33rd Week in Ordinary Time 2023 - Monday - Persevering faith amidst a culture of death

 300 years before the birth of Christ, Alexander the Great embarked on a mission to Hellenize the world—that is, to spread the greek language, the greek culture, the greek Gods.  He conquered vast territories from Greece, down to Egypt, and just shy of India to the east.  

But Alexander didn’t plan well; he died suddenly leaving his vast empire, which included Israel, to his generals—Ptolemy and Seleucus. Judea was initially under Ptolemaic rule, but fell to the Seleucids around 200 BC.

Ptolemaic rule was fairly sensitive and tolerant of the Jewish religion, but things changed when the Seleucid tyrant Antiochus Epiphanes came to power, whose
name we heard in the first read today.  Radical Hellenization was imposed under penalty of death-- the Jews could not worship, nor could they practice their faith in any way that distinguished them from the Gentiles. So they could not observe the Sabbath, they could not observe the laws of circumcision.

And we also heard how some of the Jews believed it was expedient to go along with Hellenization. And they even influence the jewish king to order that the jews abandon the precepts of the Mosaic Law in favor of the Greek custom—they were to abandon the laws of God for the laws of man. What a sell-out to the culture! This even led to the Holy Temple of Jerusalem dedicated to the One True God becoming a place of pagan worship and pagan sacrifice.

As people of faith, we need to be in the world, but not of the world. There can be no compromise between the laws of God and the laws of man. 

In the Gospel, a blind man is hindered by the crowd in approaching Jesus in order to be healed by him. The crowd here is similar to the Greeks and the hellenized jews in the first reading. There are many worldly forces that will keep us from approaching Jesus, even compromised Christians will try to convince us that we are taking our faith too seriously. 

But we must persevere. If the world seeks to drown out our cries for Jesus, we need to cry out all the more. If the world seeks to distract us from following Jesus, we need to draw close to Him all the more. If Christians abandon the work of the Gospel, we need to endeavor in that work all the more. If born and raised Catholics abandon the Sacraments, we need to make use of them all the more, lest we become like them, instead of becoming like Christ.

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That we may endeavor to put our time, talent, treasure, creativity, and devotion into serving the mission of the Gospel. 

For a strengthening of Christian marriages; for an increase in virtue among spouses; for healing in troubled marriages; and for God’s mercy to replace bitterness, resentment, and selfishness. 

As we celebrate Thanksgiving this week, we pray for the safety of travelers, the peaceful resolution of all family divisions and national hostilities, for protection from disease, and harmony amongst all those who gather; for the lonely and forgotten, and that holy gratitude may fill our hearts and animate our lives.

For the safety of police and firefighters, for first responders, the underemployed and unemployed, for those struggling with addiction, for the incarcerated, for those suffering from depression or burn-out, and for the sick and dying. 

We pray in a special way during this Month of November, for all of the faithful departed, for the deceased members of our family, friends, and parish, for all the souls in purgatory, and for…

O God, you know that our life in this present age is subject to suffering and need, hear the prayers of those who cry to you and receive the prayers of those who believe in you. Through Christ our Lord.

33rd Week in OT 2019 - Wednesday - Living for God

Alexander the Great had embarked on an incredible military journey—his goal was to Hellenize the world—that is, to spread the greek language, the greek culture, the greek Gods.  He conquered the known world stopping just shy of India.

The rule of the Greeks, which included control of the Holy Land, was originally fairly sensitive and tolerant of the Jewish religion. But shift of power within the Greek Empire led to the tyrant Antiochus Epiphanes  imposing a program of radical Hellenization—he wanted all traces of the Jewish faith wiped out, under penalty of death-- the Jews could not worship, nor could they practice their faith in any way that distinguished them from the Hellenists. They could not observe the Sabbath, and not only could they not practice circumcision, already circumcised Jews had to cover up the mark of their circumcision.

The Jews were being forced to deny their faith by publicly violating Jewish dietary law.

Yesterday, we read of the courageous old sage, Eleazar, refusing to eat pork, dying a martyr for God and setting an example of faith for the young. And, today a mother with seven sons faced a similar trial.  The youngest son had been offered riches and happiness by the king, if he but broke the Jewish law.  The son wouldn’t, so the king appealed to the mother to persuade her son to accept his offer to save his life.  But both she and her son realize that life comes from God, and so faith and hope in God is not to be violated. The son professes hope in God’s vindication for those who suffer injustice: “you, who have contrived every kind of affliction for the Hebrews, will not escape the hands of God."

These powerful reading of these Jewish Martyrs encourage us to have hope during times of persecution, to be courageous when faced temptations and trials, to remember that there is more to our existence than this temporal earthly life—we must live for God, and have faith that God will raise his faithful ones up to eternal life.

And yet, they also challenge us to repent of those time when we have given in to the pressures of the world and the flesh, those times when we gave up our faith because it was expedient, when we offered some justification for giving-in to temptation, when we buried our talents rather than putting them into the service of God because they required too much energy, or it was too costly.

We renew our trust and faith in the Lord Jesus who is both our merciful savior and also the vindicator of the oppressed. May his fortitude and faithful Spirit dwell within us, in all we say and do, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That our bishops and priests may be models of faith and preach the Gospel faithfully amidst the pressures of the world.

That parents may be models of faith for their children, and center their family life on the Gospel through worship, prayer, and charity.

For members of our parish faced with temptations and trials, that they will choose faith and know the strength and peace of God.

That Christ the Good Shepherd will draw close to all who suffer, the sick, the needy, victims of injustice, and the dying.

We pray in a special way during this month of November for all the faithful departed, for those whose names are written in our parish book of the names of the dead, all deceased members of St. Ignatius of Antioch Parish, and our deceased family members and friends, deceased clergy and religious, those who fought and died for our freedom and for X. for whom this mass is offered.

O God, you know that our life in this present age is subject to suffering and need, hear the prayers of those who cry to you and receive the prayers of those who believe in you. Through Christ our Lord.