A New Holiday

Tomorrow marks a new holiday in our family. To the world, December 28 is just a day, squeezed in between Christmas and New Year’s. Perhaps it’s a day off from work, or a day to use those gift cards. Until last year it was that for us.

Then she came. She came crying into the world at 5:39 p.m. on December 28, 2010. Before that moment, it was just a day. Now, it’s a holiday.

To the Church, December 28th is the feast of the Holy Innocents. Those babies massacred because of a broken man’s fear and desperate grasp for power that was never his to begin with. The death of a generation in Bethlehem. Those tiny, innocent souls who never stood a chance. I remember looking up whose feast it was on the 28th, when she was born last year. Tears as I looked into her innocent sweet face.

December 28th will never be just another day in our family again. God willing, may we have many more ordinary-turned-holy days.