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. The Church today honors the memory of the babies whom Herod put to death in his attempt to kill Jesus. It was a tragic beginning to the reign of peace that the birth of Jesus was meant to usher into the world. It also pointed to the kind of a world into which Jesus was being born: a world that was not ready and willing to accept him and his message of peace and non-violence; a world that saw no crime in killing the innocent, defenseless, and most vulnerable of its members. It was a world that definitely needed salvation. Ironically, it is this very Jesus and his message that holds the key to this much needed salvation of the world. And it is a key that can as well be learned from the murder of the innocent babies.
The murdered babies were vulnerable and had no way of defending themselves from people like Herod. They were yet to learn how to selfishly hold on to things and to the world. They had not even learned how to hold on to their dear lives. Because of their dependent and trusting nature, they had not yet arrived at the point of seeing others as competitors or as threats. In their unadulterated innocence, they still perceived in the other companionship and friendship. This was in total contrast to Herod who saw in the baby Jesus (and by extension the babies whose murder he ordered) nothing but threat to his throne. Herod represented what had become of the world that God had created. It was a far cry from the world in which God had marveled at the end of its creation. It was a world that had become a pale shadow of the world which God had intended to be a reflection of the beauty, harmony and interdependence found in the God-head. The world had been turned into a competition sphere where anyone who was different became viewed as a threat to one’s well-being and existence. This susceptibility to seeing the other as a threat is the malaise that ails the world and the darkness that has enveloped the world. This is the darkness to which St. John refers in today’s First reading. And as he further says, the only remedy for this ailment is taking the side of Jesus, that is, seeing Jesus not as a threat to be eliminated but rather as a friend who has come to give light to our way. Without Jesus by our side, St. John reiterates, we will always find ourselves stumbling since we will have no light to illumine our ways. 
While the babies killed by Herod were not yet able to profess their faith in Jesus and to take their stand by his side, they were nonetheless killed because of Jesus. They were killed as a rejection of everything that Jesus stands for. When we therefore make a stand that opposes the values of Jesus, we become co-conspirators with Herod. Any stance that we take that contradicts Jesus is a contribution in the continued murder of the innocent and most vulnerable members of the society. And when we do that, we should be aware that God is lending an ear to Rachel’s sobbing. 
As we honor the innocent babies killed by Herod, may we be reminded of the challenges which lie on the path of those who seek to follow Jesus in order to propagate his message. May we realize that there remain a lot that need to be done by those who profess faith in Jesus Christ. May we honor the blood of the holy innocents that Herod shed by working towards to world that is free from violence against the vulnerable and defenseless. Unlike Herod, may we not see in others competition and threat but rather a fellow brother or sister put in my life by God to complement me.