First and Second Maccabees are interesting books from the Old Testament, books that are included in the Catholic Bible but not in the Protestant Bible. We have been hearing from these books in the first readings at Mass this week. We hear of how the king’s messenger goes to the city of Modein to enforce foreign sacrifices and religious practices on the Jews there, how Mattathias and his son refuse to follow those practice and refuse to accept the bribes that the king’s messenger offers them. They killed a Jew who makes a foreign sacrifice on the altar and also killed the king’s messenger in a fit of rage. At the end of this passage, Mattathias and his sons fled to the mountains. The story of first and second Maccabees tells of the rebellion against the Greeks in order to stand up for their Jewish faith.
We are called to be loyal to God’s laws and commandments, to devoutly practice our faith, but resorting to violence and anger is not the answer. When I was in Bosnia and Herzegovina for the pilgrimage to Medjugorje in September, we heard the atrocities of the war when the country of Yugoslavia split up with the fall of the Soviet block countries. A lot of the conflict was rooted in the religious divisions, with large pockets of Muslims, Catholics, and Orthodox dividing the country. It is important for us to practice our faith, but not to fall into violence, war, or bloodshed as a consequence of being loyal to our religious beliefs.
No comments:
Post a Comment