Tuesday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time
November 16, 2021
Daily Reading from the USCCB: 2 Maccabees 6:18-31
The Second Book of Maccabees is not a continuation of the first book, but a resume offering narratives of perseverance in the face of persecution.
The aged Eleazar is being invited–forced–to take part in a religious meal with renegade Jews. The organizers of the meal offer the guests meat which is impure by Mosaic law. Eleazar rejects the meat being offered to him. The renegades then propose that he bring his own food and pretend to be partaking in the pagan ritual. The issue becomes not just participation in the idolatrous meal, but duplicity as well. Rather than dilute or deny his Jewish identity, Eleazar chooses death.
Sometimes we too, are called to stand up for what we believe. We shouldn’t be surprised.
