THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT
The wise men from the east who had
followed the divine star visited and worshipped Baby Jesus and presented their
gifts to Him. They were directed by God in a dream to return by another route. An
angel asked Joseph to escape to Egypt with Mary and Baby Jesus immediately.
King Herod, who was expecting
the return of the wise men to his palace, became furious when he realized that
they had tricked him. He ordered a massive infanticide. All male children in Bethlehem
and its neighbourhood who were two years old and younger were ordered to be
killed. The king’s armed soldiers set out to kill the innocent infants
mercilessly {Matthew 2: 1-17}.
There is a charming legend
about the exile of the Holy Family to Egypt. The king’s soldiers learned that
some families had escaped from Bethlehem and chased them. Though the Holy
Family had moved away from Bethlehem, they were aware that the soldiers would
come after them. They were tired and exhausted, but continued their journey to
save the Holy Child.
On the way, they saw a group
of farmers sowing seeds of grains in their field. Joseph asked for some water
to drink, which they gave gladly. Joseph and Mary refilled their leather
bottles with water for the long journey. The senior farmer asked them about the
purpose of their hurried journey. Joseph told them about the king’s order to
murder the children. The farmers were shocked to hear this and they promised
that they would deny having seen the Holy Family, if questioned by the
approaching soldiers. St. Mary sternly forbid them from telling a lie even if
it would save their lives. She asked them to have firm faith in Almighty God
and be truthful throughout life.
The Holy Family thankfully bid farewell to the
kind and compassionate farmers and resumed their tiring journey. The farmers
returned to their field. They were filled with wonder to see a marvellous miracle before their eyes. The
seeds that they had sown a few minutes ago had miraculously sprouted and sprang
up suddenly, the grains had ripened instantaneously and the fields were now
ready for harvest soon after the seeds were sown. They thanked God for the
miraculous harvest and praised the sanctity of the Holy Family. They brought
their harvest tools and started reaping the farm, singing the traditional songs
of praise.
A group of armed soldiers on
horseback approached the reaping farmers and enquired about a family with a
baby who went along that way. The senior farmer told them that they had met a
family with a child when they were sowing the seeds in that farm and had
provided them with drinking water and that was the last family to pass that
way. Thus the farmers could talk with truthfulness and save the Holy family. The
soldiers surveyed the fields which were being reaped and told to themselves, “If
they had seen the family at the time of sawing, they cannot be the people we
are searching for, as it is now the time of reaping what they sowed.” They
returned to Bethlehem, leaving the Holy family to continue their flight to
Egypt.
We should speak only the
truth. When words are manipulated to get our own way, even deviating from truth
and righteousness, we go wrong. Jesus taught us, "Just say 'Yes' or 'No' -
anything else you say comes from the evil one" {Matthew 5:
37}.
Honesty is the best policy. It is a good rule that we should be
faithful and truthful in every action - both big and small.
A true Christian should not tell a lie even if telling the truth
may cause loss, suffering or pain. We should not tell a lie even if telling the
lie may give us money, power or pleasure. St. Paul advises, "No more
lying, then! Everyone must tell the truth to his fellow-believer, because we
are all members together in the body of Christ" {Ephesians 4:
25}.
……………………………………………………………………
© By: Prof. Dr. Babu Philip, Former
Professor, Cochin University of Science & Technology, Fine Arts Avenue,
Kochi-682016, Kerala, India, Prof. Mrs. Rajamma Babu,
Former Professor, St. Dominic's College, Kanjirappally, Leo. S. John, St. Antony's Public
School, Anakkal, Kanjirappally and Neil John, Alfeen Public
School, Kanjirappally, Kerala, India. For more moral stories, parables and
anecdotes for students, catechists, teachers and preachers, kindly visit
our web-sites:
This is Story No.
341 in the second site. Please click ‘Older Posts’ at
the bottom of a page to read previous stories and click 'Newer
Posts' at the bottom of a page to read newer stories in these sites.
Please click on a word in the 'Story Themes' to read stories
on that theme.
No comments:
Post a Comment