Daily Retreat 11/19/07
2007 Nov 19 Mon
1 Mc 1:10-15. 41-43. 54-57. 62-63/ Ps 118(119):53. 61. 134. 150. 155. 158/ Lk 18:35-43
From today’s readings: “Let us go and make an alliance with the Gentiles all around us; since we separated from them, many evils have come upon us.... Give me life, O Lord, and I will do Your commands.... Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!”
Martyrdom or Cave-in to secularism
Although the First Book of Maccabees was actually written in Hebrew, that original text has been lost, so our present translation is based on the early Greek Septuagint translation. The recorded events of this book begin with the rise of King Antiochus, who “became king in the year one hundred and thirty-seven of the kingdom of the Greeks” (= 175 BC). Antiochus and his followers strove to force all the Jews to forsake the God-given biblical law and assimilate the customs and practices of the pagans (Gentiles).
Many Jews did abandon their religion and go along with the pagans, but others courageously “preferred to die rather than to be defiled with unclean food or to profane the holy covenant.” The courage of these martyrs creates an ideal benchmark for you and me to examine our own commitment to our faith. In large ways and small ways, we are tempted and pressured in our own day to compromise our faith commitment, and assimilate to godless customs and practices.
For instance, our faith demands that we “keep holy the Lord’s day,” which means to go to Church on Sunday and sanctify the day with the commitment “to abstain from those labors and business concerns which impede the worship to be rendered to God, the joy which is proper to the Lord's Day, or the proper relaxation of mind and body"(CCC §2193). Yet even many “church-going” Christians have compromised the sanctity of Sunday in this regard instead of showing the intransigent faith commitment of the Maccabean martyrs.
And that’s just one example - as we read the Books of Maccabees, may the fidelity witnessed on every page of those books inspire you and me to commit ourselves to living out our faith without compromising it by assimilating in any way to the godless customs and practices of our day!
1 Mc 1:10-15. 41-43. 54-57. 62-63/ Ps 118(119):53. 61. 134. 150. 155. 158/ Lk 18:35-43
From today’s readings: “Let us go and make an alliance with the Gentiles all around us; since we separated from them, many evils have come upon us.... Give me life, O Lord, and I will do Your commands.... Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!”
Martyrdom or Cave-in to secularism
Although the First Book of Maccabees was actually written in Hebrew, that original text has been lost, so our present translation is based on the early Greek Septuagint translation. The recorded events of this book begin with the rise of King Antiochus, who “became king in the year one hundred and thirty-seven of the kingdom of the Greeks” (= 175 BC). Antiochus and his followers strove to force all the Jews to forsake the God-given biblical law and assimilate the customs and practices of the pagans (Gentiles).
Many Jews did abandon their religion and go along with the pagans, but others courageously “preferred to die rather than to be defiled with unclean food or to profane the holy covenant.” The courage of these martyrs creates an ideal benchmark for you and me to examine our own commitment to our faith. In large ways and small ways, we are tempted and pressured in our own day to compromise our faith commitment, and assimilate to godless customs and practices.
For instance, our faith demands that we “keep holy the Lord’s day,” which means to go to Church on Sunday and sanctify the day with the commitment “to abstain from those labors and business concerns which impede the worship to be rendered to God, the joy which is proper to the Lord's Day, or the proper relaxation of mind and body"(CCC §2193). Yet even many “church-going” Christians have compromised the sanctity of Sunday in this regard instead of showing the intransigent faith commitment of the Maccabean martyrs.
And that’s just one example - as we read the Books of Maccabees, may the fidelity witnessed on every page of those books inspire you and me to commit ourselves to living out our faith without compromising it by assimilating in any way to the godless customs and practices of our day!
posted by FrPitstick | 11/17/2007
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