Southern Maine Veterans Cemetery
Picture by Richard Sawyer
Our Blog is Inspired by The Holy Spirit
Wednesday of the Thirty-third Week in Extraordinary Time
It happened that seven brothers with their mother were arrested
and tortured with whips and scourges by the king,
to force them to eat pork in violation of God’s law.
Most admirable and worthy of everlasting remembrance was the mother,
who saw her seven sons perish in a single day,
yet bore it courageously because of her hope in the Lord.
Filled with a noble spirit that stirred her womanly heart with manly courage,
she exhorted each of them
in the language of their ancestors with these words:
“I do not know how you came into existence in my womb;
it was not I who gave you the breath of life,
nor was it I who set in order
the elements of which each of you is composed.
Therefore, since it is the Creator of the universe
who shapes each man’s beginning,
as he brings about the origin of everything,
he, in his mercy,
will give you back both breath and life,
because you now disregard yourselves for the sake of his law.”
Antiochus, suspecting insult in her words,
thought he was being ridiculed.
As the youngest brother was still alive, the king appealed to him,
not with mere words, but with promises on oath,
to make him rich and happy if he would abandon his ancestral customs:
he would make him his Friend
and entrust him with high office.
When the youth paid no attention to him at all,
the king appealed to the mother,
urging her to advise her boy to save his life.
After he had urged her for a long time,
she went through the motions of persuading her son.
In derision of the cruel tyrant,
she leaned over close to her son and said in their native language:
“Son, have pity on me, who carried you in my womb for nine months,
nursed you for three years, brought you up,
educated and supported you to your present age.
I beg you, child, to look at the heavens and the earth
and see all that is in them;
then you will know that God did not make them out of existing things;
and in the same way the human race came into existence.
Do not be afraid of this executioner,
but be worthy of your brothers and accept death,
so that in the time of mercy I may receive you again with them.”
She had scarcely finished speaking when the youth said:
“What are you waiting for?
I will not obey the king’s command.
I obey the command of the law given to our fathers through Moses.
But you, who have contrived every kind of affliction for the Hebrews,
will not escape the hands of God.”
I beg you, child, to look at the heavens and the earth
and see all that is in them;
then you will know that God did not make them out of existing things;
Fr. Richard Rohr, last week talking about contemplation talked about growing closer to God just by looking around you and marveling at all that God has and is creating right in front of you. This is one reason I enJoy our pictures so much, they all clearly show the beauty of God’s Creation.
We have written about this reading a number of times. It’s too bad the full reading isn’t in today’s reading because a mother is forced to watch her seven (holy number) sons submit to a very cruel form of death.
Yet because of her belief that there is life after death, she tells her sons to submit to death, as opposed to giving into the demands and appeals of the king.
The king not only asked the seventh son not to go through with being killed but promised the young man a position, and to make him happy by abandoning his religious beliefs.
It’s the sons response that blows me away,
“What are you waiting for?
I will not obey the king’s command.
I obey the command of the law given to our fathers through Moses.
But you, who have contrived every kind of affliction for the Hebrews,
will not escape the hands of God.”
“What are you waiting for? These are powerful words, and then told the king he will not escape the hands of God.”
I have the feeling that the king remembered these words for the rest of his life, and the king who thought he had the power over life and death lost his life on that very same day.
We have the same option. We can look around us and start to be amazed by all that God has created, and use this information to further our belief that there is a living God and as a Catholic we have the opportunity to not only observe God in His creation,
But
Touch God every time we receive communion.
Yet,
Many don’t really look at what God has created but spend time looking at what satan has created, i.e. the junk that invades our life daily on the news, tv, and other forms of entertainment.
Do yourself a favor today. Get out and take a look around at all that God has made that is right in front of you now. It can be as simple as a leaf, a tree, flowers in your or a neighbor’s yard, and then ponder the mother’s words,
“I do not know how you (it ,the Leaf etc.) came into existence in my womb;
it was not I who gave you the breath of life,
nor was it I who set in order
Because her words apply to you and everything in Nature.
And then you will know:
I beg you, child, to look at the heavens and the earth
and see all that is in them;
then you will know that God did not make them out of existing things;
Prayer:
If you want to grow in Love, Joy and Peace, this is a result of growth in Patience, Kindness, Generosity, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control.
Sidebar:
In his November 7 blog, Elias Chacour a Palestinian Arab-Israeli and a former archbishop of the Melkite Greek Catholic church in Palestine, writing for Richard Rohr’s Daily Meditation, wrote about the word Blessed as used in the Beatitudes.
Elias Chacour wrote that we use the word Blessed which in Greek is a passive word. I Googled the Greek definition of Blessed:
The common Greek word for “blessed” in the New Testament is makarios (μακάριος), meaning happy, fortunate, or favored by God, describing a state of transcendent, self-contained joy and well-being that comes from receiving divine blessings and provisions. Emphasis mine.
Elias Chacour wrote that Jesus spoke in Aramaric and in Aramaric, the word has an Active meaning “to set yourself on the right way for the right goal; to turn around, repent; to become straight or righteous.”
For example:
Passive:
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.
Active:
Get up, go ahead, do something, move, you peacemakers, for you shall be called children of God.
This for me made a lot of common sense. It makes the Beatitudes a call to action, here and now, which I now see goes right to the Cross, which the action of Jesus was to take our sins and nail them to His cross so we may be Justified.
How beautiful is that?
Want to watch a great modern Biblical Love Story, Ruth and Boaz you’ll find it on Netflix, Gail and I loved it, we had to pass this along.
Picture:
Southern Maine Veterans Cemetery in Springvale where I attended a service for a former neighbor.
Picture by Richard Sawyer
To all of the Veterans, I apologize, I should have shown this powerful picture last week in recognition of Veterans Day. Thank you for your service.
Please keep Snapping!
And if you want the ten calling cards shown above, email me and I will send you my address, send me a STAMPED self-addressed envelope and I will send you ten cards.
The offer for the cards is for American readers only. The Post office won’t accept foreign stamps.
If you want a copy of the prayers we discussed.
And or
If you want a copy of our version of The Nicene Creed in our book, not the book, I believe.
Send an email to: fprince101@gmail.com
Remember, if you want to submit a picture, please do not include people. We have to get permission from that person to use their photograph.
