My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this Thursday of the 33rd Week in Ordinary Time, we are given these beautiful readings. First, from the Book of Maccabees—beautiful because we see the courage and strength of Mattathias and his sons, gathered apart, resisting the threats of the enemy. Then we have the visitation of Jesus, who poses a different kind of threat to the authorities of his day, and He too is rejected. Our Captain and our Faith show us a master class in courage and boldness, so as to do the Father’s will.
To get a better context of the first reading, the episode takes place around 167 B.C. during the reign of King Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the Seleucid Greek ruler who tried to force the Jews to abandon their faith and adopt Greek customs, religion, and sacrifices. Antiochus outlawed Jewish worship and banned circumcision, Sabbath observance, and the reading of the Law in synagogues. He desecrated the Temple in Jerusalem by setting up a pagan altar and demanding sacrifices to Zeus.
In this climate of persecution, Mattathias, a priest from the town of Modin, became the spark of resistance when royal officers arrived to compel public sacrifices to pagan gods. Many Israelites complied for safety, gain, or cowardice, but Mattathias courageously refused, declaring his fidelity to the covenant of his ancestors—to the true and living God. When another Jew stepped forward to make the forbidden sacrifice, Mattathias’s righteous zeal erupted. He killed both the apostate and the king’s messenger, tore down the altar, and called out: “Let everyone who is zealous for the Law and stands by the covenant follow me!”
He and his sons fled to the mountains, joined by others faithful to the Law. This marked the beginning of the Maccabean Revolt—a movement of religious and national renewal that would eventually reclaim and purify the Temple, the event later commemorated in Hanukkah.
In today’s Gospel, we see Jesus drawing near to Jerusalem. He weeps over it, saying: “If this day you only knew what makes for peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes.” He then goes on to prophesy the destruction of the city.
My brothers and sisters, we pause to ponder and reflect on these readings so that we may allow the Lord to speak to us. We might hear a question like this: When is God visiting us? Perhaps in moments that call for moral courage, as was the case for Mattathias and his sons. Perhaps in hidden invitations to conversion, in the gentle promptings of the Holy Spirit that come to us. When is God standing right before us, and we are not even aware of it?
How does the Lord strengthen our faith? Why does He allow persecution? The tragedy of Jerusalem was not that it sinned, but that it refused to see grace knocking at its door. The Lord, the King of the universe, was there. But the Lord, the King of the universe, is here too—in every tabernacle around the world—waiting, always patient, with never-ending mercy. He waits for us.
But how many times do we fail to see what really makes for peace—to sit in His presence and allow Him to heal us? Today our fidelity may not be tested by altars of idols, but by pressures to conform, to stay silent, to blend in, to be indifferent and complacent.
Let us try, through God’s grace and the strength He gives us, to embrace lives of virtue, so that we too may grow in boldness, in zeal, and in love for God—love that no one can take away from us if we truly treasure it above all else.
May Almighty God bless you, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Go in peace. Amen.
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