Feast of the Holy Innocents Witness Statement at StratCom

Frank Cordaro

This year marks the 28th year we Catholic Workers and our friends have come to Omaha for a two-and-a-half-day retreat to make our Christmas celebration complete by exploring the often ignored and deeper meaning of the season.

On December 28 in the Catholic Lectionary, the Church celebrates the Feast of Holy Innocents, commemorating King Herod’s massacre of all the male infants of Bethlehem. Using the Gospel of Matthew’s infant narrative, we examined the links between King Herod, his killing of the innocent children in Bethlehem and the murderous deeds of U.S.-backed modern day Herods.

When telling the story of the massacre of the infants, Matthew quotes the prophet Jeremiah, “A voice was heard in Ramah, sobbing and loud lamentations; Rachel weeping for her children, and she would not be consoled, since they were no more.” Jeremiah quotes Rachel, whose frightful tears spoke of the killing of the children of Israel, centuries before himself, to be repeated in Jeremiah’s day. Matthew picks up the Jeremiah lament and applies Rachel’s tears to the innocents of Bethlehem.

The weeping of Rachel is repeated countless times today, in every corner of the world where innocent children are collateral damage, and pay the price for the greed of the rich and powerful. These children are the innocent victims of the political insecurities of the world’s ruling classes.

We know that the power structure of Empires has not changed since Biblical times. Herod in Jesus’ day was backed up by the Legions of the Roman armies. Our modern day Herods are backed up by the U.S.A. Global Military presence and Offutt’s nuclear and space commands.

It is a sad and shameful truth of our time, that in a nation that claims a Christian identity, that we reflect more the properties of the Roman Empire than the peace loving, justice seeking Jesus of the New Testament. And as such, we are more likely to back today’s Herods and imprison and crucify today’s Jesus’.

Offutt Air Force Base has served as the home of our nation’s nuclear weapons targeting and command headquarters for over 56 years. Today, StratCom at Offutt AFB holds the whole world under a threat of global nuclear annihilation every day, every hour, every minute of the year.

As if the targeting of 8,000 nuclear weapons were not horrific enough, on October 1, 2002, the U.S. Space Command was added to this hellish mission. Strategic Command now has the mission and ability to initiate and direct what it calls “Full Spectrum Global Warfare.” That means the Pentagon can now wage war at any point on the earth’s surface within minutes, directly from Offutt AFB. From nuclear weapons, to direct control and command of clandestine secret military missions, the people at StratCom have a direct hand in it all.

We are here today at STRATCOM’s gate filled with shame and remorse for our nation’s anti-life, anti-peace, anti-love, anti-Christian and anti-Christmas ways. We come with prayers of repentance, in faith and trust in the ‘Spirit of Christmas’ that found room enough in the troubled times and lands of 1st century Palestine to birth Jesus into human history. We pray that same ‘Spirit of Christmas’ can help us change our war-making imperial ways.

HEROD KILLED THE INNOCENT.
STRATCOM WOULD KILL THE WORLD.
CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS.
SHUT DOWN STRATCOM.

HOME      |      ARTICLES      |      CALENDAR      |      THE NEBRASKA REPORT      |      DONATE      |      CONTACT

This site is made possible by the peacemakers. Site Design by