This past week, we observed

the Feast of the Holy Innocents at our church. The short homily for the

service was presented by The Reverend Dcn. Jereme De Leo of Newnan. I

was so moved by his words I decided, with his permission, to offer his

message to you, only slightly edited and without comment.

"Today, we recognize the

Feast of the Holy Innocents. As we have heard in the gospel reading (Matthew

2:1-18), the Holy Innocents were those children who had the unique position

of being the only ones in history to die in the stead of Christ. Now,

there is more to Herod's anger over the Christ-child than just the

magi not returning to him. Many of the ancient Church Fathers interpreted

Genesis 49:10, which reads, 'The scepter will not depart from Judah

- until He comes to whom it belongs,' as saying that Israel

will have a Jewish king until the time that the Messiah will come. And

this is historically accurate - Herod was the first non-Jewish king

to rule in Jerusalem. This is why Herod consulted the chief priests and

scribes when he heard that the Christ-child had come. The coming of the

Messiah, the true King of Israel, threatened the reign of Herod. The coming

of this child was an extreme inconvenience to Herod and posed a great

risk to his future as the kingdom's ruler.

"Not much has changed

since then. Today, over 1 million children die each year, over 4,000 a

day, while still in their mother's womb, because the child was an

inconvenience and posed a risk to the mother or father's future.

The government's own research statistics, and those of national organizations

that promote the freedom to kill one's own child in the womb, show

that over 95 percent of abortions performed are done strictly as a means

of birth control. Only 1 percent are due to rape or incest, and only 1

percent are due to abnormalities in the pre-born child. To give birth

to the child would have been just too inconvenient. To give a picture

of how many children this is, a statistic in 1999 showed that nearly 40

million children had died from abortions in the U.S. alone since 1973,

when the court case Roe v. Wade was decided - that is nearly twice

the population of the entire New York City metropolitan area, which is

this nation's largest metropolitan city. The numbers are staggering,

and the fact that it actually happens is absolutely heartbreaking. This

is why the fight for the lives of these children is so important. In Exodus

23:7, the Scripture says, 'Do not kill the innocent.'�These

children who have not had the opportunity to breathe their first breath

are most certainly innocent, and are the most helpless of all. The Scriptures

instruct and exhort God's people to consider the poor and needy,

to defend the innocent, and to help the helpless. We, as His children,

should not ignore the silent cry of these most helpless and defenseless

children, whose lives are ended at the hands of the those who God gave

to protect and defend them - their own parents.

"If you don't know

how to help these children, I offer a few suggestions. At the very least,

pray for the children, pray for the parents who believe that death is

a viable option, and pray for those who would encourage, aid, and perform

it. Help fund or support or volunteer at local pregnancy crisis centers

... or help support national (pro-life) ministries ...�by becoming a member

or donating money to help them in their effort to protect the lives of

children. One way we at Christ the King help these children is by offering

this service, the Liturgy at the Time of Death for the Pre-born, to give

those who are touched by the tragedy of abortion the opportunity to commend

the lives of their own children, or loved ones - children, to the

Lord; to hear of God's love for them and their children, and to receive

forgiveness from Him; and to give those who have a heart for these children

an outlet to make their prayers known to God. We, as the children's

Christian family, come together to commend the lives of all unborn children

to the Lord, especially those that have died or will die today, who did

not have the opportunity to live, nor the opportunity to partake in any

Christian virtue or Sacrament, such as Baptism, Confirmation, Marriage,

or even a burial at their own death. We remember what we heard in the

Scripture reading from Revelation 21:1-7, that 'He will wipe away

every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there

will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain.'� And we remember

what David said to Goliath, that 'the battle is the Lord's,

and He will give you into our hands.' The battle for the lives of

the unborn is also the Lord's and He will be victorious, as we pick

up the opportunities, as pebbles, that the Lord has put into our hands,

and wield them against the Goliath of abortion.'� With help from

the Lord, we will find, as David did, that the fearful giant will fall.

Amen."

[Father David Epps is Rector

of Christ the King Charismatic Episcopal Church on Ga. Highway 34 between

Peachtree City and Newnan. He may be contacted at [email protected].]