3 August, Saturday – When The Children Cry

Saturday of Week 17 in Ordinary Time

Jer 26:11-16,24
Mt 14:1-12

Then, during the celebrations for Herod’s birthday, the daughter of Herodias danced before the company, and so delighted Herod that he promised on oath to give her anything she asked.  Prompted by her mother she said, “Give me John the Baptist’s head, here, on a dish.“

My husband and I brought our 2 daughters out for an afternoon tea. The girls were delighted, as this afternoon tea set included an all-you-can-eat dessert buffet. Toward the end of our sitting, we were informed that the dessert bar would be closed at 5.30pm. At 5.35pm, the girls decided they needed just a little bit more ice cream. We told them to check with the staff at the dessert bar if they could have one last serving, and I thought, of course they would let 2 little girls have some ice cream, even after closing time. And I was right — to my horror, my daughters returned triumphant with ice cream and way too much candy on their platters!

Children are naturally charming. They are adorable, cute, innocent, and most of all, one feels an overwhelming need to protect and care for them. I have realised that while it is easy to deny an adult, most people would not deny a child. This also means that every now and again, adults have the tendency to let the little ones have whatever they want, which honestly, is not a good thing when left unchecked.

In today’s gospel, King Herod’s wife, Herodias, wanted John the Baptist dead. John the Baptist had been going around telling everyone to repent of their sins. He also pointed out how wrong Herod and Herodias’ marriage was, and Herodias was not having any of it. Instead of examining her own conscience, she sought to kill off the voice of conscience. However much he detested John the Baptist, Herod was nonetheless hesitant to sentence him to death because John the Baptist was a much-loved prophet.

Herodias had a brilliant idea to send her daughter to dance for Herod, knowing how taken Herod was with her. As expected, Herod was so overwhelmed by the girl’s performance, he promised her anything she wanted, up to half his kingdom. Herodias then fed her daughter the vile request of demanding the head of John the Baptist on a platter. And, because he was a weak ruler, Herod did not dare go back on his promise to the girl, even after realising he had fallen into a trap.

Our world now is just as broken as it was before, maybe even more broken and sinful. We still have prophets among us who try hard to make us see the error of our ways. We also do have ‘Herodiases’ going around getting rid of the prophets, spreading false truths, and turning people away from the Truth.  

As Herodias used her daughter to get what she wanted, children are still being used today as trojan horses to further sinful and depraved agendas. A mild example would be marketing targeted at children — businesses know that once the kids are hooked, they are hooked, and it would be very difficult for the parents to resist their children’s demands. And once the children have it in their minds that material goods are a measure of parental love, it is hard to claw your way back from there. Hard, but not impossible.

Children are also impressionable. They absorb everything they hear, whether or not the words were spoken to them or not. Children are, unfortunately, also lacking in wisdom and often fail to fully understand the meaning of words, or the context of the words spoken. Impressionable children are easy to reach. And it can be done very subtly at first. A few years ago, during a Catechism class held on Zoom in the month of June, my older daughter, then around 8 years old, decided to use a frame for her video feed. She likes rainbows, as do many kids, and so she chose the rainbow frame. But that was no simple rainbow — it was a pride month rainbow, left there as an option, with no explanation. It took a few seconds for her to pick the rainbow frame. It took many, many minutes to convince her to replace it and to explain why, in terms an 8- year-old could understand. Children are impressionable and are at risk of being used for insidious purposes. Once the children are snared, it is a foot through the door.

Children make us want to protect them. The Mama Bear instinct certainly kicks in for me sometimes. Crimes where children are victims — whether an accident, abuse, or murder, raise our heckles like nothing else. Even the idea of a very, or terminally, ill child is reprehensible. Sometimes, we can’t help but feel that it would have been better if the child had not been born. And certainly, this is one of the main arguments that abortion proponents cite — get rid of the child before it is born, so that they can avoid any illness or abuse or a painful death. The idea is pushed that a child born into poverty, out of wedlock, with an illness, is bound to suffer and would be better off not existing. The idea is pushed that women should have choices over whether or not to bring a child into the world when the child is not wanted and not loved. What these people seem to overlook is that abuse is also a choice that is made by an adult. Every child wanted and loved means wanting and loving every child that comes along. It doesn’t mean getting rid of the child you think will not be wanted and loved. Children raise the protective instinct in most of us, but this protective instinct can be twisted into a “better off dead” ideology.

We want the best for children, and we sometimes stop at nothing to provide everything for them, no matter what they demand. Like Herod, we are so taken by them and so afraid of disappointing them. The devil knows this, and uses this against us. He turns what is good and beautiful into a conduit for evil. He plays on our insecurities and fears for our children and entices us to live a life that does not glorify God. And we hardly stop to think about how these actions actually harm children in the long run. How these children end up entitled, spoilt, unhealthy, lacking in common sense, lacking in life skills, lacking in love. And this damage will breed more damage down the line for the next generation.

There will always be evil ideologies being spread around, and it is getting more insidious as these false teachings make their way via the children. As adults, parents, teachers, we need to not only be on guard against this onslaught. More importantly, we need to teach our children right from wrong. We need to impart our Faith, our beliefs, and the reasons why. This would be their shield against the attacks from the world. Admittedly, this is not easy and is an ongoing project of a lifetime. Some of us also feel ill-equipped to manage this. The good news is that there are numerous programmes that the church offers to help us (adults as well as children) strengthen our spiritual lives and equip us with the skills to love and guide our children well.  

Despite the way the world is moving, we can always dig our heels in and do our best to live life according to the gospels. We need to listen to the true prophets and support them if we are to hold out against the devil and his wiles. As baptised Christians, we too are called to be prophets. Brothers and sisters, let us muster up our courage, face down our shortcomings, and make positive changes to our lives. As John the Baptist was a prophet, so too are we, and we have a battle on our hands.

(Today’s OXYGEN by Felicia Zou)

Prayer: Dear Lord, we pray for strength to live according to Your will. We pray for humility and grace to overcome our weaknesses. We pray for faith to know that You are always on our side.

Thanksgiving: Dear Lord, we thank You for Your unending love and patience for us, even when we fall so many times.