eternal life. Without this hope, it is the death of the spirit.
Mother of God, Angels and Saints ensure that man’s wickedness never poisons our soul.