28 December, Wednesday — “Trust, Trust, Trust. And then trust some more…”  

Dec 28 – Feast of the Holy Innocents, martyrs

The Holy Innocents are the children slaughtered by Herod the Great when he tried to kill the infant Christ.

• Patron Saint Index

The children died for Christ, though they do not know it. The parents mourned for the death of martyrs. The Christ child makes of those as yet unable to speak fit witnesses to Himself.

To what merits of their own do the children owe this kind of victory? They cannot speak, yet they bear witness to Christ. They cannot use their limbs to engage in battle, yet already they bear off the palm of victory.

• From a sermon by bishop St. Quodvultdeus about the Holy Innocents

1 Jn 1:5-2:2
Mat 2:13-18

Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

To be honest, I am not sure how I feel about today’s feast. It somehow doesn’t sit well with me, that so many male children, under the age of 2, had to suffer for one man’s pride and insecurity. Not to mention the anguish that all their parents must have felt. And this leads to a very common question from non-believers and believers alike.

“Why does God let bad things happen to good people?”

I would think that this is a question that most of us would have asked, or have been asked, at least once in our lives. I would also believe that most of us would be too stumped to reply. I remember a good friend, who was struggling with his faith, also asked the same question after reading about an unfortunate accident where there were innocent deaths. We all say, “It is God’s plan. God works in mysterious ways”. Easy replies that don’t answer the question at all.

I also struggled with this question, until I listened to a podcast from Fr Mike Schmitz some years back. He said, “God allows these things to happen, not because He wants them to happen, but He knows the freedom (that He gave us) is a greater good and He can bring about a greater redemption through the worst stuff that happens.” Most importantly, he added: “God does not will evil. Even when evil happens, it does not thwart God’s plan.”

I guess we just have to trust in the Lord and His perfect plan for us. The scriptures have countless stories showing us that trusting in the Lord is the only way and that He wants the best for us.

In my career, I have had the fortune (or misfortune) to be restructured out 4 times. I remember the first time — I was bitter, angry, and felt that it was so unfair. WHY ME? Why not the other guy?  I was so focused on the I, that everything, including God faded into the background. Anger was my primary emotion, and then sadness. I felt and asked God why is this happening? But there was always a certain sense that He was telling me, “Trust me.” And another feeling was that it would be another 3 months before I took on my next role.

And you know what? Yup. 3 months. I started a new job 3 months later.

The second time I was restructured, I had this feeling of peace when I was told by my Global VP that the company had to let me go. And even my VP was shocked by my calmness. Again, the feeling that I would start another role in 6 months. And it happened. Same for the subsequent 2 times, there was always the same feeling of, “Trust me.”

So, my brothers and sisters, we might not know the answer to, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” But we do know that our God is always here for us and that His plans are always perfect. We just need to be open to His promptings and to trust in Him. And to follow the example of our Blessed Mother when she said, “Be it done unto me according to your word.”

(Today’s OXYGEN by Calvin Wee)

Prayer: Mama Mary, you are the perfect disciple. You showed us how to trust in our Heavenly Father when the angel foretold that you would give birth to a son. You said, “Yes”, even though you knew that your life would change forever. Pray for us, and with us, that God will grant us the grace to Trust more fully in Him, and that we be open to His perfect plan for us, as well as for the whole world. Amen.

Thanksgiving: Thank you Lord, for the gift of faith. Thank you Lord, for always being there for us. Thank you Lord, for giving us the opportunity to trust in you and to do your will. Thank you Lord, for being our God. Amen.